LOGINAva couldn't move.Damien was staring at her.His hand was still in hers.But suddenly, that hand felt unfamiliar."She's your brother."Elena's words echoed through the chapel.Damien slowly pulled his hand away."No."His voice was quiet."That's impossible."Ava couldn't answer.She wanted to tell him it wasn't true.She wanted to laugh.To say Elena was confused.But deep inside, something had already changed.The memories.The hospital.The four children.The photograph.The ledger.Everything was beginning to fit.Damien looked at Elena."You're lying."Elena shook her head."I wish I were.""Then prove it.""I can."She reached inside her coat and pulled out a small envelope.The paper was old.Yellowed around the edges.She handed it to Damien.He stared at it."What is this?""Your birth certificate."Damien opened it.His eyes moved across the page.Then stopped.His face went pale.Mother: Elena Blackwood.Father: Adrian Blackwood.He looked at Ava.Her expression had alrea
The red light above the operating room remained on.Ava sat alone on the hospital floor, her back against the cold wall.She had stopped counting how long she had been there.Minutes.Maybe hours.All she could think about was her grandmother's face.The fear in her eyes.The words she had barely managed to whisper.The man...Ava covered her face with both hands."What if she doesn't make it?"Her voice broke.Damian stood several feet away, watching her.He had seen Ava frightened before.But never like this.He walked toward her and quietly sat beside her.For a while, he said nothing.Ava didn't look at him."I should have stayed with her.""You did.""I should have made her tell me.""She wasn't well.""I knew something was wrong."A tear rolled down her cheek."I knew it, Damian."He looked at her."You couldn't have known this would happen."Ava shook her head."Everyone keeps dying, disappearing, or hiding things from me."Her voice trembled."My mother is gone. My father is g
The rain had become a curtain of darkness around them.Ava stared at Damien."He threatened to kill you."Damien didn't blink."Then we're going to the chapel.""Damien—""Together.""But he asked me to come alone.""I don't negotiate with kidnappers."Chloe stepped forward."You can't go."Ava turned toward her."Why?""Because I saw what happened after the video was recorded."Chloe's voice trembled."Someone was already inside the chapel.""Who?""I don't know."She swallowed."But he wasn't alone."Damien's expression hardened."How many?""At least five."Lucas checked the magazine in his weapon."Then we need backup.""No."Damien shook his head."Too many people will alert them."Ava looked at him."Then what's the plan?"Damien stared toward the distant Blackwood estate."We let them believe we're walking into their trap.""And we turn it into ours."---Thirty minutes later...The Blackwood chapel stood beneath the storm.Its ancient doors were slightly open.Ava stepped out
Ava couldn't breathe.Dad.The word echoed inside her head.The man in the memory.The black rose around his neck.The dark room.The little girl crying.It was all coming back.But none of it made sense.She pressed her hands against her temples."I remember him."Damien caught her before her knees gave way."Easy."Ava shook her head."No.""I need to remember.""You don't have to do this now.""Yes, I do."She looked at Elena."You said I was six."Elena nodded through her tears."What happened when I was six?"Elena looked toward Daniel.Daniel slowly lowered his eyes."The fire."Ava frowned."What fire?""The Blackwood estate burned.""Your mother was inside.""Emily disappeared.""And you..."Daniel's voice broke."You were found three days later."Ava stared at him."Three days?""You were unconscious.""When you woke up, you remembered nothing."A cold silence followed.Damien looked at Elena."Then why did you tell everyone she was born in 2002?""Because we had to."Elena l
The room seemed to shrink around them.Ava stared at Elena.Then at Damien.Then back at Elena."Your father is the third Blackwood child."The words repeated inside Ava's head.Damien didn't move."What did you just say?"Elena's eyes filled with tears."I said your father is the third Blackwood child."Daniel stepped forward."Elena."She turned on him."No more lies."Her voice shook."Not tonight."Damien's jaw tightened."You're saying my father is one of the three children born eighteen years ago?""No."Elena shook her head."The third child was born before you.""Then who is he?"Elena looked at Ava."Your biological father."Silence.Ava's heart pounded."You're saying the third child is my father?"Elena nodded."He was separated from his sisters before anyone knew what he would become."Damien stared at her."That makes no sense.""It will."Elena took a breath."The Blackwood family records were altered.""Three children were born.""Two girls and one boy.""Your grandmoth
The clock on Damien's dashboard showed 10:43 p.m.Thirty-seven minutes.That was all the time they had.Ava sat silently beside Damien as they drove through the dark city toward St. Mary's Hospital.Daniel was missing.Elena was supposedly waiting for them.And somewhere in the shadows, the Chairman was watching.Ava stared at the silver key in her palm.2-1-4.She couldn't stop thinking about the final message.Bring Ava to Room 214—or Daniel dies.She looked at Damien."What if it's a trap?""It is."She frowned."You say that like it's nothing.""It doesn't mean we have to walk into it blindly."He glanced at her."We're going to find your mother.""And my father."Ava nodded."And whoever is behind all of this."Damien's hands tightened around the steering wheel."Tonight."---St. Mary's Hospital appeared ahead.The building looked almost deserted.Only a few windows were illuminated.Damien slowed the car."Something's wrong."Ava looked toward the entrance."There are no securi







