Chapter 9 – My Mother's Sister
Chapter 9 – My Mother's Sister
The room fell into absolute silence.
Emily couldn't breathe.
She stared at the woman on the monitor.
Elegant.
Calm.
Perfectly composed.
Everything about Victoria Ashcroft radiated power.
Yet it was her last sentence that echoed in Emily's mind.
"...I was your mother's older sister."
Emily slowly shook her head.
"No..."
"That's impossible."
Victoria smiled almost affectionately.
"I expected that reaction."
Benjamin Lawson looked as though someone had drained the blood from his face.
Agent Harris immediately signaled two technicians.
"Trace the signal."
One agent shook his head.
"Already trying."
"It's bouncing through hundreds of encrypted satellites."
Victoria chuckled softly.
"You'll never find me that way, Michael."
Harris narrowed his eyes.
"So you know my name."
Victoria's smile widened.
"I know much more than your name."
Emily stepped closer to the monitor.
"If you're my aunt..."
"...why did you let me believe I was an orphan?"
Victoria's expression became unreadable.
"I never wanted you to."
Emily frowned.
"What?"
"I wanted your parents to surrender."
"They refused."
Richard Bennett suddenly slammed his hand against the interrogation table.
"Don't listen to her!"
Victoria glanced toward him.
"My, Richard."
"You've become sentimental."
"You should have remained the man we recruited."
Richard glared at the screen.
"I was never one of you."
Victoria laughed.
"No."
"You were something far more useful."
"A frightened man."
Emily interrupted.
"What happened to my parents?"
Victoria looked directly into her eyes.
"I'll answer that."
"But first..."
"...you deserve to know who your mother really was."
The monitor changed.
A photograph filled the screen.
Two young women stood beside a lake.
One had the same gentle smile Emily had seen in the old newspaper.
Rebecca Carter.
The other—
Victoria.
The resemblance was unmistakable.
Same eyes.
Same cheekbones.
Same smile.
Emily whispered,
"They're sisters..."
Victoria nodded.
"Rebecca was my younger sister."
"My best friend."
"My greatest disappointment."
Professor Hughes frowned.
"Disappointment?"
Victoria sighed.
"She fell in love."
"With Daniel Carter."
"As though love mattered more than responsibility."
Emily felt anger rising.
"You make that sound like a crime."
Victoria answered calmly.
"In our family..."
"It was."
Lawson whispered,
"The Ashcroft family..."
Harris looked toward him.
"You know them?"
Lawson nodded slowly.
"They're one of the original twelve."
Victoria continued speaking.
"Rebecca was born into the Phoenix Consortium."
"She was raised to inherit power."
"But then she met Daniel."
"Together..."
"They decided the Consortium should end."
Emily clenched her fists.
"So they became enemies."
Victoria nodded once.
"They became traitors."
Richard suddenly laughed bitterly.
"Tell her the rest."
Victoria looked annoyed.
"You've earned the right to stay silent, Richard."
"No."
He looked at Emily.
"She deserves everything."
Victoria's expression darkened.
"You've changed."
Richard smiled weakly.
"No."
"I finally remembered who I used to be."
Emily looked from one to the other.
"Enough."
"I want the truth."
Victoria folded her hands.
"Very well."
Twenty-Three Years Earlier...
Rebecca Ashcroft stood inside the grand ballroom of the Ashcroft Estate.
Crystal chandeliers reflected across polished marble floors.
Around a massive oak table sat eleven men and women.
Each represented one of the Consortium's ruling families.
An empty chair stood at the end.
The Twelfth Seat.
Rebecca spoke first.
"I resign."
The room erupted.
One elderly man stood.
"You cannot resign."
Rebecca answered calmly.
"I already have."
She removed a gold ring from her finger.
The symbol engraved on it matched the phoenix Emily had seen on the hacked screens.
Rebecca placed the ring on the table.
"My daughter will never inherit this."
Victoria remembered that night perfectly.
Their father had nearly collapsed from rage.
"You belong to this family!"
Rebecca smiled through tears.
"No."
"I belong with Daniel."
She walked away.
She never returned.
Back in the present...
Emily whispered,
"My mother gave everything up..."
Victoria nodded.
"For you."
Emily felt tears forming.
"My whole life..."
"...she was trying to protect me."
Victoria's voice softened.
"Yes."
"More than you'll ever understand."
Agent Harris interrupted.
"If Rebecca wanted out..."
"...why kidnap the child?"
Victoria looked directly at him.
"We didn't."
Everyone froze.
Emily frowned.
"What?"
Victoria repeated herself.
"We did not kidnap you."
Richard's head snapped upward.
"What are you saying?"
Victoria ignored him.
"Daniel disappeared with Evelyn."
Emily stared.
"My father kidnapped me?"
"No."
"He hid you."
Lawson immediately objected.
"That's impossible."
"The police investigation—"
"Were fabricated."
Victoria finished the sentence.
Emily's thoughts raced.
"Then who took me from my parents?"
Victoria became silent.
For the first time...
She hesitated.
"I don't know."
The room became still.
"You... don't know?"
"No."
"Daniel vanished."
"Rebecca vanished."
"You vanished."
"So did the Twelfth Archive."
Richard suddenly whispered,
"My God..."
Victoria looked toward him.
"You've finally figured it out."
Richard slowly shook his head.
"I wasn't working for the Consortium."
Victoria smiled sadly.
"No."
"You were being manipulated by the real enemy."
Emily frowned.
"What enemy?"
Victoria answered quietly.
"The Thirteenth Circle."
Every person in the room looked confused.
Harris asked,
"There are only twelve founding families."
Victoria nodded.
"There were."
She paused.
"But twenty-five years ago..."
"...someone created a thirteenth."
The lights flickered again.
One of the technicians shouted,
"Agent Harris!"
"What?"
"We're detecting another encrypted archive."
"Origin?"
"The Carter Estate."
Harris frowned.
"I thought we'd recovered everything."
"So did we."
The technician projected the scan onto the wall.
A three-dimensional blueprint of the Carter mansion appeared.
Then...
Another structure slowly materialized beneath it.
Not one underground room.
An entire underground complex.
Secret tunnels.
Storage vaults.
Private laboratories.
A secure command center.
Professor Hughes whispered,
"That's impossible."
The technician zoomed farther out.
The underground tunnels stretched well beyond the property line.
One tunnel ended...
Directly beneath the old university campus.
Emily stared at the map.
"My university?"
Another tunnel ended beneath—
Bennett Global Headquarters.
Another—
A federal courthouse.
Another—
Chicago City Hall.
Harris's face hardened.
"This wasn't a bunker."
Lawson slowly finished the thought.
"It was a network."
Before anyone could speak again—
One final room appeared on the blueprint.
It was labeled in bold red letters:
ROOM E-12
Below it...
A status indicator flashed green.
ACCESS GRANTED
Everyone stared.
The technician frowned.
"That's impossible."
"No one touched the system."
The words on the screen suddenly changed by themselves.
A single message typed itself across the monitor.
Welcome home, Evelyn.
Then another line appeared.
I've been waiting twenty-two years for you.
Emily's heartbeat thundered in her ears.
"Who's there?"
No one answered.
Because somewhere beneath Chicago...
Someone was alive.
And somehow...
May you like
They had been expecting her to return.
End of Chapter 9
