Chapter 44 - THE HOUSE THAT NEVER EXISTED
Arthur remained frozen.
Daniel noticed the color draining from the old doctor's face.
"You've been there."
Arthur nodded slowly.
"Only once."
"When?"
"The day I joined Orion."
Alex waited.
Arthur took a long breath before continuing.
"I wasn't recruited at a corporate office."
"I wasn't interviewed."
"They drove me to an old estate outside the city."
Daniel unfolded Jonathan Reed's sketch beside Donovan's map.
The architecture matched perfectly.
Same entrance.
Same circular driveway.
Same stone fountain.
Arthur pointed toward the drawing.
"That's it."
Bennett immediately photographed the page.
"We'll verify the address."
Arthur gave a sad smile.
"You won't find it."
"Why not?"
"Because every map was changed."
Alex frowned.
"Changed?"
"The roads still exist."
"The forests still exist."
"But the estate..."
"...was removed from every public record."
Daniel looked toward Voss.
"You erased it."
"No."
Voss's answer came immediately.
"I failed to stop others from erasing it."
Arthur stared at him.
"For eighteen years I believed you ordered that."
"I wanted everyone to believe exactly that."
Silence.
Bennett looked from one man to the other.
"You've spent almost two decades pretending to be enemies."
Voss nodded.
"It was the only way Donovan's network survived."
Daniel's expression darkened.
"My father knew?"
"He did."
"And he never told me?"
"He couldn't."
Alex suddenly interrupted.
"Enough."
Everyone looked at him.
"People keep saying they protected me."
"They hid me."
"They erased my past."
"But no one has explained why."
Voss met his gaze.
"Because you were never the target."
Alex frowned.
"Then who was?"
Voss looked toward the old photograph of two boys still resting on the stone bench.
"Noah."
The name echoed through the courtyard.
Arthur closed his eyes.
May you like
"I was afraid you'd say that."
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