Chapter 28 - The Fourth Heir
Victor stared at his own face on the transfer screen.
“No.”
The word came out as a whisper.
Daniel moved closer to the panel. Beneath Victor’s image, a line of text appeared:
BIOLOGICAL CLAIM: VERIFIED
Julian turned toward Arthur’s empty restraint.
“He knew.”
Samuel looked at Victor with growing suspicion.
“What did Lydia never tell us?”
Victor shook his head.
“This is a mistake.”
The Director’s voice filled the chamber.
“There are no mistakes in blood.”
On the ballroom monitor, Victor stood near the piano while Clara kept Michael Arden’s fallen weapon aimed at the guards. Guests pressed themselves against the walls, afraid to move.
Daniel spoke into the camera.
“Victor, touch the piano.”
Victor looked toward the nearest lens.
“Why?”
“To see what the system recognizes.”
Victor placed one hand on the black wood.
The underground panel reacted instantly.
A fourth profile opened.
Victor Langford.
Birth name: Victor Elias Vale.
Samuel stumbled backward.
“You’re our brother.”
Victor stared at the ballroom screen reflected in the piano lid.
“That name means nothing to me.”
The Director appeared beside him.
“It meant everything before you were purchased.”
Victor turned slowly.
“Purchased?”
The old man smiled.
“Your adoptive family funded the earliest phase of the trust. In exchange, they received a son with a clean history.”
Daniel looked toward Samuel.
“How old was Victor?”
“Three,” Samuel replied.
Victor’s expression changed as fragments of memory surfaced.
A white corridor.
A woman singing beside a locked door.
A silver metronome ticking in darkness.
He pressed both hands against the piano.
“I remember this sound.”
The Director raised the metronome.
“You were not the fourth heir by birth order. You were the fourth child selected to preserve the Vale line.”
Julian looked at the transfer panel.
“Then he is not Lydia’s child.”
“No,” Samuel said. “He’s our brother.”
The realization spread through the chamber.
Arthur, Samuel, Victor, and perhaps others had all been moved through the same system.
Daniel looked at the twelve children.
“This family was built from replacements.”
Hope stepped beside him.
“The Director does not care about family. Only continuity.”
The profile beneath Victor’s face updated.
PRIMARY SUCCESSOR ELIGIBLE
Clara aimed the gun toward the Director.
“Eligible for what?”
The ballroom doors opened behind the guests.
Dozens of children entered in white uniforms.
Each wore a blank collar.
The Director looked toward Victor.
“To choose the next generation.”
Victor stepped away from the piano.
“I choose no one.”
The old man gave a small nod.
Every blank collar activated.
A countdown appeared.
Five minutes.
The transfer system below displayed a new instruction:
FOURTH HEIR MUST SELECT TWELVE SUCCESSORS.
Daniel looked at Victor through the monitor.
“Do not touch another key.”
Victor’s hands trembled.
“I wasn’t planning to.”
Then the piano played by itself.
May you like
One note.
A child’s collar turned red.
