Chapter 10 - THE CHILD THEODORE CHOSE
Olivia stared at the Atlas screen.
For thirty-two years, she had believed Theodore Cross was her biological father.
The truth should have shattered her.
Instead, it sharpened her.
“Who were my parents?” she asked.
Julian smiled.
“That matters to you now?”
“It matters because you expect it to weaken me.”
Julian walked toward the central console.
“Your mother was a systems engineer named Rachel Wynn.”
“She helped Theodore and Evelyn build Atlas.”
“Your father was Gabriel Mercer.”
Adrian frowned.
“Julian’s uncle?”
“Samuel’s younger brother,” Julian said.
“Gabriel discovered Samuel intended to privatize Atlas.”
“He tried to expose him.”
“Samuel killed him.”
Olivia looked at Julian.
“Your father murdered mine.”
“My father eliminated a liability.”
“Theodore rescued you before Samuel could remove the final witness.”
Adrian stepped closer to his sister.
“Theodore chose you.”
Olivia looked at him.
“He lied to me.”
“He protected you.”
“Both can be true.”
Emma remembered her mother’s note.
Trust the person who admits they were late.
Adrian was no longer defending Theodore blindly.
He was accepting contradictions.
Julian placed the flash drive into the Atlas console.
Theodore’s files began uploading.
“This system recognizes Olivia as heir,” Julian said.
“But only Emma can validate the succession.”
“Once she does, Olivia will transfer emergency control to me.”
Olivia laughed.
“Why would I do that?”
Julian tapped the screen.
A video appeared.
It showed a teenage Olivia inside a laboratory.
A young man lay unconscious on the floor.
Blood covered her hands.
Olivia stared at the image.
“I do not remember that.”
“You were seventeen,” Julian said.
“You entered Theodore’s private lab.”
“You activated an experimental system.”
“The technician died.”
Adrian looked at her.
Olivia shook her head.
“This is fake.”
“It is not.”
Julian displayed an old police file.
The death had been ruled an electrical accident.
Theodore used money and influence to erase Olivia’s involvement.
Julian had preserved the original footage.
“You will give me control,” he said.
“Or the world sees what Theodore’s chosen heir did.”
Olivia watched the screen.
Then she noticed something.
The young woman in the footage wore a ring on her left hand.
Olivia had lost part of her left ring finger in a childhood accident.
The hand on-screen was complete.
She looked at Emma.
Emma saw it too.
“The video was altered,” Emma said.
Julian’s expression changed.
Olivia moved toward the console.
“You needed me ashamed.”
“You needed me too frightened to examine the evidence.”
“That works well on people who trust you.”
“I never did.”
Marcus raised his weapon toward the compromised hospital guards.
“Drop your guns.”
Nobody moved.
Dr. Grant pressed the syringe against Henry’s skin.
Emma stepped toward the central console.
“I will authorize the transfer.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Do not.”
Emma ignored him.
Julian smiled.
“Wise.”
She placed the brass cylinder into the console.
The system requested her palm.
Emma pressed it against the scanner.
A message appeared.
CUSTODIAN OVERRIDE AVAILABLE.
CHOOSE SUCCESSOR.
Two names appeared.
OLIVIA CROSS.
EMMA REED.
May you like
Julian stared.
Theodore’s will allowed Emma to choose herself.
