Chapter 10 – The Voice Inside the Vault
The speaker crackled again.
Static filled the underground chamber.
Then the woman's voice returned.
Calm.
Controlled.
Almost gentle.
"Hello, everyone."
Grace froze.
She knew that voice.
Not because she had heard it from someone else.
Because it sounded exactly like her.
Rosa looked at her in horror.
"Grace..."
Emily slowly raised her weapon toward the ceiling.
"No."
Daniel stared at the speakers.
"That's impossible."
Arthur's face turned completely pale.
"No..."
Grace looked at him.
"You know that voice."
Arthur didn't answer.
That terrified her more than anything.
"Arthur."
The old lawyer closed his eyes.
"I was hoping you would never hear it."
A sharp alarm suddenly began ringing throughout the vault.
Red lights flashed across the walls.
CONTAINMENT PROTOCOL ACTIVE
ALL EXITS LOCKED
Nathan immediately moved toward the control panel.
"We need to open these doors."
Daniel followed.
"Can you override it?"
Nathan examined the system.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because this isn't a security system."
He looked around.
"It's a prison."
Grace's stomach tightened.
"A prison?"
Nathan nodded.
"Whoever built this place didn't create it to protect information."
He pointed at the thick steel walls.
"They built it to trap someone inside."
Everyone became silent.
Thomas looked toward the speakers.
"You always were dramatic."
The voice answered immediately.
"And you always underestimated me, Father."
Grace stopped breathing.
Father.
The word echoed through the vault.
She looked at Thomas.
Then at the speakers.
Then back at Thomas.
"No..."
Thomas slowly closed his eyes.
Grace whispered,
"Who is she?"
Nobody answered.
Then the voice spoke again.
"I suppose introductions are necessary."
A pause.
"My name is Isabella Blackwood."
The lights flickered.
"Grace..."
"I am your sister."
The entire room went silent.
Emily's expression changed instantly.
"No."
Thomas looked devastated.
"Isabella..."
Grace shook her head.
"I don't understand."
The voice continued.
"Of course you don't."
"Nobody wanted you to know."
Daniel looked at Thomas.
"How many children did you have?"
Thomas looked away.
"Three."
Grace felt dizzy.
"Three?"
Emily whispered,
"I thought there were only two."
Isabella laughed softly.
"Everyone did."
"That was the point."
The walls suddenly came alive.
A hidden screen descended from the ceiling.
It flickered.
Then an old video appeared.
A hospital room.
Twenty-eight years ago.
A younger Thomas stood beside a hospital bed.
A woman was crying.
Grace recognized her instantly.
Her mother.
Behind them...
Three newborn babies.
Grace covered her mouth.
"No..."
The video continued.
A nurse spoke.
"Mr. Blackwood, the girls are healthy."
Thomas looked exhausted.
"Three daughters..."
The nurse smiled.
"Triplets."
The video froze.
Grace stared.
Triplets.
The word felt impossible.
Emily whispered,
"We weren't twins."
"No."
The voice from the speakers answered.
"We were triplets."
Grace turned toward Emily.
"How did you not know?"
Emily's face was filled with shock.
"Because they told me the same lie they told you."
The video continued.
A younger Eleanor entered the room.
The moment Grace saw her younger face, she knew.
Eleanor had been there.
The recording showed Eleanor speaking quietly with Thomas.
"We cannot keep all three."
Thomas looked horrified.
"They are my daughters."
"And they are targets."
"If they find out there are three heirs..."
Eleanor's voice became colder.
"They will kill all three."
The screen went black.
Grace stared at Eleanor.
"You knew."
Eleanor didn't deny it.
"I knew about Isabella."
"Where was she?"
Eleanor looked away.
"We thought she died."
The speakers immediately responded.
"You didn't think."
"You made sure."
Everyone turned toward the ceiling.
Isabella's voice became colder.
"You left me."
Thomas stepped forward.
"Isabella, listen to me."
"No."
"I spent twenty-eight years listening."
"Listening while everyone talked about Grace."
"Listening while Emily searched for answers."
"Listening while my own father pretended I never existed."
Grace felt tears forming.
"Why?"
The voice became quiet.
"Because I was the mistake."
"No."
"Yes."
"I was born first."
"But Grace was the heir."
Grace frowned.
"What?"
Isabella continued.
"Grandfather's will."
Emily looked confused.
"The will only named the youngest daughter."
Arthur slowly nodded.
"Because he knew."
Everyone looked at him.
Arthur continued.
"Your grandfather knew someone would try to control the firstborn."
"He created a rule."
"The youngest daughter would inherit everything."
Grace whispered,
"Me."
"Yes."
Isabella's voice hardened.
"You were always the key."
Daniel looked toward the ceiling.
"And Isabella?"
"The forgotten daughter."
A silence followed.
Then Isabella spoke again.
"But now everything changes."
The vault floor suddenly shook.
A hidden panel opened in the center of the room.
Inside was a glass container.
And inside that container...
Was a small black box.
Thomas immediately reacted.
"No."
Grace looked at him.
"What is it?"
Thomas looked terrified.
"The original Blackwood archive."
Daniel frowned.
"The one containing the complete inheritance?"
Thomas shook his head.
"No."
"The one containing the truth."
Nathan stepped closer.
"What truth?"
Thomas looked at Grace.
"The truth about your birth."
Grace's heart raced.
"What else could there be?"
Thomas didn't answer.
Because the answer came from Isabella.
"Ask your husband."
Everyone turned toward Daniel.
His face changed.
Grace noticed.
"You know."
Daniel remained silent.
"Daniel..."
He looked at her.
"I'm sorry."
Her heart sank.
"Sorry for what?"
He took a slow breath.
"I knew about Isabella."
Emily stared.
"What?"
"I found her years ago."
Grace felt betrayed.
"You knew she existed?"
"Yes."
"And you never told me?"
"I was trying to protect you."
Grace laughed painfully.
"Everyone says that."
Daniel stepped closer.
"I made a mistake."
"No."
"You made a choice."
The vault suddenly shook again.
The speakers crackled.
Isabella spoke.
"Enough."
The lights turned red.
"Time is running out."
Nathan looked at the control panel.
"What's happening?"
Isabella answered.
"The vault will self-destruct in ten minutes."
Everyone froze.
Thomas looked toward the ceiling.
"You wouldn't."
"I would."
"Why?"
A pause.
Then Isabella answered.
"Because if I cannot have the truth..."
"...nobody will."
A countdown appeared on the screen.
09:59
09:58
09:57
Grace stared at the timer.
Then she looked at the three people who had controlled her life.
Her father.
Her sister.
Her husband.
Everyone had lied.
Everyone had secrets.
And now she had less than ten minutes to discover which one of them had destroyed her family.
The countdown continued.
09:30
Then Daniel suddenly whispered something that made Grace's blood freeze.
"Grace..."
"I know who killed your mother."
Everyone turned toward him.
Daniel looked at Thomas.
Then at Eleanor.
Then finally at Grace.
"It wasn't the Circle."
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A long pause.
"It was someone in this room."
