Chapter 5 – The Lie That Lasted Twenty-Eight Years
Arthur's words echoed through the smoke-filled entrance hall.
"Emily isn't your twin."
For a heartbeat, no one moved.
The crackling fire seemed to fade into the background.
Even the gunshots from the basement felt distant.
Grace simply stared at Arthur, convinced she had misheard him.
"What... did you say?"
The elderly lawyer lowered his eyes.
"I said Emily isn't your twin."
Emily's expression hardened.
"You've kept that secret long enough, Arthur."
Grace turned toward Emily, her mind racing.
"No."
She shook her head violently.
"The locket... the photographs... the journal..."
"They were real," Emily replied quietly.
"But they didn't tell the whole story."
Daniel looked between them.
"What are you talking about?"
Arthur removed his glasses with trembling hands.
"Twenty-eight years ago, two babies were born at Blackwood Memorial Hospital."
Grace whispered,
"Two babies..."
Arthur nodded.
"Everyone believed they were identical twin girls."
"They weren't."
Rosa frowned.
"Then who is Emily?"
Arthur closed his eyes.
"Emily is your older sister."
Silence.
Grace felt as if the floor had disappeared beneath her feet.
"My..."
She could barely force the words out.
"My sister?"
Arthur nodded.
"By eleven months."
Grace stared at Emily.
"No..."
Emily slowly smiled, but there was sadness behind it.
"I always wondered how you'd react when you finally learned the truth."
Grace stepped backward.
"This can't be happening."
"My birthday..."
"Fake."
"My adoption..."
"Fake."
"My memories..."
"Gone."
"And now you're telling me I've spent my whole life believing my sister was my twin?"
Arthur's voice was filled with regret.
"That lie was meant to protect you."
Grace laughed bitterly.
"Protect me?"
She pointed toward the burning mansion.
"Does this look like protection?"
No one answered.
Another explosion shook the west wing.
Chunks of burning wood crashed into the grand staircase.
Guests screamed again as smoke spread through the first floor.
Daniel looked toward the basement hallway.
"We're running out of time."
Arthur nodded.
"If they get the final file..."
"They'll erase the last piece of evidence forever."
Grace grabbed Arthur's arm.
"No."
"No more riddles."
"Tell me everything."
Arthur looked at Eleanor.
She gave the slightest nod.
For the first time that night...
The proud matriarch looked defeated.
Arthur took a slow breath.
"Twenty-nine years ago..."
"The Blackwood family wasn't just wealthy."
"They controlled one of the largest biotechnology companies in the country."
Daniel frowned.
"Blackwood BioSystems."
Arthur nodded.
"Exactly."
Grace looked confused.
"I've never heard of it."
"You were never supposed to."
"The company officially collapsed twenty-seven years ago."
Emily let out a cold laugh.
"Officially."
Arthur continued.
"In reality..."
"The company never disappeared."
"It simply changed names."
Daniel's eyes widened.
"No..."
Arthur looked directly at him.
"The Ashcroft Group."
The room fell silent again.
Grace slowly turned toward Daniel.
"Your family's company..."
"...was built from mine?"
Daniel looked stunned.
"My father told me he founded Ashcroft Group himself."
Arthur shook his head.
"He stole it."
Grace couldn't breathe.
Everything she'd believed about the Ashcroft family was unraveling.
Emily spoke quietly.
"That's why they took you."
Grace looked at her.
"What?"
"You weren't kidnapped because someone wanted another child."
"You were kidnapped because you owned something."
"I was a baby."
"You owned shares."
Grace frowned.
"What?"
Arthur nodded.
"Your grandfather placed every share of Blackwood BioSystems into a trust."
Grace's heart pounded.
"The trust could only be claimed by his youngest granddaughter..."
"...on her twenty-eighth birthday."
Grace froze.
"My birthday is next week."
Arthur nodded.
"Exactly."
Daniel looked horrified.
"That's why all of this is happening now."
Emily folded her arms.
"They've been waiting twenty-eight years."
Grace whispered,
"So..."
"They don't want me dead because they hate me."
Emily looked into her eyes.
"They want you dead before the trust transfers."
Rosa gasped.
"Oh my God..."
Grace suddenly remembered something.
"The babies."
Everyone looked at her.
"Eleanor said my babies would destroy everything."
Arthur slowly nodded.
"They would."
Grace frowned.
"Why?"
Arthur hesitated.
Daniel answered.
"Because if anything happens to you after the trust activates..."
"...your children inherit everything."
Grace instinctively wrapped both arms around her stomach.
The realization hit her all at once.
The attacks.
The lies.
The fake identity.
The hidden journal.
The sniper.
The fire.
It had never been about revenge.
It was about money.
Power.
Control.
Millions...
No.
Billions of dollars.
Before anyone could speak again—
A loud electronic beep echoed through the hallway.
Daniel's expression changed instantly.
He looked toward the ceiling.
"That's not good."
"What is it?" Rosa asked.
"The vault security system."
Arthur's face turned white.
"They've breached the first door."
Emily immediately started running toward the basement corridor.
"We're too late."
Daniel followed her without hesitation.
"Grace, stay here!"
Grace grabbed his arm.
"I'm done staying behind."
"It's dangerous."
"So is breathing in this family."
Daniel couldn't argue with that.
He gave a reluctant nod.
"Fine."
"But don't leave my side."
The group hurried through the smoke-filled hallway toward the basement staircase.
As they descended, the temperature dropped dramatically.
The elegant sounds of the gala disappeared behind them.
Replaced by silence.
Cold.
Heavy.
The basement looked nothing like the luxurious mansion above.
Concrete walls.
Steel doors.
Security cameras.
Fingerprint scanners.
It resembled a military bunker more than a family cellar.
Grace looked around in disbelief.
"This was under our house the whole time?"
Daniel nodded.
"My father built it in secret."
Arthur corrected him.
"No."
"He expanded something much older."
They reached the final security door.
It stood wide open.
The thick steel lock had been blown apart with explosives.
Smoke drifted through the opening.
Daniel slowly raised a pistol taken from one of the fallen guards upstairs.
"Stay behind me."
The group entered cautiously.
The vault was enormous.
Rows of filing cabinets stretched into the darkness.
Shelves overflowed with sealed boxes labeled with dates going back more than thirty years.
The room looked untouched by time.
Except...
Everything had been ransacked.
Files covered the floor.
Cabinets hung open.
Drawers had been ripped out.
Someone had searched the entire archive.
Emily looked around frantically.
"They've already been here."
Arthur hurried toward the far wall.
"No..."
"No..."
He suddenly stopped.
His face turned ghostly pale.
The final cabinet stood open.
Its last drawer was empty.
Arthur whispered,
"They got it."
Grace stepped closer.
"What was in there?"
Arthur looked at her with tears in his eyes.
"The original DNA report."
Grace frowned.
"My DNA?"
Arthur slowly shook his head.
"No."
"Your father's."
Grace stared at him.
"My father died before I was born."
Arthur swallowed hard.
"That's another lie."
At that exact moment, a slow clap echoed from the darkness at the back of the vault.
Everyone spun around.
A tall man stepped out from the shadows wearing a black suit and leather gloves.
His face was hidden behind a half-mask.
In one hand, he held the missing DNA file.
In the other...
A remote detonator.
May you like
He smiled.
"Thank you for finding the vault for me."
