Chapter 35 - Elise
The coordinates were printed across the screen.
A private medical facility outside the city.
I stared at them.
“That place is still operating?”
Martin nodded.
“Under another name.”
Rachel grabbed her phone.
“I'm calling emergency services.”
Eleanor's voice came through the speaker.
“You're too late.”
I turned toward the monitor.
Her face returned.
“What did you do to my mother?”
“Nothing she didn't choose.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it's true.”
“Then let her go.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because she is the only person who knows where the final archive is.”
Noah stepped forward.
“She knows.”
“Yes.”
“And she's protecting us.”
Eleanor's expression changed.
“She is protecting what she believes is left of her family.”
Gabriel stepped toward the screen.
“You're lying.”
“Then ask her.”
The camera opened again.
Elise was sitting in a different room.
No restraints now.
A table stood in front of her.
She looked directly at me.
“Hannah.”
I almost couldn't speak.
“Mom.”
Her mouth trembled.
“You look like your grandmother.”
I swallowed.
“I don't know what that means anymore.”
“It means I failed you.”
“No.”
“I did.”
“You didn't.”
“I left you with Elias.”
“He raised me.”
“I know.”
“Was he good to me?”
Elise closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Was he supposed to be my father?”
“No.”
I looked at Elias.
He couldn't meet my eyes.
“Was Gabriel?”
“Yes.”
Gabriel looked down.
“Then why did you give me to Elias?”
“Because Gabriel had already been marked.”
“Marked?”
“By the trust.”
I frowned.
“The trust doesn't mark people.”
“It does when the founder expects a child to become a successor.”
Noah stepped closer.
“Our mother was part of the founding line.”
Elise nodded.
“My father was.”
The room went silent.
Gabriel stared.
“What?”
“My father was one of the original trustees.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
Eleanor watched silently.
Elise continued.
“And when I discovered what they were doing with the network, I tried to leave.”
I asked:
“What were they doing?”
“Buying silence.”
She looked at the camera.
“Buying people.”
She paused.
“Buying outcomes.”
My chest tightened.
“How did Thomas get involved?”
“Thomas believed he could dismantle it from inside.”
Jonathan spoke.
“He died trying.”
“Yes.”
Elise looked at him.
“I was told he died because of the archive.”
Gabriel stared.
“No one knows how Thomas died.”
“I do.”
Eleanor's expression changed.
Elise continued.
“Thomas was meeting someone the night he died.”
“Who?”
She looked at me.
“Your legal father.”
I turned.
Elias went completely still.
“You?”
He nodded once.
“I met Thomas.”
“When?”
“The night he died.”
“Why?”
“To give him documents.”
My voice shook.
“What documents?”
“The original trust.”
Gabriel stepped forward.
“You told me you had it.”
“I did.”
“Then why did Thomas have it?”
“Because I couldn't get close enough to the archive.”
He looked at me.
“I needed someone inside the family.”
Jonathan pointed at Elias.
“You.”
“Yes.”
“Did you betray him?”
Elias shook his head.
“No.”
Martin suddenly spoke.
“You did.”
Everyone turned.
Martin's voice was barely audible.
“You gave Eleanor Thomas's location.”
Elias's face broke.
“I thought it would save Hannah.”
I stared.
“You gave him up.”
“I didn't know they would kill him.”
Gabriel's voice became cold.
“You knew exactly who they were.”
“I knew what they had done.”
“Then you knew.”
“I thought I could control it.”
Jonathan lunged.
Gabriel stopped him.
“Don't.”
Jonathan pulled away.
“He got Thomas killed.”
Elias looked at me.
“I was wrong.”
The words were simple.
They hurt more than anything else.
I stepped toward him.
“You made a decision.”
“Yes.”
“You chose me.”
“Yes.”
“And Thomas died.”
“Yes.”
I wiped my eyes.
“I don't know whether to forgive you.”
“You don't have to.”
Eleanor interrupted.
“This is exactly why I needed Hannah.”
I turned.
“For what?”
“To prove the original trust was corrupted.”
Rachel frowned.
“What?”
Eleanor continued.
“The trust was written to protect descendants.”
“So?”
“So it doesn't recognize ownership.”
She looked at Noah.
“It recognizes testimony.”
Noah frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Eleanor smiled.
“One child owns the evidence.”
“The other child activates it.”
I felt cold.
“That's why she needed me.”
“Yes.”
“And Noah.”
“Yes.”
Eleanor looked at both of us.
“You were never supposed to inherit the trust separately.”
She paused.
“You were supposed to open it together.”
Martin stared.
“Then the system is functioning exactly as designed.”
“Why did it designate Hannah?”
“Because she opened the preliminary clause.”
“And Noah?”
“The biological successor.”
Eleanor's voice dropped.
“Together, they can expose everything.”
“And you?”
“I become the person blamed for stopping them.”
She looked at the camera.
“You still don't understand.”
“Understand what?”
She leaned closer.
“I wasn't protecting the network.”
I stared.
“Then what were you protecting?”
Her answer came quietly.
“The people who built it.”
The line went dead.
At that exact moment, Rachel's phone rang.
She answered.
Her face changed.
“What?”
She listened.
Then she looked at me.
“The facility where your mother was being held has been evacuated.”
“What?”
“Everyone is gone.”
My heart sank.
“Everyone?”
Rachel nodded.
“Except one person.”
“Who?”
May you like
She looked at Elias.
“Thomas's old investigator.”
