Darkness swallowed everything. Emergency lights flickered on, casting blood red shadows across the command centre.Gunfire erupted. Not from the FBI agents, but at them. The operatives who had been guarding the room were not Marcus’s men. They were Catherine’s.Lex dove under the table, pulling Sophia with him. Around them, chaos exploded. Real FBI agents shouted commands. Fake agents returned fire. Bodies hit the floor.“This way!” Maya grabbed Lex’s arm, dragging him toward a side exit he had not noticed before.Mei covered their escape, her wounded shoulder forgotten as she fired with deadly precision. The twins moved as one unit, clearing a path.They burst through the door into another corridor. Behind them, the command centre had become a war zone.“How did you know?” Lex gasped, running beside Maya.“I did not. But when Daniel showed up, something felt wrong. Too convenient. Too perfect.” Maya took a corner hard. “Plus, I recognised one of the supposed FBI agents. He used to wo

The blast threw Lex and Sophia forward, slamming them against concrete. Heat washed over them in waves. Behind them, the warehouse became an inferno.Lex’s ears rang. His vision blurred. Sophia pulled him to his feet, her mouth moving but he could not hear the words.They stumbled away from the flames. Police cars and fire trucks screamed toward them. Lex turned back, searching the chaos for any sign of movement.Nothing. The building was fully engulfed. No one could survive that.His mother. Gone. Again. This time for real.“Lex!” Sophia’s voice finally broke through. “We need to go. Before they start asking questions.”She was right. They were still technically suspects in multiple investigations. Being at the scene of an explosion would not help.Maya and Mei appeared from an alley, the car running. “Get in!”They drove in silence for twenty minutes before anyone spoke.“What happened?” Maya finally asked. “We saw the explosion from three blocks away.”“Victoria. She must have plan

Lex stared at the timestamped article. “How is she predicting her own death?”“She is not predicting,” Sophia said slowly. “She is planning. Victoria is going to fake her death. Again.”“Why? She won. She has everything.”“Does she?” Maya leaned forward from the back seat. “Think about it. Everyone who knew the truth is in prison or dead. If Victoria disappears now, she can access all those assets without anyone watching. No FBI. No media. Complete freedom.”“Then why call me? Why threaten us?”“Because there is something she still needs,” Mei said. “Something only you can give her.”Lex’s mind raced. What could Victoria possibly need from him? He had nothing. No money. No power. No—The realisation hit like ice water.“DNA,” he breathed. “She needs my DNA. I am Marcus and Rebecca’s biological son. The only one who can definitively prove inheritance rights through genetic testing. Without me, any contested claim could drag on for years.”“So she gets you to the estate,” Sophia continu

Lex staggered backwards, his mind rejecting the words. “That is impossible. Gerald Sterling died thinking I was his enemy. He let Richard beat me. He watched me suffer.”“Because he did not know,” Rebecca said quickly, pulling him deeper into the cabin. The armed figures remained in shadows, unmoving. “Gerald never knew you were his son. No one did. Not Marcus. Not Catherine. Not even Victoria. Only me.”“This is insane.”“It is the truth. Sit. Please. We do not have much time.”Against his instincts, Lex sat. The cabin was sparse. One room. A table. Chairs. A single window overlooking miles of empty forest. The armed figures stayed by the walls, faces hidden.Rebecca sat across from him, her hands shaking. “Twenty-nine years ago, I was an FBI agent assigned to infiltrate Marcus Kane’s organisation. But the operation was compromised. Marcus discovered I was undercover. He was going to kill me.”“But he married you instead.”“No. Gerald Sterling saved me. He was working with Marcus bac

The explosion was not real.Lex realised it the moment the flashbang detonated. Not lethal. Just disorienting. His ears rang. His vision blurred white. But he was alive.Hands grabbed him roughly. Dragged him from the car. Sophia screamed somewhere nearby. He tried to fight but his limbs would not cooperate. The flash bang had done its job.When his vision cleared, he was on his knees in an abandoned parking lot. Five operatives surrounded them. Military gear. Professional. Silent.Sophia knelt beside him, zip-tied, breathing hard. Alive. The baby is still safe.One operative stepped forward and removed their helmet.Maya Chen.“Sorry about the dramatics,” she said. “But you were being tracked. Victoria put a chip in your phone during the FBI raid. We had thirty seconds to get you out before her real team arrived.”“You could have just told us,” Lex managed, his hearing still muffled.“No time. And you would not have believed me.” Maya cut their zip ties. “We need to move. Now. Victor