The gunshot still rang through the control room.Lucas stared at Samuel on the floor. Blood was spreading beneath him, darkening his shirt as L-01 stood over him with blood on his hand.Marcus Vane remained near the doorway, his gun still pointed toward them.For one terrible second, nobody moved.Then Lucas dropped beside his father.“Dad.”Samuel's eyes were open, but his breathing had become shallow. Lucas pressed his hand against the wound.“Richard!”Richard rushed over and knelt beside Samuel. “Move your hand.”Lucas obeyed.Richard examined the wound, then pressed a piece of torn fabric firmly against it. “He's alive, but the bullet went deep. We need to stop the bleeding.”Lucas looked at Marcus. “You shot him.”Marcus lowered the gun. “I wasn't aiming for him.”“Then who were you aiming at?”Marcus looked past Lucas.At L-01.L-01's expression remained cold. “Me.”Marcus nodded. “Yes.”Lucas stepped toward him. “Why?”Marcus glanced at the locked doors. “Because your grandfat

The archive door shuddered under another impact.Dust sifted from the ceiling and settled across the old shelves. The red emergency light above the entrance flickered, throwing the medical room into brief flashes of crimson before sinking back into darkness.Lucas tightened his grip around the black case containing the original trust.“There’s one final page,” he said. “My mother has it.”The old woman nodded slowly.“And your grandfather will kill to get it.”Another blow struck the door.The wooden frame groaned.Richard drew his weapon and moved toward the entrance. Samuel tried to push himself upright on the medical bed, but the motion pulled at the wound beneath his ribs. A sharp breath escaped him as fresh blood seeped through the bandage.Richard immediately turned.“Stay down.”“My wife is somewhere in this building.”Samuel swung his legs over the side of the bed.Richard caught his shoulder before he could stand. “You’ve lost too much blood.”“And Elena may be walking into a

Nobody moved.Edward Hale stood in the doorway, one hand braced against the stone frame. His hair had turned almost completely white, and his face was thinner than the photographs Lucas had studied in the archive. Time had carved deep lines around his eyes, but there was no mistaking him.Lucas had seen those eyes in the old family portraits.He had seen them in the records.He had seen the same face attached to reports that claimed Edward Hale had died decades ago.Edward's gaze settled on Samuel first.“My son.”Samuel's breath caught. He shifted his weight against L-01, one hand pressed firmly over the wound in his side. Blood had soaked through his shirt and darkened the fabric beneath his fingers.“Father.”The word came out rough, carrying twenty-eight years of anger and disbelief.Edward stepped into the archive, leaving the doorway behind him. His knees seemed unsteady, but he kept moving until he stood beside the old woman in the wheelchair. He rested his hand against the bac

“Choose me.”Lucas stared at his grandfather.For a moment, the words seemed to hang apart from everything else in the archive. Smoke drifted through the broken doorway, mixing with dust beneath the old lamps. Armed men remained behind the damaged entrance, but none of them moved. The terminal had frozen every command, holding the entire room in a tense pause.The screen still displayed:WHO WILL REJECT THE EMPIRE?His grandfather stepped closer, keeping his eyes on the terminal.“I will reject it.”Elena’s shoulders stiffened.“No.”Her grandfather faced her. “You heard me.”Lucas tightened his grip on the edge of the console. “You?”“Yes.” The older man’s voice remained controlled. “I reject control. The trust dissolves. The empire ends.”Lucas studied him. “Then why would you do that?”“Because you and your brother won't survive what comes afterward.”Behind Lucas, L-01 shifted away from the stone column. Samuel immediately caught his arm.“Stay here.”L-01 looked down at his fathe

SECOND REJECTION REQUIRES A BLOODLINE RELEASE.Lucas read the warning again.“What does that mean?”L-01 kept his hand above the REJECT CONTROL option. The countdown continued beneath the warning, its red numbers changing at a steady pace.9:55.9:54.Behind them, Richard remained beside Samuel, who was seated on the floor with his back against the stone column. Blood had soaked through the makeshift dressing around his ribs and stained Richard's hands as he kept pressure on the wound.Richard looked toward the terminal.“Whatever it means, we need to understand it quickly.”Samuel drew a shallow breath.“Don't rush.”Richard looked down at him. “You're bleeding through everything I've put on that wound.”“I know.”“You need medical attention.”Samuel gave a faint, tired smile. “So does everyone else in this room.”L-01's hand remained suspended above the terminal.His grandfather stepped toward him.“Don't press it.”Lucas moved between them.“Stay where you are.”The older man stopp