"Someone took her." "Who?" Elena's lips trembled. "We never found out." Adrian stared at her. "But now she's at the estate." "Yes." "And she's been hunting me." Elena shook her head. "No." Adrian frowned. "What?" "She hasn't been hunting you." Elena looked directly into his eyes. "She's been trying to find you." Adrian went silent. "But the attacks—" "Weren't from her." "Then who?" Elena's face became pale. "Augustus." Lucian immediately shook his head. "Impossible." Elena turned toward him. "You've been wrong about him for twenty-two years." Lucian's expression hardened. "He's dead." "No." Elena whispered, "He never died." Adrian looked between them. "We already know that." Elena shook her head. "No." Her voice trembled. "You don't." Adrian frowned. "What don't I know?" Elena looked at Alexander. "Tell him." Alexander remained silent. "Tell him." Alexander finally looked at Adrian. "Augustus isn't the person controlling the Black Crown." A

Darkness swallowed the chamber. For several seconds, nobody spoke.Then Elena's voice trembled through the darkness.“Adrian?”“I’m here.”His voice came from somewhere ahead of her.The next instant, emergency lights flickered on.Adrian stood in the middle of the chamber, but something about him had changed.The golden mark on his palm was glowing.Not brightly.It pulsed slowly, like a second heartbeat.And the Sovereign was silent.That frightened him more than its voice ever had.“Where is Cassian?” Julian asked.Adrian turned.The bottom of the stairs was empty.Cassian had disappeared.Victor immediately drew his weapon.“He couldn't have left that quickly.”“He didn't,” Alexander said.Everyone looked at him.Alexander pointed toward the wall.A thin black line had appeared across it.“It opened.”The wall suddenly split apart.Behind it was a narrow corridor descending even deeper underground.Cold air rushed into the chamber.The child buried her face against Adrian's chest.

Adrian could not breathe.“Your first mother.”Cassian's words echoed through the chamber.Adrian stared at him.“What does that mean?”Seraphine's face had gone completely pale.Helena immediately looked at her.“Seraphine?”Seraphine said nothing.The child suddenly began crying.“Mother…”Adrian turned toward her.She was staring at Seraphine.“No,” Seraphine whispered.The child reached toward her.“Mother…”Seraphine stepped backward.“I wasn't your first mother.”The child shook her head.“Yes.”Adrian looked between them.“What is she talking about?”Cassian's black eyes flickered again.The Sovereign was fighting to maintain control.“She was not your first mother,” Cassian said.“She was your second.”Adrian's stomach dropped.“Then who was the first?”Cassian's expression twisted with pain.“You.”Adrian froze.“What?”“You were her first mother.”Nobody moved.Even the Sovereign became silent.Adrian stared at Cassian as though he had stopped understanding the language.“Th

The room fell silent.Cassian stood at the bottom of the staircase, his face pale and his eyes bloodshot from exhaustion. The strange darkness Adrian had seen in them moments earlier was gone.But his words remained.“The Sovereign has finally found its king.”Adrian stared at him.“What does that mean?”Cassian looked around the room before answering.“It means they know who you are.”Julian stepped forward. “Who are they?”Cassian gave a bitter laugh.“You still don't understand. The Sovereign isn't a machine. It isn't some organization hiding in a basement.”He looked directly at Adrian.“It is the network that has controlled the Nightingale family for decades.”Alexander's expression tightened.“Cassian.”“No.” Cassian shook his head. “The boy deserves the truth.”Adrian's eyes narrowed.“Then tell me everything.”Cassian slowly climbed the stairs.“The Sovereign was created by the old Nightingale patriarch. It was supposed to protect the family's wealth, businesses and bloodline.

Adrian stared at the chairman.“The rightful owner?”The old man smiled.“You heard me.”Adrian glanced through the glass at Emilia.She was watching him carefully.Something was wrong.She wasn't simply a prisoner.She looked frightened of the man standing beside her.“Who are you?” Adrian asked.The chairman adjusted his cufflinks.“Richard Nightingale.”Adrian's eyes narrowed.He knew the name.Richard Nightingale was the chairman of Nightingale Holdings.The man who had controlled the family's corporate empire for almost two decades.The man everyone believed had been appointed by Alexander.Richard smiled.“Your great-uncle.”Adrian's expression hardened.“I've never heard of you.”“That was intentional.”Richard walked toward the glass wall.“You were hidden from the family. I was hidden from you.”Adrian looked at Emilia.“Why is she here?”“Because she discovered the truth.”“What truth?”Richard's smile disappeared.“That your birth certificate wasn't the only document that w