Margaret's words remained suspended in the room.Your grandfather's greatest secret.Benedict stared at her.“You know more than you're telling me.”Margaret lowered her eyes.“I know enough to be afraid.”“Afraid of whom?”She didn't answer.Damian stepped closer.“You said the Architect designed the original succession.”“Yes.”“Then who was the Architect?”Margaret looked toward Benedict.“That is the question your grandfather spent his life making sure nobody asked.”Benedict's expression hardened.“My grandfather didn't create this system alone.”“No.”“Then someone helped him.”“Yes.”“Who?”Margaret shook her head.“I never saw his face.”Damian frowned.So you're saying the Architect actually existed?“I am telling you the Architect was more than a person.”Benedict narrowed his eyes.“What does that mean?”“The Architect was a position.”Silence.Margaret continued."A name that was shared among those who really got how the Ashcroft family would pass things down."Damian star

Benedict stared at Jonathan.“Where is he?”Jonathan didn't answer immediately.Damian stepped forward.“You said Magnus found him.”“I said Magnus found the trail.”“That isn't what you said.”Jonathan looked at Damian.Your family's survival depends on it, so you'd better pay attention.Damian's expression hardened.“My family has been lying to me for twenty-five years. I'm done listening to half-truths.”Jonathan looked toward Eleanor.“She knows where this ends.”Eleanor lowered her head.Benedict turned to her.“Mother?”Eleanor looked at him.“Don't call me that.”The words came out broken.Benedict froze.Eleanor's eyes filled with tears.“Not until I tell you everything.”Damian stared at her.“Then tell us.”She took a breath.“Your grandfather separated the children because he believed one of them would eventually challenge his control.”Benedict's voice was quiet.“Which one?”“You.”“Why?”“Because Evelyn raised you to question everything.”Benedict's jaw tightened.“And m

When they got back to Ashcroft Manor, it had already started raining.Damian parked away from the main entrance.No lights were visible in the east wing.That bothered him.The manor was never completely dark.“Are you sure this is the place?” Daniel asked.Benedict picked up the key that Mara had forgotten.“This is what she wanted us to find.”Jonathan looked toward the upper windows.“Or what someone wanted us to find.”Benedict glanced at him.“You're becoming very suspicious.”“I'm trying to stay alive.”Damian opened the car door.“Then stay close.”They crossed the grounds.The east wing had been closed for years.Victor had always told Damian it was structurally unsafe.It slowly dawned on Damian that he had likely been deceived once again.Benedict inserted the key into the side entrance.The lock turned immediately.Too easily.Jonathan noticed it too.“Someone has used this recently.”Benedict pushed the door open.Dust covered the hallway.But there were fresh footprints a

The underground door shook again.Samuel stepped away from the table.“They're here.”Damian looked at the narrow passage behind them.“Is there another exit?”Samuel nodded.“But it won't take all of us.”Benedict looked at the document in his hand.“Then we'll make one.”Daniel glanced at him.“With what?”Benedict looked toward the stone wall.“The same thing they used to hide this place.”Samuel's expression changed.“You understand.”“Not completely.”Benedict placed his hand against the wall.“But I'm starting to.”A faint click sounded beneath his fingers.A section of stone moved.Behind it was a narrow opening.Damian stared.“You found another passage?”Samuel smiled faintly.“Your mother would have been proud.”The underground door shook again.This time, a crack appeared across its center.Samuel gathered the remaining papers.“Go.”Benedict looked at him.“You're coming.”“I have to.”“Then move.”They entered the passage.Samuel closed the stone panel behind them.A few

“Mom!”Damian pressed his hand against Eleanor's shoulder.“She's losing blood.”Edmund immediately pointed toward the crypt.“Bring her inside.”Benedict helped Damian carry Eleanor into the old stone chamber.Daniel followed, watching the cemetery entrance.“They're gone.”“For now,” Edmund said.Benedict looked at him.“Can you stop the bleeding?”Edmund nodded.“There are supplies inside.”Within minutes, Eleanor was lying on an old wooden table.The bullet had passed through her shoulder.She was conscious, but pale.Damian stayed beside her.“Why didn't you tell me?”Eleanor looked at him.“Because knowing the truth made you a target.”“You kept me in the dark.”“I was trying to keep you alive.”Benedict stepped closer.“You said Magnus knows about our children.”Eleanor closed her eyes.“I shouldn't have said that.”“Why?”“Because I don't mean that you already have children.”Daniel frowned.“Then what did you mean?”Eleanor looked at both brothers.“The succession protects th