THE SON THEY BURIED WAS THEIR ONLY HEIR

Chapter Twenty Five: The Night They Came for Her

The mansion erupted into chaos.

Glass shattered downstairs.

Someone screamed.

Then came the sound of hurried footsteps racing across the marble floor.

Benedict opened the bedroom door.

Victor immediately stepped into the hallway.

“Stay behind me.”

Benedict shook his head.

“They're looking for me.”

“Exactly.”

Victor’s voice hardened.

“Which is why you stay here.”

Benedict stared at him.

“For thirty years, everyone has made decisions about my life without asking me.”

Victor fell silent.

Benedict continued.

“I’m done standing behind other people.”

Before Victor could answer, another crash echoed from the lower floor.

Eleanor appeared at the end of the hallway.

“Victor!”

He immediately moved toward her.

“Stay with Benedict.”

Eleanor shook her head.

“No.”

Her eyes were filled with fear.

“They came because of me.”

Victor stopped.

“What do you mean?”

Eleanor swallowed.

“I remembered the man.”

Benedict's attention sharpened.

“Who?”

Eleanor looked toward the staircase.

“I don't know his name.”

“But I remember his face.”

A security alarm suddenly blared.

Red emergency lights flickered along the walls.

Gabriel Frost appeared from the opposite corridor.

“Chairman!”

Victor turned.

“How many?”

“At least four.”

“Armed?”

Gabriel nodded.

“Yes.”

“Where are they?”

“Ground floor. They're moving toward the east wing.”

Benedict immediately understood.

“The old records.”

Gabriel looked at him.

“You think that's what they're after?”

“They wouldn't have risked entering the manor just to frighten us.”

Victor's expression hardened.

“Then we find out what they're looking for before they do.”

Downstairs...

Three masked men moved through the darkened corridor.

One carried a small electronic device.

Another held a pistol.

The third stopped outside the library.

“Search everything.”

“We have five minutes.”

A voice crackled through the earpiece.

“Don't hurt anyone unless necessary.”

The leader nodded.

“Understood.”

Then another instruction came.

“Find the blue file.”

Benedict heard the faint sound of footsteps approaching from below.

He looked at Gabriel.

“The blue file.”

Gabriel's expression changed.

“You know about it?”

“No.”

“But they do.”

Gabriel immediately understood.

“Then it may be in the Chairman's private archive.”

Victor frowned.

“My archive?”

Gabriel nodded.

“Edward's old files were moved there years ago.”

Victor's face hardened.

“Then that's where we're going.”

They moved quickly through the darkened corridor.

Benedict stayed beside Eleanor.

Suddenly, she grabbed his hand.

He looked at her.

“What's wrong?”

“I remember the station.”

Benedict stopped.

“What?”

“The man who took you.”

Her breathing became uneven.

“He wasn't alone.”

“Who was with him?”

“A woman.”

Benedict's heart raced.

“What woman?”

Eleanor shook her head.

“I can't remember her face.”

“But I remember something.”

“What?”

“A silver ring.”

Benedict immediately thought of the security footage.

The employee.

The silver ring with the dark stone.

His pulse quickened.

“Mother...”

“What?”

“I think you've just remembered something important.”

A figure suddenly stepped from the darkness.

Gabriel raised his weapon.

“Don't move!”

The figure froze.

It was one of the household security officers.

“Sir!”

Gabriel lowered his weapon slightly.

“What happened?”

“The east corridor is compromised.”

“How many?”

“Three.”

The officer swallowed.

“They're looking for someone.”

“Who?”

The officer looked directly at Benedict.

“Him.”

Before anyone could respond...

A gunshot exploded through the corridor.

The security officer collapsed.

Eleanor screamed.

Victor pulled her behind him.

Gabriel fired toward the darkness.

“Move!”

They ran.

Benedict grabbed Eleanor's hand.

Damian appeared from a side corridor.

“This way!”

They followed him into the old music room.

Damian slammed the door shut.

Everyone held their breath.

Footsteps passed outside.

Then stopped.

Someone tried the handle.

Once.

Twice.

Damian pressed his back against the door.

“There’s another exit.”

He pointed toward the piano.

Benedict stared.

“How do you know?”

“I explored the house when I was younger.”

Damian pulled the piano slightly away from the wall.

A hidden panel appeared.

“Go!”

They slipped through the narrow passage.

Victor went first.

Eleanor followed.

Benedict stayed close behind her.

Gabriel brought up the rear.

The passage eventually opened into the private archive.

Victor entered the room and immediately locked the door.

Rows of old documents covered the walls.

Boxes filled every shelf.

Benedict looked around.

“Find the blue file.”

Everyone began searching.

Eleanor moved toward a cabinet near the window.

Then she stopped.

Something had caught her attention.

A small wooden box.

She opened it.

Inside were several old documents.

One photograph.

And a faded hospital bracelet.

Eleanor picked up the photograph.

Her hands began to tremble.

Victor noticed.

“What is it?”

She turned the photograph toward him.

Victor stared.

His face changed.

It was a photograph of Eleanor.

Young.

Standing alone outside a hospital.

She was holding a newborn baby wrapped tightly in a blue blanket.

Victor looked at the photograph in disbelief.

He had never seen this moment.

He had never known Eleanor had taken the baby there.

His eyes remained fixed on her younger face.

“When was this?”

Eleanor's voice trembled.

“I don't know.”

She turned the photograph over.

There was a handwritten date.

And beneath it...

A single sentence.

He must never be found.

Victor's hands tightened.

“Someone knew.”

Eleanor nodded.

“Someone knew about our son.”

Benedict stepped closer.

His eyes fixed on the baby.

The blue blanket.

The tiny hand visible above it.

Something inside him shifted.

A memory flashed.

A hospital corridor.

A woman's voice.

A man's shadow.

Then a sentence.

“You cannot let them know who he is.”

Benedict staggered backward.

Victor caught him.

“What happened?”

Benedict pressed a hand against his temple.

“I remember the hospital.”

Eleanor's eyes filled with tears.

“What do you remember?”

Benedict looked at her.

“You were there.”

Eleanor covered her mouth.

“I knew you were.”

“But I don't remember leaving with you.”

Her face crumpled.

“Because you didn't.”

The room fell silent.

Benedict looked at Victor.

“You weren't there.”

Victor slowly shook his head.

“No.”

“I never knew where you were.”

Benedict looked back at the photograph.

“Then someone took me after this picture was taken.”

Eleanor nodded.

“I believe so.”

A metallic sound suddenly came from the archive door.

Everyone froze.

Someone was trying to open it.

Gabriel moved toward the entrance.

“Everyone step back.”

The lock beeped.

Once.

Twice.

Then stopped.

Gabriel frowned.

“They've disabled the electronic system.”

Victor looked at him.

“Can they get inside?”

“Eventually.”

“How long?”

“Not long.”

Benedict looked around the room.

“We need another exit.”

Victor pointed toward the rear wall.

“Edward built one.”

They hurried toward it.

Benedict noticed an old portrait of Edward Ashcroft.

He remembered the message.

Remember the clock tower.

He pulled the portrait aside.

Behind it was a small brass lever.

Benedict pulled it.

A section of the wall opened.

Damian stared.

“Your grandfather really liked secret passages.”

Victor gave a bitter smile.

“He didn't trust people.”

Benedict looked at him.

“Maybe he had a reason.”

They entered the passage.

Gabriel closed the hidden door behind them.

Seconds later...

A violent crash echoed from the archive.

The intruders had broken in.

But the room was empty.

They hurried through the passage until they reached the old conservatory.

Rain tapped against the glass ceiling.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Then Gabriel's phone vibrated.

He looked at the screen.

His expression changed.

“What?”

Victor asked.

“Martha.”

Benedict immediately turned.

“What about her?”

“She was moved to a safe house after she disappeared from the manor.”

“Is she safe?”

Gabriel hesitated.

“No.”

Benedict's stomach tightened.

“What happened?”

“She disappeared again.”

“When?”

“Twenty minutes ago.”

Benedict stared at him.

“Someone found her.”

Gabriel nodded.

“That is what I believe.”

Victor looked at Benedict.

“Who is Martha?”

“The woman who recognized me,” Benedict answered.

Gabriel continued.

“She worked at St. Gabriel Children's Home.”

Benedict's breathing changed.

“The orphanage.”

Gabriel nodded.

“She may be one of the few people alive who remembers what happened to you.”

Benedict looked toward Eleanor.

His mother was crying silently.

“We have to find her.”

“We will,” Victor said.

“But first we need to know who inside this house is helping them.”

A phone suddenly rang.

Everyone froze.

It was Benedict's.

Unknown number.

He answered.

“Hello?”

Silence.

Then a woman's trembling voice.

“Benedict...”

His eyes widened.

“Martha?”

The woman began crying.

“You mustn't trust...”

The line crackled.

“Martha?”

“...the person...”

“What person?”

“...closest to you.”

The call ended.

Benedict stared at the phone.

Damian stepped closer.

“Who was it?”

“Martha.”

“What did she say?”

Benedict slowly lowered the phone.

“She warned me not to trust the person closest to me.”

Everyone fell silent.

Then Benedict's phone vibrated again.

A photograph appeared.

Martha was sitting inside a dark room.

Alive.

A timestamp appeared beneath the image.

TAKEN THREE MINUTES AGO.

Then another message arrived.

You wanted the truth.

Come alone.

Tomorrow. 9:17 PM.

The clock tower.

Benedict stared at the screen.

The same place.

At the same time.

The same mystery.

But this time...

They had taken someone who knew his past.

Victor immediately stepped forward.

“You're not going.”

Benedict looked at him.

“They have Martha.”

“We'll get her.”

“Then we'll go together.”

Victor stared at him.

For the first time...

Benedict wasn't asking for permission.

He was making a decision.

He looked down at the message again.

The clock tower had already taken one part of his past.

Tomorrow night...

He intended to take it back.

But somewhere in the darkness...

Someone was watching the Ashcroft Manor.

And that person already knew exactly who would betray them first.