The Billionaire Heir's Revenge

Chapter 16: Subject Zero

The conference room fell into complete silence.

Nobody moved.

Nobody spoke.

Victor Ashford's words echoed endlessly in everyone's mind.

"Subject Zero is you."

Ethan stared at him.

His expression remained calm.

But inside, his thoughts were in chaos.

"What exactly does that mean?"

Victor took a deep breath.

For the first time since arriving, he looked genuinely concerned.

"It means everything started with you."

The room became silent again.

Victor slowly opened the Subject Zero file.

Ancient documents filled its pages.

Research reports.

Photographs.

Medical records.

Classified government documents.

Most were over twenty years old.

Ethan frowned.

"Why do these records exist?"

Victor looked directly into his eyes.

"Because you were born different."

Twenty-One Years Earlier...

A hidden laboratory.

Deep beneath a mountain.

Scientists rushed through brightly lit hallways.

Alarms sounded everywhere.

Inside the central research chamber, a newborn baby cried.

Doctors surrounded the child.

Monitors displayed impossible readings.

One scientist stared at the screen.

His hands trembled.

"It's impossible."

Another scientist looked over.

"What is?"

The first scientist swallowed.

"The compatibility rate."

Silence.

Then someone whispered:

"Ninety-nine percent."

The room froze.

Everyone understood what that meant.

Because for decades...

Nobody had ever exceeded twenty percent.

Not until that day.

Not until the birth of Subject Zero.

Back in the present.

The conference room remained silent.

Ethan's expression darkened.

"What compatibility rate?"

Victor hesitated.

Then answered.

"The Phoenix Gene."

Boom.

Nobody spoke.

Not even Isabella.

The words sounded absurd.

Almost ridiculous.

Yet Victor wasn't joking.

"The Phoenix Archive isn't just information."

Victor continued.

"It was created by a group of scientists over fifty years ago."

Ethan narrowed his eyes.

"And?"

"They discovered something hidden within human genetics."

The room became quieter.

"The possibility of human evolution."

Ava's eyes widened.

"You're serious?"

Victor nodded.

"Very."

The atmosphere became heavy.

Leonard rubbed his forehead.

"This sounds insane."

"It is."

Victor admitted.

"But it's true."

He turned toward Ethan.

"Subject Zero was the first successful result."

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Ethan couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Neither could anyone else.

At that exact moment.

Elsewhere in the city.

Richard Kane entered a luxury penthouse.

Waiting inside was a beautiful woman.

Tall.

Elegant.

Dangerous.

She sat beside the window overlooking the city.

A glass of wine rested in her hand.

Richard immediately lowered his head.

"Lady Raven."

The woman smiled.

A beautiful smile.

One that somehow felt terrifying.

"How is our little heir?"

Richard smirked.

"Confused."

"Good."

She took a sip of wine.

"The more confused he becomes, the easier he is to control."

Richard nodded.

Then hesitated.

"There's something else."

The woman raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Victor Ashford appeared."

For the first time—

The smile vanished.

The room instantly became colder.

"Are you certain?"

"Yes."

The woman slowly stood.

Her eyes darkened.

"Then things are accelerating."

Richard looked concerned.

"What should we do?"

Lady Raven walked toward the window.

The city lights reflected in her eyes.

Then she smiled again.

A cruel smile.

"Prepare the laboratory."

Richard froze.

"You mean..."

"Yes."

Her voice became ice cold.

"The time has come to reclaim Subject Zero."

Back at Blackwell Global Headquarters.

Victor continued explaining.

"The Phoenix Gene wasn't created."

"It was discovered."

Ethan listened carefully.

"Certain bloodlines carried fragments of it."

"Your family possessed the strongest version ever recorded."

The room became silent.

Victor pointed toward a photograph.

It showed Ethan as a child.

Standing beside several scientists.

"What happened afterward?"

Ethan asked.

Victor's expression darkened.

"The Black Phoenix happened."

Nobody interrupted.

"The moment they learned of Subject Zero's existence..."

"They launched a war."

Ava slowly lowered her head.

Everything suddenly made sense.

The murders.

The betrayals.

The disappearances.

The conspiracy.

All of it traced back to Ethan.

Not because of money.

Not because of the Phoenix Archive.

Because of who he was.

Suddenly—

Knock!

Knock!

Knock!

The office doors burst open.

Sebastian rushed inside.

His expression was unusually serious.

Very serious.

Ethan immediately stood.

"What happened?"

Sebastian handed him a tablet.

"We found it."

"What?"

"The laboratory."

The room froze.

Victor's eyes widened.

"What laboratory?"

Sebastian turned the screen around.

Satellite images appeared.

An abandoned facility hidden deep in the mountains.

The moment Victor saw it—

His face lost all color.

"No..."

Ethan noticed immediately.

"You recognize it."

Victor slowly nodded.

His voice became almost a whisper.

"That's where Subject Zero was born."

Boom.

The room exploded into silence.

The facility still existed.

After all these years.

Nobody spoke.

Then Sebastian revealed one final piece of information.

The piece that changed everything.

"Three hours ago..."

His expression hardened.

"The facility suddenly became active."

Ethan's eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean active?"

Sebastian looked directly at him.

Then quietly answered:

"Someone turned the power back on."

Silence.

Absolute silence.

A laboratory abandoned for over twenty years...

Had suddenly awakened.

And according to intelligence reports—

Hundreds of armed personnel were already moving toward it.

Someone was preparing for something.

Something big.

Something that had been planned for decades.

And for the first time—

Ethan felt that the answers he sought might finally be within reach.

But deep down...

He also knew it could be a trap.

A trap designed specifically for Subject Zero.

And somewhere inside the ancient laboratory...

A computer screen flickered to life.

One line of text appeared.

WELCOME HOME, SUBJECT ZERO.