Chapter 14 - The House Adrian Stole
I returned to my mansion for the first time since Adrian threw me into the rain.
The scorch marks remained inside the fireplace.
My medical records were ash.
The marble wall still carried a faint mark where my wheelchair struck it.
Celeste sat at the dining table.
Alone.
No James.
No Voss.
No core server.
Federal agents surrounded the house.
Yet Celeste smiled.
“You finally came home.”
“This stopped being home months ago.”
Her smile tightened.
“You destroyed the trust.”
“I redirected it.”
“You destroyed everything my father spent thirty years building.”
“Good.”
Celeste laughed.
“You still think this is about money.”
I almost admired the irony.
She had learned my line.
“Then tell me.”
She placed a laptop on the table.
Orpheus was running.
Thousands of identities.
Millions of connections.
One profile highlighted.
ROSA ALVAREZ.
I went cold.
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
“If you touched—”
“Oh, Evelyn.”
Celeste smiled.
“I don’t need to touch Rosa.”
She clicked.
Rosa’s financial history appeared.
Debts.
Employment.
Mia’s school.
Medical records.
Everything.
“Orpheus can destroy a person without ever entering their home.”
“Then why invite me?”
“Because your biometric authorization can shut it down permanently.”
I understood.
“You need me.”
“Yes.”
“And if I refuse?”
Celeste opened another video.
James sat inside a vehicle.
Beside him was Rosa.
My heart stopped.
But Rosa was not restrained.
She was talking to James.
Calmly.
“What is this?”
Celeste’s smile changed.
“That’s the question, isn’t it?”
Rosa knew James.
Impossible.
Then Rosa looked directly toward the hidden camera.
As though she knew we were watching.
She lifted one hand.
Three fingers.
Paused.
Two.
One.
The mansion lights died.
Steel shutters crashed over every exit.
Celeste jumped up.
“What did you do?”
I smiled.
“I didn’t.”
A red emergency light illuminated the room.
Then the front hall doors opened.
Rosa entered.
Beside her stood James.
Federal agents raised weapons.
James raised his hands.
Celeste screamed:
“You TRAITOR!”
James looked at her.
“I’ve been betraying the wrong woman for thirty years.”
Rosa walked toward me.
“You okay?”
I almost laughed.
“Apparently.”
She handed Agent Hale a small drive.
James had given her the physical Orpheus core.
Celeste’s face collapsed.
It was over.
Almost.
Then Thomas entered.
He examined the drive.
“This isn’t the core.”
Everyone froze.
James stared.
“What?”
Thomas plugged it into an isolated machine.
Empty.
A decoy.
Celeste began laughing.
“You idiots.”
Agent Hale grabbed her.
“Where is it?”
She smiled through tears.
“I don’t know.”
For the first time, I believed her.
Voss had deceived his own daughter.
Thomas suddenly turned toward James.
“Where’s Malcolm?”
James went pale.
“He said he was going to fix the one mistake we all made.”
“What mistake?”
James looked at me.
“David.”
My blood froze.
I called my son.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then a message appeared.
From David’s phone.
A photograph.
David unconscious inside a vehicle.
Beside him sat Malcolm Voss.
Under the image:
May you like
ONE SON WAS NEVER ENOUGH FOR YOU.
NOW CHOOSE WHICH ONE YOU KEEP.
