Chapter 5 - The Warehouse
Adrian arrived with the police.
But the warehouse was empty.
Lily was gone.
Eleanor was gone.
Daniel was gone.
Only one thing remained.
A hospital file.
Adrian opened it.
The name shocked him.
Eleanor Mercer.
Diagnosis:
Terminal illness.
The date was twelve years earlier.
Adrian suddenly understood.
His aunt hadn't disappeared because she wanted to.
She had been forced underground.
She had spent twelve years protecting her daughter.
And now Lily was protecting her grandchild.
Adrian found a hidden message.
Coordinates.
He drove there alone.
The location was the abandoned nursing home.
The place where he had first followed Lily.
He entered.
“Lily?”
Nothing.
Then a voice.
“Adrian.”
Eleanor stepped from the darkness.
She looked older than the photograph.
But her eyes were unmistakably Mercer.
“You're my aunt.”
“Yes.”
“Why did my father say you were dead?”
“Because he was afraid of me.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew the truth.”
She told him everything.
His grandfather had discovered the medical research.
His father had stolen the company.
Daniel had continued the operation.
Lily's cousin had discovered the truth.
She died trying to expose it.
Her unborn child was the last living connection to the evidence.
Lily had agreed to carry the baby after her cousin died.
Adrian looked devastated.
“Why didn't anyone tell me?”
“Because your father convinced everyone you were like him.”
“I wasn't.”
“I know.”
Then Lily appeared.
Adrian rushed toward her.
“Are you hurt?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
He looked at her stomach.
“The baby?”
“Fine.”
He closed his eyes.
Relief overwhelmed him.
Then Lily whispered:
“You need to leave.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel followed you.”
Gunshots echoed outside.
The building erupted into chaos.
Adrian pulled Lily behind a concrete wall.
Police entered.
Daniel tried to escape through the rear.
Eleanor stopped him.
“You destroyed enough lives.”
Daniel raised his weapon.
Adrian stepped forward.
“Don't.”
Daniel fired.
The bullet struck the wall.
Police tackled him.
The danger was finally over.
But Lily suddenly cried out.
Adrian turned.
“What happened?”
May you like
She held her stomach.
“I think the baby is coming.”
