Chapter 20 - BENEATH THE TABLE, AGAIN
Six months later, everything seemed normal.
Nathaniel started kindergarten.
Clara opened another foundation center.
Victoria became CEO of Vance Global.
Evelyn joined the board.
Daniel finally got married.
Even Marcus smiled occasionally.
Life had finally become ordinary.
Then one Sunday morning, Nathaniel disappeared beneath the dining table.
Clara laughed.
"Nathaniel!"
He crawled out holding something.
"Dad, I found this."
It was a small black envelope.
I recognized the seal.
My father's.
My smile disappeared.
"Where did you find it?"
"Under the table."
Clara looked at me.
The same table.
The same place where our story had begun.
I opened the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
My father stood beside a government official.
Behind them was a building I didn't recognize.
On the back:
PROJECT VANCE — PHASE TWO.
There was another photograph.
This one showed my grandfather.
Then Eleanor.
Then Arthur.
Then a fourth man.
The same man from the hospital photograph.
Alive.
Standing behind them all.
I turned the photograph over.
Three words were written there.
HE IS WATCHING.
My phone rang.
I answered.
Silence.
Then the man's voice.
"You found the letter."
"Who are you?"
"You've spent your entire life believing the Vance family was the center of the story."
"What story?"
"The truth about your father."
I looked at Clara.
"Tell me."
The man laughed.
"Your father didn't build Vance Global."
I froze.
"He was given it."
"By whom?"
"The organization that created your family."
My heart pounded.
"What organization?"
"Come to the old Vance estate."
"Why?"
"Because beneath the house is a room your father never wanted you to find."
The line went dead.
I looked at Victoria.
She had heard everything.
"Sebastian."
"What?"
"Maybe we should leave it alone."
I looked at Clara.
Then at Nathaniel.
Then at the photograph.
For three years, I had believed our family's darkest secret had been Eleanor.
I had been wrong.
Eleanor was only one piece.
Arthur was only one piece.
My grandfather was only one piece.
And my father...
My father had been hiding something from all of us.
I stood.
"We're going."
Clara took my hand.
"Together."
I nodded.
That night, we returned to the old Vance estate.
The house had been abandoned since Eleanor's arrest.
Dust covered the halls.
The portraits remained.
We reached my father's old study.
Victoria found the hidden mechanism.
A bookshelf moved.
A staircase appeared.
We descended.
One floor.
Then another.
Then another.
At the bottom was a steel door.
No lock.
Only a fingerprint scanner.
I placed my hand against it.
The door opened.
Inside was a room filled with photographs.
Hundreds of them.
My father.
My grandfather.
Eleanor.
Arthur.
Victoria.
Evelyn.
Me.
Clara.
Nathaniel.
Photographs from before we were born.
Photographs from yesterday.
My blood ran cold.
Someone had been watching us our entire lives.
Then a monitor turned on by itself.
A man's face appeared.
Older.
Calm.
Familiar.
My father's face.
Clara gasped.
Victoria began crying.
I couldn't breathe.
The man on the screen looked directly at me.
"Sebastian."
I stepped closer.
"Father?"
He smiled.
"I'm sorry."
The screen went black.
Then one final sentence appeared:
IF YOU ARE SEEING THIS, IT MEANS THEY HAVE FOUND YOU.
The lights went out.
And somewhere above us...
The front door opened.
Someone had entered the house.
Someone who knew exactly where we were.
I grabbed Clara's hand.
Victoria pulled Evelyn behind her.
Marcus reached for his weapon.
Then footsteps echoed down the staircase.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Coming toward us.
May you like
And a man's voice whispered through the darkness:
"Welcome home, Sebastian."
