Chapter 7 - My Dead Uncle Was Running Vesper From a Mansion Two Hours Away—and He Had One Rule Dominic Could Never BreakMy uncle's name was Thomas Hayes.
He had disappeared when I was eight.
My father said he had died.
Another lie.
Thomas was alive.
He had been running Vesper from a private property in Indiana.
Dominic and I went there with a small team.
We found the mansion abandoned.
Except for one room.
The library.
Thomas was waiting.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Calm.
He smiled when he saw me.
"You look like your mother."
I wanted to shoot him.
Dominic stepped in front of me.
"You lied to both families."
Thomas laughed.
"I protected the truth."
"You kidnapped Elena."
"She volunteered."
"She was imprisoned."
"She chose survival."
Dominic's jaw tightened.
Thomas looked at me.
"Your mother wanted to destroy Vesper."
"I know."
"She didn't understand that the network protected the city."
"By blackmailing everyone?"
"By controlling chaos."
I stared.
"You destroyed innocent lives."
"Some sacrifices are necessary."
Dominic raised his gun.
Thomas didn't flinch.
"Kill me."
Dominic hesitated.
Thomas smiled.
"You won't."
"Why?"
"Because you need to know where the real ledger is."
I looked at him.
"You destroyed the copy."
"That wasn't the real ledger."
"Where is it?"
Thomas smiled.
"Inside Dominic."
I frowned.
"What?"
He explained.
Years ago, Dominic's father had implanted a coded key into his scar.
The scar wasn't simply a warning.
It was an identification marker.
The Vesper system recognized his biometric pattern.
The original ledger could only be opened by Dominic.
That was why his father had spared him.
He needed the heir.
I looked at Dominic's scar.
Everything suddenly made sense.
The symbol.
The pain.
The terror.
The control.
Thomas said:
"Your husband is the key."
Dominic stared at him.
"I didn't know."
"You weren't supposed to."
The original ledger wasn't physical.
It was encrypted within a biometric system.
Dominic's scar contained the access code.
But the system required something else.
My family line.
My blood.
Us.
That was why our marriage had been engineered.
We were the keys.
Thomas had orchestrated everything.
But then he did something unexpected.
He surrendered.
He said:
"I am tired."
Federal agents entered.
Vesper began collapsing.
But Thomas had one final warning.
"The ledger will not save you."
He looked at Dominic.
"Your father hid one final secret."
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"What?"
"He never died."
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