CHAPTER 25 — THE VOTE THAT NEVER HAPPENED
Emily studied the duplicate’s face.
He looked exactly as Nathan had looked on the night they promised to leave the Bennett family.
Same eyes.
Same small line near the mouth.
Same habit of lowering his voice when he wanted her to trust him.
“What happened to you after the boat explosion?” Emily asked.
“I woke inside Bennett House East.”
“Who was beside you?”
“Nicholas.”
“And Silas?”
“He was brought later.”
“Why did Helena alter his face?”
“To create a replacement in case one of us died.”
Emily looked toward the scarred man.
Silas seemed shaken by the revelation of his identity.
Preston stood beside him.
For the first time, the brothers looked at each other without hostility.
Emily turned back to the man holding her biological daughter.
“Are you Nathan?”
He opened his mouth.
Helena interrupted.
“His identity is irrelevant.”
“No,” Emily said. “His identity is the center of everything.”
The clock showed 11:59.
The board secretary activated the voting system.
Three names appeared on the screen.
CLAIMANT NB-01.
CLAIMANT NB-02.
CLAIMANT NB-03.
Helena raised her hand.
“Begin recognition.”
Emily removed Lydia’s black device from her sleeve.
Board security raised their weapons.
“Put it down,” Helena ordered.
“What happens if I activate it?”
“The continuity network collapses.”
“And your control disappears.”
“Along with every protected Bennett identity.”
Emily looked at the man claiming to be Nathan.
“Would it erase you?”
He did not answer.
“Because you do not know which identity is yours.”
Helena stood.
“You are risking thousands of lives for one man.”
“No. You are risking thousands of lives because you believed fear would force me to obey.”
Emily pressed her thumb against the device.
The clock reached midnight.
The voting screens illuminated.
Before the board could vote, every light in the chamber went dark.
The doors locked.
The children began crying.
Emily held the newborn against her chest.
“Lydia?”
“I did not do this,” Lydia replied.
A mechanical voice filled the chamber.
PRIMARY HEIR RECOGNITION IN PROGRESS.
Helena turned toward the voting screen.
“That is impossible.”
The system was acting without the board.
One of the three claimant names vanished.
Then the second disappeared.
Only one remained.
CLAIMANT NB-00.
Emily stared at the screen.
“There is no NB-00.”
Charles stepped toward the central console.
“The original registration.”
“What original registration?”
“The child entered before Trinity-A.”
Vanessa looked at Helena.
“You told me Trinity-D was never implanted.”
Helena’s confidence finally broke.
“I did not implant it.”
“Then who did?”
The mechanical voice continued.
PRIMARY HEIR LOCATED.
GUARDIAN AUTHORITY PENDING.
A live camera feed appeared.
It showed a nursery none of them recognized.
A child was sleeping inside a wooden crib.
Not a newborn.
The child appeared to be approximately one year old.
Emily felt the room tilt.
The toddler opened her eyes.
A dark crescent birthmark rested beneath her collarbone.
The Bennett mark.
Vanessa stepped closer to the screen.
“That child was not in any of the clinics.”
Charles stared at the image.
“Trinity-D.”
Helena turned toward one of the board members.
An elderly man near the end of the table quietly stood.
He removed his board identification pin and placed it on the table.
Emily recognized him as Jonathan Reed, the family’s legal adviser.
“You,” Helena whispered.
Jonathan looked at the screen.
“I prevented you from finding her.”
“Where is the child?”
“Safe.”
Helena ordered security to detain him.
The chamber doors remained locked.
Jonathan looked at Emily.
“Trinity-D is not merely another Bennett descendant.”
“Who are her parents?”
Jonathan’s expression became grave.
“The father is not Nathan.”
“Then Nicholas?”
“No.”
Emily tightened her hold on the newborn.
“Who?”
The nursery feed disappeared.
Before Jonathan could answer, a sharp impact shook the chamber.
Smoke filled the ventilation system.
Board members began shouting.
Grant forced open a side door.
“Everyone out!”
In the confusion, the man claiming to be Nathan disappeared with Emily’s biological daughter.
By the time the smoke cleared, Jonathan Reed was also gone.
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On the voting screen, one final message remained:
THE FIRST HEIR HAS ALREADY CHOSEN A GUARDIAN.
