Chapter 13 - Victor's Confession
Victor had escaped Mercer House at enormous cost.
He reminded Adrian that the fourth authentication made Victor temporarily indispensable.
Adrian could not kill him without breaking the succession chain he wanted to exploit.
The standoff became a war of family truths.
Older Emma accused Marcus of raising her only because she was a backup beneficiary.
Marcus admitted she was named in the trust but insisted Evelyn had asked him to protect her as a child, not as an asset.
Adrian mocked every Vale claim of protection.
Clara quietly observed that protection was the word the family used whenever it wanted to control someone.
No one could deny it.
Then Adrian triggered Helvetia's purge system.
A timer appeared above the vault.
Nine minutes remained before argon flooded the chamber and displaced the oxygen.
The only way to stop it was through the succession console.
That meant Noah had to open the ledger.
Isabella begged him not to.
Noah looked at his mother, Luca, and little Emma crying near the doorway.
He chose to help.
Before his hand touched the seal, Marcus whispered another warning to me.
Opening the succession page would identify every living heir.
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Mercer would then know exactly who still had to die.
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