Chapter 6 - THE SON HE CREATED
Lucien didn’t move.
The words stayed in the air.
“You.”
Adrian looked at him.
“Your father didn’t just build an empire.”
Charles said nothing.
“He built a system.”
Lucien’s eyes narrowed.
“What system?”
Adrian looked toward Charles.
“A system where people were created to serve a purpose.”
Charles finally spoke.
“Stop.”
“No.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“He deserves the truth.”
Lucien laughed quietly.
“Funny.”
He looked at Charles.
“I’ve spent my entire life thinking I knew you.”
A pause.
“And I never did.”
Charles looked older suddenly.
Not powerful.
Not untouchable.
Just tired.
“When you were born,” Charles said, “I knew you would be different.”
Lucien stared.
“So you controlled me?”
“I prepared you.”
“You manipulated me.”
Charles looked away.
“That’s what you call it.”
Lucien’s anger exploded.
“You took my childhood.”
Silence.
“You took my choices.”
Another pause.
“And now you tried to use my daughter.”
Charles whispered:
“I was trying to protect you.”
Lucien stepped closer.
“From what?”
Nobody answered.
Then every phone in the room received a message.
Everyone looked down.
A video.
From Victor Kane.
Lucien opened it.
Ava was sitting in a dark room.
She looked scared.
But she was not crying.
Victor stood behind her.
“Lucien.”
His voice was calm.
“You finally know the truth.”
Lucien’s fists tightened.
Victor smiled.
“Your father spent years building you into something.”
He leaned closer to the camera.
“But he forgot one thing.”
A pause.
“You became a father.”
Ava looked at the camera.
“Daddy…”
Lucien stepped toward the screen.
“Ava.”
Victor smiled.
“Come find her.”
The video ended.
Then coordinates appeared.
Adrian looked at them.
And his face went pale.
“No.”
Lucien turned.
“What?”
Adrian whispered:
“He took her to the place where this all started.”
“Where?”
Adrian looked at Charles.
“The old Vale laboratory.”
Lucien grabbed his jacket.
“Then that’s where I’m going.”
Adrian stopped him.
“You don’t understand.”
Lucien looked back.
“What?”
Adrian’s voice dropped.
“That place was built to create monsters.”
A pause.
“And your father built it because he believed the world needed one.”
Lucien stared at Charles.
Charles said nothing.
Because he knew the truth.
May you like
The monster they created…
Was him.
