CHAPTER 10: THE FALL OF THE DUKE
CHAPTER 10: THE FALL OF THE DUKE
Alexander’s loyal guards disarmed the others.
The Duke, Evelyn, Noah, Marcus, and Clara were taken to the old council chamber.
Alexander stood before them with the calm confidence of a man who believed history had already chosen him.
“You could have had everything,” the Duke said. “Respect. Wealth. A place beside me.”
“I was always beside you,” Alexander replied. “That was the problem.”
“You kidnapped a baby because you were jealous?”
“I kidnapped an heir because power should never depend on birth.”
Evelyn laughed bitterly.
“So you stole children and trained them to obey you.”
“I created loyalty.”
“You created fear.”
Alexander’s eyes moved toward Noah.
“The boy was supposed to become extraordinary.”
“He already is,” Evelyn said. “And he became that despite you.”
Alexander’s jaw tightened.
He ordered his men to take the Duke away.
“Where are you taking him?” Evelyn demanded.
“To make his final statement.”
Alexander planned to record a confession in which the Duke would accept responsibility for Project Heir.
Afterward, the Duke would die from an apparent heart attack.
Alexander would present himself as the grieving brother who exposed the truth.
“People will believe me,” Alexander said. “They always believe the person who controls the evidence.”
Noah looked toward the ceiling.
A tiny red light blinked above the door.
Alexander noticed.
He shot the camera.
But Noah smiled faintly.
“That wasn’t the only one.”
Evelyn understood.
Before entering the room, Noah had taken the small emergency transmitter from Clara.
The boy had activated the palace’s internal broadcast system.
Everything Alexander had said was being transmitted throughout the palace.
Perhaps beyond it.
Alexander grabbed Noah by the collar.
“What did you do?”
The boy looked directly into his eyes.
“I told the truth.”
From the hallway came the sound of dozens of boots.
Alexander released him.
The doors burst open.
But the men entering were not palace guards.
They wore national military uniforms.
At their head was General Helena Ward.
“Prince Alexander,” she said, “step away from the child.”
Alexander raised his gun.
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Then the palace shook with another explosion.
The floor beneath them collapsed.
