The tunnel was narrow, damp, and reeked of rust. Their footsteps echoed against concrete walls, each amplified in the suffocating blackness. Ava's hand clung to Adrian's, her other brushing against the wall to push her forward.
Behind them, whispery voices resonated, their tones twisted by the walls. The intruders were close.
"Move," Caldwell implored, her breathing tight but her pace relentless.
Adrian's jaw snapped shut. "Where does this even go?"
Caldwell didn't answer right away. The quiet was too long, too heavy.
Finally, she said, "To the truth.".
They turned a corner, and the tunnel emptied into a room. There was a single bulb suspended overhead, lighting up rows of metal file cabinets and crates stacked to the top. All of it was covered in dust, but the lock on the closest crate was busted, like someone had just been here.
Ava's heart was pounding. "What is all this?"
Caldwell's eyes skated across the room. Her face hardened. "Your parents' insurance policy. All they collected the files, the documentation, the names of those who double-crossed them. Proof powerful enough to topple empires."
Adrian moved toward a cabinet, opening it. Inside were folders packed with paper, clipped photographs, rough handwritten notes scribbled in a hurry. He pulled one out and paused.
The photo showed him and Ava. Not as babies. As children. Their birthdays, playroom, even Ava sleeping with a bear bear hugged to her body. All snapped without them realizing.
Ava's stomach dropped. "These… these are us. They've been watching us the whole time."
Adrian's grip on the photo trembled. "But not just them." His voice was rough. "Look."
He flipped the photograph over. There was a name scrawled on the back in crude ink.
Caldwell.
The air went still.
Ava's gasp had been heard as she regarded the housekeeper. Caldwell's expression was impassive, her fingers tight around the journal.
Adrian's voice was a snarl. "You weren't watching over us. You were spying on us."
The light bulb overhead flickered again, plunging the room into darkness. Ella.
And among that silence, the truth was heavier than the walls coming down on them.
Ava's voice shattered across the silence. "You followed us?"
Caldwell's jaw locked, but her eyes did not back down. "I watched. Yes. Because if I hadn't, they would have.".
Adrian threw the picture on the floor, the edges flying over the creaky floorboards. "That's your story? You've lied to us all our lives and now you think we'll believe you did it for our protection?"
The overhead light buzzed, casting an intense light on her face. For one moment, she appeared older, worn out by loads too heavy to bear.
I informed them because that is how I kept you safe," she said softly, her tone strained, a whisper. "If they knew you were not protected, you'd be dead already. Your parents knew this. They insisted that I play the part, pretend as if it were real. All I did, I did so that you would survive to see this day.".
Ava's heart pounded against the eardrums. They had to make sense, but they seemed to twist around each other. Everything Caldwell putting them to bed, keeping them in, shutting off their questions was instantly spoiled.
Adrian moved nearer, his eyes blazing. "So tell us the truth. Now. Who are they? What has happened to our parents?"
Caldwell opened her mouth, and the creak of splintering wood shut it. A crash echoed through the tunnels. Heavy boots pounded closer.
"They've found the passage," she hissed.
Ava's terror flared to life. "There's nowhere left to run."
"Yes, there is," Caldwell growled, racing over to one of the crates. She pushed it out of the way with a strength that surprised her, exposing a small iron door secured into the concrete wall. She took a key off around her neck and struggled with the lock.
Adrian caught her wrist before she could turn the key. "Not until you tell me. Were you guarding us… or bringing them here?"
Caldwell's eyes glowed in the blackness. Her voice shook for the first time. "Adrian… if you open this door, you'll know everything. But once you cross it, there's no going back."
The boots thudded closer, the tunnel vibrating with each stride.
Ava spun back to her twin, her gut knotting with terror. "Adrian…"
His grip on Caldwell's wrist tightened. Then, with a reluctant release, he let go.
The lock creaked open.
The iron door groaned as it swung inwards a dark, twisting staircase curving down into nothing.
And the sound from below was not hushed.
It was voices. Dozens and dozens of them. Whispering. Chanting. Waiting.
The whispers ascended the staircase like smoke, curling around Ava's ears, causing her to shudder. She clutched Adrian's hand tighter.
"Who's down there?" Adrian snapped, his voice aggressive.
Caldwell didn't answer immediately. Her gaze stayed pinned on the shadows below, her mouth pursed as if calculating whether or not she should say anything. Finally, she drew a deep breath, "The ones your parents trusted last… and the ones who betrayed them first."
Ava's heart faltered. "That doesn't even make any sense."
"It will," Caldwell answered, climbing the first sagging step. "But we're out of time. Decide if you trust me or them.".
The thudding boots in the passage grew louder, closer, until Ava was sure she could feel the impact on her back.
Adrian pulled her back one step, both anger and desperation struggling to the front in him. "If you've been lying your whole life, then maybe wandering into another trap is exactly what you want."
Caldwell's eyes flashed to his, hot and unblinking. "If I had intended to kill you, Adrian, I would have let them take you years ago."
The words hung between them, too brutal to discount, too rough to swallow.
Ava's chest hurt. "We don't have time for this!" she snarled.
And then
The crash. The door to the room exploded wide in a shower of splinters. Shadows filled the room three masked assailants, weapons ready, fast on their feet.
"Go!" Caldwell shoved the twins down the stairs, turning to confront the intruders.
But Adrian didn't budge. One of the intruders had stepped into the light. For an instant, the mask slipped down, and Adrian caught a glimpse of the face beneath.
He took a step backward, his breath frozen in his throat.
It was a familiar face.
Not a stranger. Not an enemy.
Someone who had already been in the penthouse.