Dawn painted the city in cold gold.
From the penthouse balcony, Ava Kane watched the first rays spill across the skyline towers piercing the mist, the hum of New York never truly sleeping.
She hadn't slept either.
The night before replayed in fragments the gala, the note, Adrian Vale's words.
"Someone's replicating your father's work using your DNA."
Her father's work.
Her DNA.
Her legacy.
Ava pressed her palms against the railing, feeling the faint tremor in her fingers. "They can't," she whispered to no one. "That project was destroyed."
But the memory of her father's voice haunted her the way he used to whisper to her before bed.
'If anything happens to me, Ava, remember the key is in your blood.'
At the time, she'd thought it was a metaphor a father's strange way of telling his daughter she was special.
Now, she wasn't so sure.
A soft chime cut through her thoughts.
The penthouse security panel blinked: PRIVATE ACCESS CODE OVERRIDE.
Ava stiffened. Only two people had that clearance herself and her head of security, Ethan Shaw.
"Ethan?" she called.
No answer.
She turned and froze.
Adrian Vale was standing by the glass elevator, the morning light glinting off his dark suit. His presence filled the room calm, powerful, dangerous.
"How did you get in here?" Ava demanded, grabbing the small silver pistol from her nightstand.
He didn't flinch. "If I meant you harm, you wouldn't have heard the elevator."
"Try again."
"Your system still uses your father's encryption," he said, stepping closer. "I know the codes better than you do."
She aimed the gun directly at his chest. "Then maybe I should change them."
He smiled slightly. "You should. After you hear what I have to say."
Ava's pulse raced, but she didn't lower the weapon. "Talk."
Adrian's eyes flicked to the window before he spoke. "Eden Corp's new division Eden Reborn isn't a company. It's a reconstruction cell. They've been gathering genetic material from your family line for years. They believe your DNA holds the missing code your father hid."
"What code?"
"The final protocol for Project Genesis."
Ava blinked. "Genesis? My father worked on Eden, not Genesis."
"They were the same project," Adrian said quietly. "Eden was just the public name. Genesis was what it really was a genetic weapon capable of rewriting biological memory."
She stared at him. "That's impossible."
He gave a faint, humorless laugh. "That's what everyone said until your father proved otherwise."
Ava's stomach turned. "You expect me to believe my father created something like that?"
Adrian's gaze softened. "He didn't create it. He tried to destroy it. And he died for it."
Silence filled the room.
Outside, the city's noise seemed distant like the world itself was holding its breath.
Ava slowly lowered the pistol. "You said they're using my DNA. How?"
"They've extracted it from archived medical samples," he said. "Old hospitals, research labs, even your childhood vaccines. You're their missing piece, Ava. You're the one thing they can't replicate."
Her heart pounded. "Why tell me this? You could have stayed silent."
Adrian hesitated, then said quietly, "Because my mother was Evelyn Vale. She helped build Eden. And she died trying to stop it too."
Ava stared at him realization dawning. "Your mother was that Evelyn Vale?"
He nodded. "The same one your father worked with and loved."
The words hit like a blade. "That's a lie."
"Is it?" Adrian asked softly. "Why do you think your mother hated her? Why do you think your father disappeared?"
Ava took a step back, her mind spinning. "Stop."
He didn't move closer. "You deserve to know the truth, Ava. You deserve to know why they want you."
Her voice trembled. "And what is that truth?"
Adrian's eyes locked on hers grey and endless.
"Because you're not just his daughter," he said. "You're the carrier of what he created. Your blood is Genesis."
The glass shattered before she could respond.
A single shot cracked through the morning air, slicing past her shoulder and hitting the wall behind Adrian.
"Down!" he shouted, lunging forward. He tackled her to the ground as another bullet tore through the air.
Security alarms blared. Ethan's voice came through the intercom, panicked. "Miss Kane, we're under attack"
Static.
Ava's breath came in sharp bursts as Adrian shielded her body with his. "They found you," he hissed.
"Who?"
"The people running Eden Reborn."
A helicopter's shadow crossed the window, followed by a flash of red light targeting sensors.
"Move!" Adrian grabbed her arm, pulling her toward the reinforced stairwell. "If you want to live, you come with me now."
"Why should I trust you?" she gasped.
He looked at her fierce, unflinching. "Because I'm the only one who knows how to keep you alive."
They raced through the private corridor as the penthouse exploded behind them.
Glass rained down. Fire licked the walls. Ava didn't look back she couldn't.
Everything she knew, everything she had built, was burning.
By the time they reached the underground exit, her lungs were raw, her hands trembling.
Adrian pressed a small device into her palm sleek, metallic, glowing faintly blue.
"What is this?"
"The key," he said. "Your father left it for you. It was hidden in the Kane archives. I stole it before they could."
Ava stared at it. "What does it do?"
"It unlocks the truth."
She looked up at him, her face pale against the flickering light. "Then where do we go now?"
He met her gaze steadily.
"To find the rest of your father's legacy before they do."