THE COLD CEO OBSESSIVE POSSESSION

THE THRUTH BEHIND ELENA

Chapter 13

The words refused to leave Amelia's mind.

SHE WAS NEVER YOUR SISTER.

She stood in the middle of the bedroom, staring at the photograph in Adrian's hand.

The room had become strangely quiet.

Too quiet.

Even the security guards seemed afraid to speak.

Amelia finally looked up.

"Adrian..."

He was still staring at the photograph.

"What?"

"Is that really your uncle?"

"Yes."

"And Elena was with him?"

"Apparently."

Amelia swallowed.

"But he said he was her real father."

Adrian's expression hardened.

"We don't know if that's true."

"Then what do we know?"

"Almost nothing."

She laughed bitterly.

"That's the problem."

Adrian looked at her.

"We're going to find out."

"How?"

"By finding Elena."

Amelia shook her head.

"We keep finding her, and then she disappears."

"This time will be different."

"How?"

Adrian stepped closer.

"Because now I know what we're looking for."

Amelia frowned.

"What?"

"The truth."

THE SECRET ROOM

Adrian ordered everyone to search the mansion.

Every room.

Every hallway.

Every hidden passage.

Nothing.

Elena was gone.

Amelia stood beside the broken window.

"She was here."

Adrian nodded.

"Yes."

"How did she disappear without anyone seeing her?"

"Someone helped her."

Amelia turned.

"Someone inside the mansion."

Adrian's eyes darkened.

"The message said the same thing."

"Then there's a traitor."

"Yes."

"Who?"

"I don't know."

She stared at him.

"You don't trust your own people."

"Not anymore."

Adrian walked toward the bookshelf.

He touched one of the books.

A hidden mechanism clicked.

The bookshelf moved.

Amelia stared.

"Another secret room?"

"Yes."

"How many secret rooms does this house have?"

"Enough."

She followed him inside.

The room was smaller than the security room.

There were old files stacked against the walls.

Adrian switched on the light.

Amelia looked around.

"What is this place?"

"My father's private archive."

She picked up a folder.

"Maybe the answers are here."

Adrian nodded.

They began searching.

Minutes passed.

Then Amelia found a box with a name written across it.

DANIEL CARTER.

Her heart jumped.

"My father."

Adrian took the box down.

Inside were photographs, letters, bank records and hospital documents.

Amelia's hands trembled as she picked up the first photograph.

It showed her father.

He looked younger.

Beside him stood Adrian's father.

And between them was a woman.

Amelia stared.

"Who is she?"

Adrian looked at the photograph.

His expression changed.

"I don't know."

"Look at her."

He did.

The woman's face was familiar.

Very familiar.

Amelia's heart started racing.

"Adrian..."

"I see it."

"She looks like Elena."

Adrian took the photograph closer.

The woman had the same eyes as Amelia and Elena.

But she was much older.

Amelia whispered:

"Who is she?"

A voice came from behind them.

"Your grandmother."

They turned.

Amelia's mother stood in the doorway.

She looked frightened.

Amelia held up the photograph.

"Mum."

Her mother stared at it.

"Where did you find that?"

"Here."

She slowly walked into the room.

"That's your grandmother."

"I've never seen her."

"I know."

"Why?"

Her mother hesitated.

"Because she died before you were old enough to remember her."

Amelia looked at the photograph again.

"What was her name?"

"Dr. Evelyn Carter."

Adrian's eyes narrowed.

"She was a scientist."

Her mother nodded.

"Yes."

"What did she study?"

Her mother looked at Amelia.

"You already know."

"The genetic research."

"Yes."

Amelia's voice became shaky.

"Was Elena part of the research?"

"No."

"Then why does she look like her?"

Her mother went silent.

Amelia stepped closer.

"Mum."

"I don't know."

"You're lying."

Her mother closed her eyes.

"I don't know what Elena is."

Amelia froze.

"What do you mean?"

Her mother began crying.

"I don't know whether she is your sister."

Silence.

Amelia felt as though the floor had disappeared beneath her.

"You don't know?"

"I was told she was."

"By whom?"

"Your grandmother."

Amelia stared at her.

"So you've never known?"

"I believed she was."

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I was afraid."

"Afraid of what?"

Her mother looked at Adrian.

"Of the Black Rose."

THE OLD HOSPITAL RECORD

Adrian opened another folder.

Inside was a hospital record dated twenty years earlier.

He read it carefully.

Then his expression changed.

"Amelia."

"What?"

"Come here."

She approached.

He showed her the document.

There were two names.

BABY A — FEMALE.

BABY B — FEMALE.

Both born on the same night.

Amelia pointed.

"That's us."

Adrian shook his head.

"Look at the identification numbers."

She did.

They were different.

"What does that mean?"

"Different babies."

Amelia's mother covered her mouth.

Adrian continued reading.

"Baby A was registered under Daniel and Maria Carter."

He moved to the next line.

"Baby B..."

He stopped.

"What?"

"There is no parent listed."

Amelia stared.

"No parent?"

"None."

Her mother's face became pale.

Amelia turned toward her.

"Mum."

Her mother began crying.

"I didn't know."

"You held her."

"Yes."

"You gave birth to her."

"I thought I did."

Amelia's voice trembled.

"How can you not know?"

"I was unconscious."

Adrian looked at the record again.

"The second baby was registered six hours after birth."

"By whom?"

He checked the signature.

His eyes narrowed.

"Your grandmother."

Amelia stepped backward.

"My grandmother registered Elena?"

"Apparently."

Her mother whispered:

"That isn't possible."

"Why?"

"Because your grandmother wasn't at the hospital."

Adrian looked at her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

She suddenly looked terrified.

"She died three years before you were born."

Everyone went silent.

Adrian stared at the document.

The signature was impossible.

Amelia's voice dropped.

"Then who registered Elena?"

THE MESSAGE

Before anyone could answer, Adrian's phone rang.

He answered.

"Yes?"

A security officer spoke rapidly.

"Sir, you need to see this."

"Where?"

"The main entrance."

Adrian immediately ended the call.

"What happened?" Amelia asked.

"Someone left something."

They rushed downstairs.

At the mansion entrance was a small black box.

No one had seen who left it.

Adrian approached carefully.

His security team surrounded it.

He opened the box.

Inside was a USB drive.

And a photograph.

Amelia picked up the photograph.

Her heart stopped.

It showed her mother in the hospital.

Holding a newborn baby.

Beside her stood Daniel.

And behind them—

Adrian's uncle.

Amelia stared.

"He was there."

Adrian's face became cold.

"My uncle was at your birth."

Her mother began shaking.

"No."

She looked at the photograph.

"No, no, no..."

"Mum?"

She backed away.

"I don't remember him."

Adrian looked at the photograph.

"He was there."

"But why?"

Nobody answered.

Adrian inserted the USB drive into the computer.

A video appeared.

The footage was old.

Grainy.

It showed a hospital corridor.

A younger version of Adrian's uncle walked toward a room.

He entered.

Several minutes later, he came out carrying a baby.

Amelia's heart stopped.

"That's Elena."

Her mother began crying.

"No..."

The video continued.

The man handed the baby to another woman.

The woman's face was hidden.

Then the screen went black.

A message appeared.

NOW YOU KNOW WHERE SHE CAME FROM.

Another message appeared beneath it.

BUT YOU STILL DON'T KNOW WHO SHE REALLY IS.

Amelia stared at the screen.

"What does that mean?"

Adrian didn't answer.

His phone suddenly rang again.

Unknown number.

He answered.

"Who is this?"

A man's voice came through.

His uncle.

"You finally found the footage."

Adrian's expression became deadly.

"Where is Elena?"

"Safe."

"Bring her back."

"Not yet."

Adrian clenched his fist.

"What do you want?"

"I want the key."

"You already know I have it."

"Yes."

"You'll never get it."

His uncle laughed.

"You're wrong."

"Why?"

"Because you don't understand what the key opens."

Adrian's eyes narrowed.

"What?"

The voice became quieter.

"The door to your father's greatest secret."

The call ended.

THE DOOR

Adrian immediately returned to the archive.

He searched through the files.

Amelia followed.

"What are you looking for?"

"The key."

"The Black Rose key?"

"Yes."

He took it from his pocket.

He examined the tiny black rose engraved on it.

Then he noticed something.

There was a small number beneath the rose.

17.

Amelia frowned.

"What does that mean?"

Adrian looked around the room.

"Room seventeen."

"Here?"

"No."

He walked to the wall.

There was an old blueprint hanging behind a frame.

He pulled it down.

A hidden doorway appeared.

Amelia stared.

"That wasn't there before."

Adrian inserted the key.

The lock clicked.

The door opened.

Cold air rushed out.

Beyond it was a staircase leading underground.

Amelia looked at Adrian.

"Are we really going down there?"

"Yes."

"Why do I feel like we're about to discover something terrible?"

Adrian looked at her.

"Because we probably are."

They descended.

The staircase seemed endless.

At the bottom was a huge steel door.

A number was engraved across it.

17.

Adrian inserted the key.

The door opened.

Inside was a laboratory.

Old machines covered the room.

Files lined the walls.

Photographs hung everywhere.

Amelia stepped inside.

Then she stopped.

There were photographs of her.

Hundreds of them.

As a baby.

As a child.

At school.

Walking home.

Even recent photographs.

Her heart began pounding.

"Someone has been watching me my entire life."

Adrian's face became cold.

He walked toward the files.

Then he found something.

A folder.

He opened it.

Inside was a photograph of Amelia and Elena as newborns.

Under Amelia's photograph was written:

SUBJECT A — ORIGINAL.

Under Elena's:

SUBJECT B — REPLACEMENT.

Amelia stared.

"Replacement?"

Adrian's eyes darkened.

Then another document fell from the folder.

He picked it up.

His expression changed completely.

"What?"

He looked at Amelia.

For the first time since she had known him, he looked genuinely shocked.

"What is it?"

He handed her the document.

Amelia read the first sentence.

Her blood ran cold.

ELENA CARTER WAS NOT BORN TO MARIA CARTER.

She looked up.

"Then who is she?"

Adrian didn't answer.

Because beneath that sentence was another one.

ELENA WAS CREATED FROM THE GENETIC MATERIAL OF AMELIA'S FAMILY.

Amelia's hands began shaking.

"This can't be real."

Adrian looked at the laboratory around them.

"It might be."

Then the lights suddenly came on.

A screen at the end of the laboratory activated.

A woman's face appeared.

An elderly woman.

Amelia stared at her.

She had seen that face before.

In the photograph.

Her grandmother.

But she was supposed to have died years ago.

The woman smiled.

"Hello, Amelia."

Amelia couldn't breathe.

"Grandma?"

The woman smiled.

"You finally found my laboratory."

Adrian stepped forward.

"You're supposed to be dead."

Her smile widened.

"I was."

Amelia's heart stopped.

The woman leaned closer to the camera.

"But death is sometimes just another disguise."

The screen went black.

And somewhere far away, Elena opened her eyes.

The man beside her whispered:

"Your sister has discovered the truth."

Elena's eyes filled with tears.

"What truth?"

He smiled.

"That you were never meant to exist."