THE BILLIONAIRE'S HIDDEN DAUGHTER

chapter 11: The second heir

Ava couldn't believe what she had just heard.

Another missing child?

She looked at Adrian, searching his face for any sign that he was joking.

"You mean... I have a sibling?"

Adrian nodded slowly.

"I never wanted you to find out like this."

William folded his arms.

"The DNA report was completed nearly twenty years ago."

"It confirmed that another child carrying the Ashford bloodline existed."

Lucas looked stunned.

"You never told me."

"I wanted proof before I involved the family," Adrian replied.

"But before I could investigate further, the report disappeared."

Ava frowned.

"So whoever stole it now knows where my sibling is?"

"Possibly."

William's expression grew serious.

"Or perhaps they've known all along."

Silence filled the vault.

The thought sent chills through everyone.

If another Ashford heir existed, they could also be in danger.

Suddenly, Daniel rushed into the underground vault.

"Sir!"

William immediately stepped forward.

"What happened?"

Daniel held out a tablet.

"Our cybersecurity team has detected someone trying to access the Ashford family database."

Lucas quickly took the tablet.

"The attack is still happening."

"Can they stop it?" Ava asked.

Daniel shook his head.

"The hacker is extremely skilled."

Within seconds, every screen in the vault flickered.

Then the lights went out.

Darkness swallowed the room.

Only the emergency lights remained.

A loud electronic beep echoed through the vault.

William immediately pulled Ava behind him.

"Stay close."

The screens suddenly came back to life.

Instead of security footage...

A single message appeared on every monitor.

YOU FOUND ONE DAUGHTER.

A few seconds later, another sentence appeared.

YOU WILL NEVER FIND THE OTHER.

Adrian's fists clenched.

"Who are you?"

The screen changed again.

A countdown appeared.

00:59

Lucas frowned.

"What is that?"

Daniel's face drained of color.

"The security system."

"It's been hacked."

"If the timer reaches zero..."

"The vault doors will permanently lock."

Ava's heart pounded.

"We'll be trapped inside?"

Daniel nodded.

"Until someone resets the system from outside."

William immediately grabbed his phone.

"No signal."

The underground walls blocked every connection.

Lucas hurried to the control panel.

"I'll try to override it."

The timer continued counting down.

00:41

Nothing happened.

Lucas tried again.

The system rejected every password.

Daniel looked at Adrian.

"Sir..."

"I think someone inside the estate helped the hacker."

Adrian slowly turned toward the vault entrance.

"There is a traitor in my house."

The countdown reached twenty seconds.

Lucas wiped sweat from his forehead.

"I can't stop it."

Ava looked around desperately.

Her eyes suddenly landed on a small emergency switch hidden beside the main power box.

She remembered seeing the same symbol earlier in Adrian's office.

Without thinking, she ran toward it.

"AVA!" William shouted.

She slammed her hand against the switch.

For one terrifying second...

Nothing happened.

Then every light in the vault flashed brightly.

The countdown froze.

00:03

The heavy vault doors unlocked with a loud metallic click.

Everyone let out a breath of relief.

William stared at Ava in amazement.

"How did you know about that switch?"

Ava looked at the strange symbol on the wall.

"I... I don't know."

Adrian's expression slowly changed.

He looked at the symbol...

Then at Ava.

His voice became barely a whisper.

"No one could have known where that emergency switch was..."

"...unless they had seen these plans before."

Ava felt her heart skip a beat.

"But I've never been here."

Adrian nodded slowly.

"I know."

He looked toward the dark hallway leading out of the vault.

"And that's exactly what frightens me."