The safe house was a nondescript cabin nestled deep in the Catskills, far from Sterling surveillance. Claire was waiting when Isabella arrived, her face pale but determined, her bandaged hands trembling as she reached for Thomas.
"You got him out," Claire whispered, pressing the baby to her chest. His tiny fingers curled into her shirt as if he knew, even in sleep, that he was finally safe.
Isabella collapsed into a chair, her body aching from the escape. "Alexander's alive," she said hoarsely. "But he's not… himself."
Claire's jaw tightened. "The Blackwood modifications. Edward's 'improvements' always had a price."
Isabella watched as Claire checked Thomas over with clinical precision—his pulse, his pupils, the faint silver tracing of veins beneath his skin. "What did they do to him?"
Claire exhaled sharply. "They accelerated his development. Enhanced his neural pathways. Edward wanted the perfect heir—smarter, stronger, and immune to weakness. But the human brain isn't meant to be rewired."
Isabella thought of Alexander—his brilliance, his volatility, the way his mind could shift from ruthless calculation to blind fury in seconds. "So Thomas will be like him?"
"Worse." Claire's voice was hollow. "Unless we stop it."
A knock at the door made them both tense. Isabella drew her gun, but Claire shook her head. "It's her."
Evelyn Sterling stepped inside, rain glistening on her black coat. She looked every bit the corporate heiress, but her eyes were sharp with something darker.
"You made it," she said, glancing at Thomas. "Good. We don't have much time."
Isabella kept the gun raised. "Why should I trust you?"
Evelyn smirked. "Because I'm the one who sabotaged Edward's plane. Because I've been working with Marina for years to dismantle Blackwood. And because—" She tossed a file onto the table. "—I know what really happened to your father."
Isabella's breath caught. The file was stamped with the Sterling Industries logo—and her father's name.
Jonathan Whittaker. CFO. Deceased.
"He wasn't just an accountant," Evelyn said quietly. "He was Edward's first test subject. A prototype for genetic enhancement. When the experiment failed, Edward had him erased."
Isabella's hands shook. All these years, she'd thought her father's death was an accident. A car crash. A lie.
"You're part of this," she accused.
Evelyn didn't deny it. "I was. Until I realized Edward wasn't building a dynasty—he was breeding monsters." She nodded at Thomas. "Including him."
Claire's grip on the baby tightened. "There's a way to reverse it. Marina's research—"
"Is gone," Evelyn cut in. "Lucas razed the lighthouse. But there's one last option." She pulled a small vial from her coat—a shimmering silver liquid. "This is the counter agent. The only one in existence."
Isabella stared at it. "What does it do?"
"Resets the genetic coding. Erases Edward's modifications." Evelyn's gaze flicked to Thomas. "But it has to be administered now. Before the changes become permanent."
Claire hesitated. "The side effects?"
"Unknown." Evelyn's voice was grim. "He could be perfectly normal. Or he could lose everything Edward engineered—his intelligence, his immunity, even his memories as he grows."
Isabella watched Claire's face twist in agony. A mother's choice: let her son become something unnatural or risk losing him entirely.
Then, with a slow exhale, Claire took the vial.
"Do it."
Three Months Later
The boardroom of Sterling International was silent as Isabella Whittaker took her seat at the head of the table. The company was in shambles—Edward was declared dead (officially, this time), Alexander was missing, and Evelyn vanished with what remained of Blackwood's research.
But the empire still stood. And someone had to rule it.
James Harrington cleared his throat. "The vote is unanimous. You're the new CEO."
Isabella smiled, running her thumb over the silver ring now on her finger—Alexander's ring. A symbol of power. A warning.
Somewhere out there, he was still alive. And when he returned, she'd be ready.
For now, she had a company to run.
And a legacy to control.