The night air was thick with tension as Elena bolted through the lavender fields, Amélie's grip tight around her wrist. Behind them, footsteps crunched against the gravel path. Whoever was chasing them was close—and armed.
They ducked behind a weathered stone shed at the edge of the vineyard. Elena could barely catch her breath.
Amélie pressed a finger to her lips, then peeked around the corner. A red laser dot swept across the field in slow arcs. Elena's blood turned to ice.
"We need to split," Amélie whispered. "They want me. You're just leverage."
"No," Elena hissed. "If I leave you, they'll kill you. And I need answers."
Amélie looked at her for a long moment, then nodded. "There's a tunnel. Beneath the old shed. Your mother's doing. She used it during the riots decades ago. It leads to the forest ridge."
Elena stared at her, stunned. "My mother built tunnels?"
"Your mother was smarter than anyone gave her credit for," Amélie said, yanking open the shed door. Inside, beneath crates and dust, was a rusted metal latch.
Gunfire cracked nearby.
"Now!" Amélie urged.
Elena climbed down into the cold darkness, the scent of earth and memory thick around her. Amélie followed and slammed the hatch shut just as another shot splintered the shed door.
They were inside. Safe—for now.
---
Twenty Minutes Earlier – The Moreau Estate
Lucas paced the grand hallway like a caged animal. Adrien sat in the corner of the study, one leg propped on the coffee table, sipping scotch like the world wasn't on fire.
"She's in danger," Lucas growled.
Adrien arched an eyebrow. "You mean your wife, who you lied to for years and used as collateral?"
Lucas ignored the jab. "Someone sent her a message. Amélie lured her into a trap."
Adrien stood, suddenly serious. "Amélie's not the threat. She's the last person still loyal to the truth. You should be asking who sent the men after her."
Lucas stopped pacing. "You think it's them?"
"The inner circle didn't die with Father," Adrien said. "They simply changed their masks."
Lucas's jaw tightened. "And the clause? The one she mentioned—what is it?"
Adrien hesitated. "The secret clause in the marriage contract binds not just you and Elena—but her inheritance to Project Helix."
Lucas paled. "Project Helix was shut down."
Adrien looked him dead in the eye. "No, it wasn't. It's just gone underground."
---
The Tunnel – Present
Elena's flashlight cast eerie shadows on the rough walls. Amélie walked ahead, rifle slung across her back.
"Tell me about the clause," Elena said breathlessly. "What is Project Helix?"
Amélie stopped. "You really don't know?"
"I wouldn't be here if I did."
"Then listen closely," Amélie said. "Your father and Vincent Moreau weren't just businessmen. They were funding something illegal—an experimental genetics program. Project Helix was meant to engineer immunity to terminal diseases by… rewriting DNA."
Elena felt the floor shift under her. "My father was part of this?"
Amélie nodded. "But when people started dying in trial villages—your mother tried to pull you both out. That's why they forced the marriage contract. It wasn't about business. It was to silence her."
Elena reeled. "So my marriage was blackmail?"
"Part of it," Amélie said. "But the worst part? You're the legal heir to the controlling patents through your father's silent shares. That means if you sign the wrong paper—or say the wrong thing—it all activates again."
The tunnel forked ahead.
Amélie paused. "We split here. You go left—it leads to the vineyard boundary. I'll draw them off."
"No—"
"Elena," Amélie said sharply. "You want to end this? Then survive tonight. Go public with what you know. Burn the contract. And find out what Lucas is hiding from you."
Elena's heart pounded. "What do you mean?"
Amélie handed her a flash drive. "Because Lucas didn't just inherit the Moreau empire. He inherited the final version of Helix. And it wasn't your father who approved the last trials."
With that, she disappeared down the right tunnel.
---
Ten Minutes Later – The Forest Ridge
Elena stumbled out into the moonlight, soaked, shaking, clutching the flash drive like a lifeline.
Behind her, the sound of a gunshot shattered the stillness.
She turned.
Silence.
"Amélie?" she whispered.
No answer.
She ran.
---
Back at the Estate
Lucas opened the file Adrien had decrypted—an internal memo, digitally signed by Vincent Moreau and… Lucas Moreau.
His own name.
"No," he whispered.
He didn't remember signing this.
Then again, he had been seventeen when his father made him co-sign off on dozens of documents before his death. It was all legal maneuvering—he'd trusted his father.
But now… Project Helix had his name on it. His approval. His legacy.
Adrien looked over his shoulder. "He used you. Made you the perfect fall guy."
Lucas's phone buzzed. An alert.
"Unauthorized movement detected near the vineyard boundary."
"Elena."
---
The Ridge Cabin
Elena collapsed inside the old vineyard caretaker's cottage. Her breath came in ragged gasps. She locked the door behind her and shoved a table against it.
The flash drive Amélie gave her was clutched tightly in her palm.
A faint glow came from the fireplace—a power backup system. She plugged the drive into the tablet on the wall.
Dozens of folders.
Trial videos. Names of test subjects. Government bribery logs.
And one video file marked: "Elena's Mother – Final Confession."
She clicked it.
The screen lit up with an image of her mother—frail, eyes shadowed with sorrow.
"If you're watching this, Elena… it means they never let the truth die. The contract was a weapon. But you—you are the key to ending it. Don't trust anyone completely. Not even Lucas."
Elena's breath caught.
The video crackled on. "And if Adrien ever returns… remember, he's not the boy he once was. He made a choice. One you may never forgive."
The file ended.
The wind howled outside.
Suddenly, a thud at the back door.
Elena grabbed the fireplace poker and crept to the window.
A shadow.
Then another.
The lock clicked.
Her heart froze.
"Don't," she said shakily, pointing the poker.
The door creaked open—and Lucas stepped inside.
Drenched. Breathless.
"Elena, it's me."
She lowered the poker but didn't move. "What are you doing here?"
"I had to see you. To warn you."
She backed away. "Amélie's dead."
Lucas flinched.
She threw the flash drive at him. "Is it true? Did your father use your name to authorize this nightmare?"
Lucas caught the drive. His face was ashen.
"Yes," he said. "But I didn't know. I swear it."
"You're part of this, Lucas. Whether you knew it or not. I need the truth. All of it. Because my mother died to protect me from something. And now it's hunting me again."
Lucas stepped closer. "Then let me stand with you this time."
Elena stared at him—into the eyes of a man she once loved, now caught between villain and victim.
And somewhere, deep down… she still wanted to believe him.
But the contract. The lies. Her mother's warning.
She took a step back.
"This ends my way now, Lucas," she said.
And with that, she walked past him, into the storm again—carrying the last of the secrets.