The silver edge of the razor blade sliced through the sweet-smelling haze, stopping a hair’s breadth from Elena’s neck as Tariq hurled his weight sideways, tackling Julian hard into the burning hearth.

A agonizing scream tore from Julian’s throat as his bare forearm pressed against the blue flames consuming the leather ledger, but he didn’t let go of the blade. He thrashed like a rabid animal, his eyes wide and bloodshot. «She can’t leave with my baby!» he shrieked, striking Tariq’s bleeding shoulder with a series of brutal, frantic punches. «Maya is my leverage! She’s my way out!»

Elena scrambled backward on her knees, clutching her belly as another vicious contraction clamped down on her body like a steel vise. She reached out with a trembling hand, catching Maya by the back of her jacket, dragging the frightened girl closer to her side under the safety of the heavy dining table.

Above the chaos, a deafening metallic screech echoed through the chamber as the massive iron blast door dropped another foot, its shadow sweeping over the burning room like a falling guillotine.

Gas Density Critical. Nine Seconds.

«Leo!» Tariq roared from the floor, his fingers desperately clawing at Julian’s throat to keep the blade away. «Shoot her! Shoot the imposter!»

Leo didn’t pull the trigger. He stood rooted in place beneath the shattered balcony, his red laser dot trembling violently against Sophia’s chest. His burn-scarred face contorted into a hideous, bitter grin as he stared between Tariq and the woman holding the burning ledger. «Shoot her?» Leo echoed, his voice raw with years of buried agony. «Why would I kill my handler, Father? She’s the one who pulled me out of the wreckage you left me in!»

Elena’s heart slammed against her ribs. The air inside her mask turned ice-cold. «Leo… no,» she gasped, her voice muffled behind the rubber seal. «She’s lying to you… she’s using you!»

«Shut up, Elena!» Leo snapped, sweeping the rifle toward her for a fraction of a second. «You were always the precious golden child! You got the fortune, the quiet life, the clean hands! You didn’t see what he did in the basement labs! You didn’t see the blood on the money!»

«Eight seconds,» the automated vault voice droned, completely indifferent to the terror below.

Sophia took a slow step backward toward the yawning darkness of the open balcony, the blue fire reflecting off her cold, synthetic eyes. «He speaks the truth, Elena,» she murmured softly, stepping onto the crumbling stone ledge where the storm shutters had blown away. «Your father didn’t just build an empire. He built us. Every single one of us.»

With a chilling, serene smile, Sophia tossed the charred, smoldering remains of the ledger into the air and leaned backward into the pitch-black abyss outside the window.

«No!» Leo screamed.

He didn’t fire at her. Instead, he dropped his rifle, lunged toward the balcony, and dove headfirst out the window after her, disappearing into the raging tempest outside.

«Leo!» Elena screamed, trying to force herself to stand, but her legs gave out completely as her body succumbed to the relentless labor.

Six Seconds.

A sickening crunch echoed from the fireplace. Julian had smashed a heavy brass poker across Tariq’s temple. Tariq went instantly limp, rolling onto his back as blood pooled beneath his grey hair. Julian stood up, wiping his bloody face with his sleeve, his eyes fixated entirely on Maya.

«Come here, sweetie,» Julian whispered, stepping over Tariq’s unconscious body, his hand twitching around the razor blade. «Daddy’s going to save us.»

«Touch her and I’ll kill you,» Elena growled, grabbing a long, jagged shard of heavy plate glass from the floor, her knuckles turning bone-white as she pointed it at his chest.

Julian scoffed, taking a menacing step forward. «With what, Elena? You can barely stand. You’re going to give birth right on this floor, and when that door shuts, we all suffocate together.»

Four Seconds.

The iron blast door was now just three feet from the floor, blocking out the hallway lights and locking them inside the sweet, suffocating death trap.

Suddenly, the black Doberman, who had been lying motionless near the overturned armchair, let out a gut-wrenching growl. It scrambled up on three legs and buried its jaws deep into Julian’s calf.

Julian shrieked in agony, dropping the razor as he fell backward onto the sharp glass.

«Now, Elena! Move!» Tariq’s voice suddenly cracked out.

He wasn’t unconscious. With a final, desperate surge of strength, Tariq dragged himself across the floor, grabbed little Maya by her arm, and shoved her sliding across the polished floor directly under the lowering iron door into the outer corridor.

«Maya!» Elena yelled, throwing her upper body forward, sliding her legs under the heavy steel frame just as it groaned down to the final eighteen inches.

Tariq grabbed Elena by her collar, hauling her forward with a guttural roar, dragging her out into the hallway seconds before the iron blast door slammed into the concrete floor with a bone-jarring THUD, sealing Julian and the thick gas inside.

Elena lay flat on her back on the cold corridor carpet, gasping for fresh air as she tore off her gas mask. Maya was sobbing next to her, clutching her small arms around Elena’s neck.

Emergency Vault Sealed, the computer announced overhead. Sterilization Process Commencing.

Tariq collapsed against the wall beside them, breathing heavily, his hands slick with crimson. «We… we made it,» he wheezed, closing his eyes.

«Father…» Elena sobbed, holding her daughter tight while clutching her violent, tearing abdomen. «Leo… he said you built us. What did he mean?»

Tariq didn’t open his eyes. A single tear cut a clean path through the soot on his cheek. «The ledger… wasn’t a bank register, Elena,» he whispered, his voice barely a thread. «It was a patent office catalog.»

Before Elena could process his words, a soft, electronic chime sounded from the wall directly above her head.

A hidden compartment in the hallway wall smoothly slid open, revealing a small, glowing glass incubator. Inside it sat a sleek, brushed-steel briefcase labeled with a biohazard symbol and Elena’s exact maiden name.

Next to the case, a small digital screen flickered to life, displaying a live video feed from a camera stationed outside the estate gates.

Elena stared at the screen, her blood running completely cold.

Standing in the heavy downpour outside the gate was a woman dressed in a sharp white trench coat. She slowly pulled down her umbrella, revealing a face that was completely unblemished, completely unscarred—and identical in every single detail to Elena’s own face.

The woman on the screen raised a small walkie-talkie to her lips, and her voice echoed crystal-clear from the speaker right above Elena’s head:

«Subject Alpha has entered active labor. Proceed with the retrieval of Generation Three.»