Chapter 5: The Old Voice
The old voice returned through the loudspeaker as the security team tried to clear the room.
“Enough.”
The single word stopped everyone.
Victor Carter’s voice was older, rougher, but still carried the authority that had built an empire on secrets.
“William, take your son and leave the boy. The Reed child is property of Horizon Pavilion. He has been since his mother signed the consent forms.”
Ethan’s hand tightened in Walter’s coat.
Walter stepped in front of him. “She never signed anything.”
The voice laughed. “Paper is flexible when the price is right. Bring the boy to the lower level. We have a room ready.”
Celeste’s face had gone white. “Father, this isn’t the plan.”
“The plan changed when the Reed boy walked into my hospital and brought back a dead Carter,” Victor said. “Now we have leverage and a new asset. William, control your wife. Security, take the boy.”
The door opened.
Guards moved in.
Walter pushed Ethan behind him.
William stepped between them and the guards.
“No.”
The single word was quiet, but it stopped the room again.
Victor’s voice sharpened. “You will not defy me, boy.”
William looked at his father’s voice on the ceiling, then at his son breathing in the bed, then at the child who had brought him back.
“I already did,” he said. “The moment I let this happen in my hospital.”
The old voice laughed again, colder this time.
“Then you will lose everything.”
The lights flickered.
May you like
The monitors beeped faster.
And in the room where a dead baby had been brought back to life, the real war began.
