The boardroom fell into a stunned silence.
Elias's heart stopped not in fear, but in grim recognition. The man standing at the head of the room, tall and composed with sharp eyes and silver at his temples, was none other than Damian Thorne his father.
The man presumed dead. The man he remembered vaguely from childhood. The man who vanished just before Elias was declared dead himself.
"Impossible," Jude whispered from the doorway.
Elias didn't blink. "You're supposed to be dead."
Damian smiled. "Aren't we all?"
The board members shifted uncomfortably, unsure whether to be terrified or intrigued.
Dexter's voice was thin. "Mr. Thorne Sr., this is highly irregular "
"Silence," Damian said calmly, and the room obeyed. "This is a family matter."
Elias stepped forward slowly, every movement measured. "You watched them lie about my death. Let them pump my name full of scandal and shadows. You vanished while your son was tortured and buried under twenty-five years of silence. Why?"
Damian folded his hands behind his back.
"Because I was the one who ordered it."
Flashback Twenty-Five Years Ago,A young Damian stood beside a laboratory console. Elias, aged twelve, was inside a glass chamber. Sedated. Monitored. Changed.
"He's the perfect candidate," a scientist said. "No parental attachments. High intelligence. Exceptional recall."
Damian's voice was cold. "Prepare him."
"Why?" Elias asked, voice edged with fury.
"Because you were meant to replace me," Damian said. "You were never meant to return as a boy, Elias. You were built to emerge as a god."
Gasps echoed around the room.
"But you failed," Damian said. "You fled. You forgot."
"I didn't fail," Elias said. "I *survived*. You sent me to die, and I became more than you ever could."
"Spare me the melodrama," Damian said. "You've barely scratched the surface of what you are."
Jude stepped forward. "Sir, the media's outside. They're already reporting Elias's full ownership of Draxon. If you're planning to"
"I'm not here for Draxon," Damian interrupted. "I'm here to finish what I started."
He opened a leather case. Inside,a drive marked "Project Ararat".
Hours Later at Elias's Penthouse, Jude poured whiskey. "Your father's alive. Your company's split. The Project Ararat drive might hold the key to your past and your enemies now know you've survived the whole damn thing."
Elias sat by the window, Magritte's coat draped over a chair nearby.
"She lied to me," he said softly.
"Everyone lies," Jude replied. "But not everyone saves your life in the process."
Silence fell again.
Elias finally stood. "Project Ararat. Get Lewis. Get Magritte. We're cracking that drive."
Jude raised an eyebrow. "Even if it kills us?"
Elias smiled grimly. "Especially then."
Elsewhere Duchess Corporation, Valerie Dexter sat at the edge of her bathtub, crimson wine in hand.
Her assistant entered. "They're saying Elias survived a government experiment. That Damian Thorne is alive. That Project Ararat is active."
Valerie sipped slowly. "Good."
"Good?"
She stood, wrapping herself in silk. "Because the world is finally catching up to the truth. And when it does, Elias won't know who to trust. That's when we strike."
Midnight Secret Lab in Zurich, Damian stood before a series of frozen capsules.
Inside: bodies. Children. Teens. Adults.
All marked,Failed Iteration.
He typed a command into the console.
ACTIVATING SERIES E SUBJECT: "ATHENA"
Behind him, the chamber hissed.
Eyes opened.
Blue. Glowing. Inhuman.
A girl stepped out. Fifteen years old in appearance. Cold as winter.
"Father?" she asked. Damian smiled.
"No," he said.
"Your brother."
The morning after Damian's declaration, the city was already awake to the storm.
The media blasted headlines, "Elias Thorne, Back from the Dead."The Forgotten Experiment: Project Ararat Exposed, "Is Draxon a Lie?"
Inside the penthouse, the air was heavy with strategy. Elias, dressed in stark black, paced slowly. The drive lay open on the glass table like a relic from a forgotten war.
Jude hunched over a console, decrypting with fast fingers.
"Encrypted beyond hell," he muttered. "But we're in. Just a few more layers."
Elias glanced to the side. Magritte stood leaning against the wall, silent. Her eyes had lost some of their fire, but they were searching for trust, maybe forgiveness.
"You're quiet," Elias said.
"I'm waiting for you to ask what matters," she replied.
He tilted his head. "What matters?"
"Why I helped your enemies frame you. Why I stayed."
He stared at her. "Then tell me."
Magritte pushed off the wall, walking slowly toward him. "Because I was sent to. But I stayed because I believed in you. After Zurich, after Lewis saved us, I realized you were different. You weren't built by your father. You broke his chains."
"I don't know what I am anymore," Elias admitted.
Magritte's voice dropped. "You're Elias Thorne. The man who woke up from death and didn't run. The man who built an empire while they tried to bury him. That's who you are."
A beat.
Jude's screen blinked. "We're in."
They turned to see lines of code dissolve into video files, schematics, names, dates.
Project Ararat unfolded.
Twelve children.Each altered, Only one survived without full compliance: Elias.
But one subject showed full adaptability. The final entry.
SUBJECT,ATHENA STATUS,Cryo-suspended. Awakening Protocol Initiated.
"Damian wasn't lying," Jude said. "There's another one."
Elias studied the footage. A girl. Fifteen. Pale skin. Silver eyes. "She looks...like me."
Magritte leaned closer. "They made her from you."
The room was cold as steel. Athena sat alone, dressed in hospital whites, her eyes scanning the lab like a machine.
Damian entered.
"I want to see him," she said.
"You will."
"Is he...strong?"
Damian smiled faintly. "He's everything you were built to surpass."
She blinked. "Then I'll destroy him."
Back in New York Draxon Towers, Within hours, investors began to panic.
Rumors that Elias was a "lab experiment" surged. Stock prices fluctuated wildly.
That was when Elias made his move.
He called a press conference.
Before a crowd of reporters and global media channels, he stepped forward. No script. No teleprompter.
"I was born into lies. Groomed in a lab. Left to rot. And despite that, I rose. Not because of what they made me, but because of what they could never control my will."
He paused.
"They built a project. I became a man. I survived. And I'm telling you this not for sympathy, but so you understand: Draxon isn't theirs. It's mine."
The room was silent.
"I am Elias Thorne. And I'm just getting started."
The room erupted in applause.
Later Penthouse, Magritte sat beside him, knees tucked up, both watching the lights of the city. A quiet moment for once.
"What happens when this girl Athena comes?" she asked.
"I stop her," Elias said.
"Even if she's your sister?"
"I don't know what she is. But I won't let anyone rewrite my life again."
She took his hand.
"I'm with you," she said.
"I know," he said. "But if you betray me again"
"I won't."
Elias closed his eyes briefly. For the first time, he allowed himself to breathe.
But peace was never built to last.
Zurich That Night,Athena escaped. Killed four guards. And vanished.