Max's Confession
The world seemed to stop as Max stared at the baby's vision. His father—Alexander Rykard—was the Void King.
"No," Max whispered. "That's not possible."
The bunker door glowed brighter, metal starting to melt. They had seconds, not minutes.
"This way!" Henri shouted, pushing open the secret exit panel. "Move!"
Everyone rushed through the narrow escape path as the bunker door burst open behind them. The baby's protective field grew, shielding them from the blast of heat that followed.
They exited into an abandoned subway tunnel. Sofia quickly checked her device.
"We're about a mile from the observatory," she said. "But the streets above are crawling with void entities."
"We'll have to stay underground," Henri decided. "Follow the tunnel east."
As they hurried through the dimly light passageway, Max fell into step beside Rory. His face was pale, his eyes haunted.
"Rory," he said softly. "We need to talk."
"About your father being the Void King?" she whispered roughly. "Yeah, I'd say so."
Max winced. "I didn't know. I swear I didn't know he was... that."
"Like you didn't know about our families being quantum guardians?" Rory shot back. "Seems like there's a lot you don't know."
The baby's field pulsed between them. ANGRY WORDS HIDE SCARED HEARTS.
Max took a deep breath. "You're right. There's a lot I haven't told you. But I need to now. Before it's too late."
Something in his voice made Rory slow down. The others continued ahead, giving them a moment of peace in the shadowy tunnel.
"I'm listening," Rory said.
"Everything about our marriage—the contract, taking down Dumont Empire—it wasn't what you think." Max's voice was low, urgent. "Two years ago, I discovered something strange in my father's old files. Records of money being funneled into Dumont research labs."
"My father's labs?" Rory asked, shocked.
Max nodded. "But the money wasn't coming from Rykard Industries. It was coming from shell companies I'd never heard of. When I dug deeper, I found Valentin's fingerprints all over it."
"So Valentin was funding my father's research? Why?"
"Not funding—infiltrating," Max amended. "He was planting his people throughout Dumont Empire, especially in the quantum research division. He was stealing your father's work, piece by piece."
The baby gurgled, his field showing images of laboratory tools and strange machines.
"I tried to warn your father," Max continued. "But every time I reached out, my messages were intercepted. Someone inside Dumont was blocking me."
"So you decided to... what? Take over our company instead?" Rory's voice was less angry now, more confused.
"I had to get close enough to find the mole," Max explained. "The only way was to force a merger—to get inside the company myself. But I couldn't tell anyone what I was really doing. Not even you."
Rory stopped walking. "So all this time, you were trying to help us?"
"I was trying to save both our companies from Valentin," Max said. "And then... then I met you."
The tunnel lights flickered, casting strange shadows across Max's normally controlled face. For the first time, Rory saw real feeling there—vulnerability, fear, and something else.
"The marriage contract was supposed to be just business," Max continued, his voice softer now. "A way to legally access Dumont systems. But then—"
A loud crash from behind cut him off. Something was moving in the darkness, following them.
"Keep moving," Max whispered, taking Rory's hand. "We need to catch up with the others."
They hurried through the tunnel, the sounds of pursuit getting louder behind them. Ahead, they could see Henri and the rest of the group waiting at a crossing.
"There you are!" Camille called. "We were getting worried."
"Something's following us," Max warned.
Henri nodded sadly. "This way. There's a maintenance room where we can hide."
They ducked into a small concrete room filled with old tools. Henri quickly shut and locked the heavy door behind them.
"We'll wait here until it passes," he whispered.
In the cramped area, Max and Rory ended up pressed together in a corner. The baby between them glowed softly, his field making a small bubble of light.
"You never finished," Rory whispered. "What were you going to say about our marriage?"
Max's eyes met hers in the dim blue light. "It was supposed to be just business. But I started to feel something I didn't expect. Something real."
The baby's field brightened, surrounding them both with warmth.
"I've spent my whole life keeping people at a distance," Max added. "Building walls. Being cold. It was safer that way, after what happened with my father."
"What did happen?" Rory asked. "Everyone said he died in an accident."
Max's face darkened. "That's what I thought too. But now..." He shook his head. "My father was obsessed with quantum research. He would disappear for weeks into his private lab. The last time I saw him, he told me he'd made a breakthrough—that he'd found a way to peek between realities."
"And you think that's when he... merged with the void?"
"It must have been," Max nodded. "But he made me promise something before he disappeared. He made me promise to watch over the Dumont family. Specifically, you."
Rory's eyes widened. "Me? Why me?"
"He said you were special. That someday, you would be the mother of—" Max stopped, looking down at the baby. "I didn't understand what he meant. Not until now."
The baby cooed, his tiny hand reaching up to touch Max's cheek. FATHER KNEW. SAW FUTURES.
"So this whole time," Rory said slowly, "you've been protecting me."
"Trying to," Max admitted. "Not always getting it right. I thought cold distance was the way to keep you safe. I was wrong."
Outside, something scraped against the door. Everyone froze.
"The truth is," Max whispered, so low only Rory could hear, "I've fallen in love with you, Aurélien Dumont. Not because of quantum guardians or ancient lineages. Because of you—your fire, your courage, your heart."
Rory stared at him, speechless. Before she could reply, the door burst open.
But it wasn't a void thing. It was Elijah—Max's brother—his clothes torn and dirty, blood trickling from a cut on his scalp.
"Found you," he gasped. "Thank god."
"Elijah?" Max stood quickly. "What happened? The stabilizer—"
"Destroyed," Elijah panted. "Valentin's forces. They're everywhere. But I found something else. Something bigger."
He pulled a crumpled paper from his pocket and spread it on a dusty box. It was a map of the telescope, with notes scribbled in the margins.
"This was in Dad's old office," Elijah stated. "He'd been planning this for years. The observatory isn't just a quantum node—it's a gateway. A doorway to somewhere else."
"To the void?" Henri asked sharply.
"Beyond the void," Elijah amended. "To what he called the 'Prime Reality'—the original timeline from which all others split."
The baby suddenly squirmed in Rory's arms, his field flaring with excitement. HOME! ORIGINAL HOME!
"Wait," Sofia said, studying the map. "According to this, your father wasn't trying to destroy reality. He was trying to... reset it?"
"To fix it," Elijah nodded. "He believed all the quantum fractures, all the splitting timelines—they're a mistake. A glitch in reality."
Max frowned. "And he became the Void King to... what? Force everything back together?"
"He became something else entirely," came a new voice from the doorway.
Everyone turned. Standing there was Alexander Rykard—not the void monster from the baby's vision, but a tired-looking man in a rumpled suit.
"Hello, son," he said to Max. "We need to talk."
Max stepped forward, his face a storm of feelings. "You're not my father. You can't be."
Alexander smiled sadly. "I am, and I'm not. I'm what's left of him. And I've come to warn you about what's really happening."
"Which is what?" Max asked.
"The baby," Alexander said, pointing to the child in Rory's arms. "He isn't what you think he is."
The baby's field suddenly darkened, swirling with strange designs no one had seen before. And in that moment, his eyes changed—becoming older, ancient, knowing.
TIME TO TELL TRUTH, came the thought, but it didn't feel like the baby anymore. I AM NOT THE FIRST ONE.
I AM THE LAST ONE.