“You need to look at the gate log,” Elias said.

Roman tapped a key on the console.

A line of green code flashed across the center monitor.

My heart stopped as I recognized the sequence of numbers.

“What is that?” I asked.

“It’s a bypass code,” Roman muttered, his jaw tightening. “Someone opened the outer gate from the inside.”

The screen flickered, revealing the timestamp of the breach.

A red light on the console began to pulse slowly, casting a crimson glow over Roman’s grim face.

Then, the screen displayed the name registered to the bypass code.

The letters on the screen spelled out a name I had spent my entire life trying to understand.

*WHITMORE, A.*

“My father,” I whispered, the coldness of the room settling deep into my bones.

Roman stared at the monitors, his jaw tight, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the edge of the metal desk.

“He built the original mainframe for this estate ten years ago,” Roman said, his voice flat. “But he was supposed to be locked out of the system five years ago.”