William decided to walk to his fathers house. To mentally prepare himself for what he could expect. He was scared of his father.

As he walked he passed police station and wondered if he would be better off in prison or killed by his father. He was still wondering this till he reached the front door of his house.

Just as he was about to knock, the door opened and his mother Helen appeared, looking worried.

"Oh its you, I thought you were John." She mumbled letting him in.

"Dad called me over. He said there was a family meeting." William said, not disturbed by his mothers behaviour.

"Yes, everyone is waiting in the hall." Helen said coldly.

William ran his fingers through his hair nervously as he sat down next to Cristy who was busy texting. She only looked up when she saw him arrived and gave him a nod.

Aaron was there too, sitting by the window and smoking. Aaron looked the calmest among them, puffing a smoke every few seconds, looking out.

"Where is Dad?" William asked Cristy but she just shook her head and continued to text.

Feeling anxious William stood up just as the door bell rang and Helen charged towards it.

It was John.

"Where have you been? Are you ok?" Helen whispered to him quickly.

"Everything is fine." John said casually and walked past her to the rest of the family.

"I'm so glad you made it William." John said with a smile that sent a shiver down William's spine. "There is so much that needs sorting out and I thought best if we do it face to face."

William's throat became dry. What was he talking about?

"John, what's going on?" Helen said coming between them.

"Darling, everything is fine." John said with a sinister smile. "Let's continue this conversation downstairs, shall we?

John indicated the bookshelf in the living room as he spoke and William realised with a jolt that Adam still  lay on the table in there.

He glanced at Cristy who also exchanged a nervous glance at Helen before he followed them down the stairs behind the bookshelf.

Aaron was hovering behind William as though making sure he couldn't bolt.

As they entered the room, William noticed that Adam wasn't there, the incinerator was on. Again he glanced at Cristy. This time she looked at him. Clear horror etched upon her face.

"Dad" William began, his throats so dry that it came out as a croak but John held his hand up to silence him.

"To run this business successfully is to be perfect. I have meticulously run the show without raising the slightest doubt." John said.

"What is this?" William wondered looking at Cristy questioningly. She only shook her head in response.

"What I want is, for this to continue after my time." John continued "I will not have my family's name tarnished by the mistakes of the new leader. Therefore I must choose wisely."

"How can I choose? Between my flesh and blood and the one I love just as much?" John said and Aaron let out a funny noise.

"Then I realised it's not about what I want anymore. It's about the work I have done. And I must do what is necessary to keep this business running smoothly, not just for me, but for all the people involved."

William felt like his head would explode if John didn't come to the point soon.

"I need to know who I can trust." John said walking to the door on his right. "Follow me of you think I can trust you."

John's eyes fell on his wife, his daughter, Aaron and then stopped at William. He gave William a long hard stare before turning away.

The new room was not something William had ever seen in his life. There was only a narrow passage with greenish glass containers on either side.

It took every ounce of self control not to be sick there and then because in the glass containers were the bodies of men, women and children. Floating in a green liquid.

"They died naturally." Cristy assured William who went pale.

"What are they here for?" William whispered to her as they walked down the passage.

"Experiments." Aaron said from behind. Something in his tone when he said this sent a shiver down his spine. You could see how much Aaron was enjoying this.

They stopped at the end of the chamber with 4 empty glass containers.  The glass was clear and he could see through it. 

It wasn't completely empty.

In the Center of the container there was a man tied to a chair. He was a dirty and messy and barely looked alive. The only reason William know he was alive was because of the heavy uneven breathing.

William almost didn't recognise the man. With a jolt he suddenly realised how stupid he was.

It was Adam.

******

John knew that facing Aaron would be dangerous if he saw the condition of his brother. So he decided to change up the plan.

Make his brother Adam, the Center of the test and the key to his ultimate dream. To takeover the Maxwell company.

But the look on Aaron's face when he saw his brother in the container was unexpected. His body was shaking and he looked angry, his fists were clenched and his eyes looked like they were about to pop out of its sockets.

When he spoke however his voice was deathly calm.

"My brother?" He asked looking straight at John, digging his nails into his palms, trying to keep calm.

"Yes." John said equally calmly. "Your brother."

William, Cristy and Helen looked terrified and kept looking at John and Aaron to see if this turns into a physical fight.

"This is your test, Aaron." John said. "The thing that is holding you back from greater things."

"Greater things." Aaron whispered.

"You are the only apprentice I have ever had and probably will ever have. What I see in you is potential to one day take over for me." John continued.

This caused Aaron's behaviour to completely change. He stopped shaking, his fists unclenched and his eyes were back to normal. A big smile stretched across his face and he said "really?"

"Really." John replied with a smile.

"Unfortunately all of you can't take over. I will have to choose only one." John said now looking around to his family who was standing at the side looking shocked.

"So I have prepared a test. A test for each of you. A test of you fail, you die." John said smiling.

"What if we don't want to play." William finally spoke up. He was feeling a little braver knowing he was not the only one to be tested. Something in the back of his mind told him that the only reason his father was doing this was to make sure Aaron does not win. He would much rather quit and let Cristy win than let Aaron take over.

"Then I am afraid she dies." John said as he turned on another light to the next container. William stepped forward, his heart thumping hard.

In the Center of the container there was a single chair and a women was tied to it.  Her head hanging forward and her blond hair looked unkept and formed a curtain around her face.

"Nooo!!" William gasped leaning forward and pressing his hands on the glass. Not her!! Why her??

******

Hey guys!!

I am very very sorry for the late posts. I know I have already lost a lot of readers already.... but there is so much happening that I couldn't write....

If you like my book pls stay with me... only a couple of chapters more!!

What do you think should happen?

Who is the blond girl in the container?

What is John's plan?? Will Aaron win??

Will Update soon!

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