I stared at the bathroom door.
My arms tightened around Lily.
“What do you mean Ethan is gone?”
Daniel Hale’s voice came through the door, low and urgent.
“I mean he isn’t in the room anymore.”
My chest tightened.
“That’s impossible.”
“I know what I saw.”
“You expect me to believe you?”
“No.”
A pause.
“But you need to believe this part: someone came here for your daughter.”
Lily cried against my chest.
I rocked her gently.
“Where is Ethan?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re his father.”
“That doesn’t mean I control what’s happening.”
“You disappeared for twenty years.”
“I know.”
“You let your son believe you were dead.”
“I know.”
“And now you appear outside my bathroom while my husband is missing?”
Silence.
Then Daniel said,
“You have every reason to hate me.”
“I don’t even know you.”
“That may be the only reason you’re still safe.”
I froze.
“What does that mean?”
Before he could answer, Margaret shouted from somewhere outside.
“Daniel?”
Her voice sounded stunned.
Daniel didn’t respond.
Then I heard footsteps.
Fast.
Margaret again.
“Oh my God.”
A long silence followed.
Then Daniel whispered,
“Margaret.”
The way he said her name was different.
Not surprise.
Pain.
Twenty years of pain packed into a single word.
I moved closer to the door but kept it locked.
“What’s happening?”
Margaret’s voice trembled.
“I thought you were dead.”
Daniel answered quietly.
“That was the point.”
Then another voice came from the hallway.
“Security!”
Daniel instantly changed.
“Claire, do not open this door until I tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know who is actually security anymore.”
My blood went cold.
Someone pounded on the hospital-room door.
“Hospital security. Open immediately.”
Margaret whispered,
“They’re wearing uniforms.”
Daniel said,
“That means nothing.”
Another knock.
Then a man shouted,
“We have reports of an unauthorized person inside this room.”
Daniel gave a humorless laugh.
“That would be me.”
I heard Margaret whisper,
“What are you doing here?”
“Trying to fix something I should have fixed years ago.”
“Where’s Ethan?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
Margaret asked again.
“Daniel, where is our son?”
“I don’t know.”
The room went silent.
Then Margaret’s voice broke.
“What happened?”
Daniel said,
“When I entered, two men were holding him.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
Daniel continued.
“They were dressed like transport staff.”
“The men at the door,” I whispered.
“Yes.”
“What did they do to him?”
“I came through the service corridor before they saw me.”
My mind raced.
“How?”
“There’s another access point behind the equipment room.”
Margaret sounded shocked.
“You still know the hospital layout?”
Daniel replied,
“This building used to belong to Meridian.”
My breath caught.
“What?”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Not the hospital. The research wing that stood here before the renovation.”
I remembered Margaret telling us about Project Meridian.
“You worked here?”
“Years ago.”
Outside the room, security pounded again.
“Open the door now!”
Daniel ignored them.
“I interrupted the men. Ethan fought back.”
My pulse raced.
“Then where is he?”
“One of them pulled the fire alarm. The hallway filled with staff. In the confusion, they dragged Ethan through the service exit.”
I nearly dropped my phone.
“They kidnapped him?”
“I believe so.”
Margaret let out a broken sob.
“No.”
I opened the bathroom door slightly.
Daniel stood about ten feet away.
For the first time, I saw him clearly.
The photograph had not prepared me.
He was older, yes, but unmistakably connected to Ethan.
Same eyes.
Same expression around the mouth.
Same way of standing perfectly still when afraid.
Margaret was staring at him as if she had seen a ghost.
Daniel looked at me.
“Claire.”
I immediately backed away.
“Don’t come closer.”
He stopped.
“That’s fair.”
“Where did they take Ethan?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“You said you came here to help.”
“I did.”
“Then help.”
His face tightened.
“That’s exactly what I’m trying to do.”
Security pounded again.
Daniel looked toward the main door.
“We have maybe two minutes.”
“Two minutes until what?”
“Until they break in.”
I looked at Margaret.
“Why shouldn’t we let security inside?”
Daniel answered.
“Because the man standing outside is not hospital security.”
Margaret stared at him.
“How do you know?”
“He worked for Meridian.”
The room went quiet.
“You recognize him?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“From twenty years ago?”
“No.”
Daniel’s eyes hardened.
“From six months ago.”
That changed everything.
The pounding stopped.
Then the man outside called,
“Mr. Hale, we know you’re inside.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
Margaret looked terrified.
“They know you.”
“Yes.”
A second voice came from the hallway.
“Step away from the infant and come out.”
My blood froze.
Daniel immediately looked at Lily.
“They’re done pretending.”
I whispered,
“What do they want with her?”
He looked at me.
“The same thing they wanted from Ethan when he was born.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
Margaret turned sharply.
“You told me Ethan was never part of the study.”
Daniel looked at her.
“I lied.”
Margaret’s face collapsed.
“No.”
“I had to.”
“You told me they never touched him.”
“They didn’t.”
“Daniel.”
“Not physically.”
My stomach turned.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel looked toward Lily.
“Project Meridian started as hereditary-disease research.”
I said nothing.
“They tracked genetic traits through family lines.”
Margaret whispered,
“The birthmarks.”
Daniel nodded.
“They were only one marker.”
I looked down at Lily.
“What were they actually studying?”
Daniel hesitated.
“The Hale family carried a rare inherited mutation.”
“What kind?”
“One that changed the way certain cells repaired themselves.”
I didn’t understand.
Daniel continued.
“In laboratory testing, it showed unusual resistance to specific kinds of cellular damage.”
Margaret shook her head.
“I never knew this.”
“You weren’t supposed to.”
I stared at Daniel.
“And Ethan inherited it?”
“Yes.”
“And Lily?”
Daniel looked at the birthmark behind her ear.
“We don’t know.”
“But they think she did.”
“Yes.”
I felt sick.
“That’s why they want her blood.”
“Yes.”
The door suddenly shook.
Someone outside had hit it hard.
Margaret jumped.
Daniel rushed toward the service-side wall.
“We have to move.”
I held Lily closer.
“I’m not going anywhere without Ethan.”
“If we stay, they’ll take both of you.”
“I’m not leaving my husband.”
Daniel stared at me.
Then reached into his jacket.
I stepped back immediately.
He slowly pulled out a small phone.
Not a weapon.
He handed it to me.
“There.”
A map was open.
A red dot blinked.
I stared at it.
“What is this?”
“Ethan.”
My head snapped up.
“You’re tracking him?”
“I slipped a transmitter into his coat when I entered.”
Margaret stared at Daniel.
“You planned for this?”
“I planned for something bad.”
The red dot was moving.
South.
Away from the hospital.
My heart dropped.
“They’re taking him somewhere.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Daniel zoomed out.
The dot was moving toward the industrial district.
Then he went still.
Margaret noticed.
“What?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
“Daniel.”
His face turned pale.
“I know where they’re going.”
“Where?”
He looked at me.
“The old Meridian facility.”
My body went cold.
“You said the project ended years ago.”
“It did.”
“Then why would they take Ethan there?”
Daniel looked toward the pounding door.
“Because someone restarted it.”
The doorframe cracked.
Daniel moved quickly.
“Now.”
He crossed to a medical cabinet, pulled it aside, and revealed a narrow maintenance panel.
Margaret stared at him.
“You’re joking.”
Daniel opened it.
Behind the panel was a dark passage.
“I used this route twenty-eight years ago.”
I stared into it.
“Absolutely not.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Claire, the front door is about to come down.”
As if on cue, the door slammed again.
The lock bent.
Lily began screaming.
My whole body shook.
I hated everything about this.
But Daniel was right.
We had seconds.
Margaret entered the passage first.
I looked at Daniel.
“If anything happens to my baby—”
“I know.”
“No. You don’t.”
I stepped closer.
“If you lie to me even once, I’m done trusting you.”
Daniel met my eyes.
“I’ve spent twenty years paying for one lie.”
He looked at Lily.
“I don’t intend to create another.”
I entered the passage.
Daniel closed the panel behind us.
Seconds later, I heard the hospital-room door crash open.
Men rushed inside.
One voice shouted,
“They’re gone.”
Another answered,
“Find the woman and the baby.”
We moved through darkness.
The maintenance corridor was narrow and dusty.
Margaret led with the light from Daniel’s phone.
Every step sent pain through my body.
I had given birth barely a day earlier.
My legs felt weak.
My stitches hurt.
My arms ached.
But Lily’s warmth against my chest kept me moving.
After several minutes, we reached an old stairwell.
Daniel opened the door carefully.
Empty.
“Down.”
We descended two floors.
Then another.
Margaret stopped.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
She pointed at a faded sign on the wall.
MERIDIAN ACCESS — AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.
I stared at it.
“This hospital really was built over the old facility.”
“Part of it.”
We continued downward.
The stairwell ended at a locked metal door.
Daniel entered a six-digit code.
The lock turned green.
I stared at him.
“You still remember the code after twenty years?”
He opened the door.
“I chose it.”
That answer bothered me.
But there was no time.
Beyond the door was an underground corridor.
Old fluorescent lights flickered overhead.
Dust covered the floor.
Most doors were sealed.
But one room looked different.
The handle was clean.
Someone had used it recently.
Daniel stopped.
Margaret whispered,
“What is that?”
He didn’t answer.
He opened the door.
Inside was an office.
Not abandoned.
Computer screens were active.
Files were stacked on a desk.
A printer hummed quietly.
Someone had been there minutes earlier.
Daniel crossed to the desk.
Then froze.
I stepped beside him.
There was a folder lying open.
On the front:
HALE LINEAGE — GENERATION FOUR.
My throat tightened.
Daniel opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Ethan.
Me.
Our wedding.
My pregnancy.
Hospital records.
Ultrasound images.
I felt sick.
“They’ve been watching us.”
Daniel turned pages faster.
“Longer than that.”
Then Margaret gasped.
She had picked up another photograph.
“What?”
She handed it to Daniel.
He stared at it.
His face collapsed.
I took it.
The photograph showed Ethan as a child.
Sleeping.
Not at home.
Not in foster care.
Inside what looked like a medical laboratory.
Wires were attached to his chest.
A small bandage covered his arm.
I looked at Daniel.
“You said they never touched him.”
His face filled with horror.
“I believed they hadn’t.”
Margaret whispered,
“Who took this?”
Daniel stared at the date printed below the image.
1988.
“That was before my accident.”
He flipped the photo over.
There was handwriting.
SUBJECT E.H. — POSITIVE RESPONSE CONFIRMED.
Margaret started crying.
“They experimented on our son.”
Daniel didn’t respond.
His eyes had moved to the desk.
There was another folder.
Smaller.
Brand new.
He opened it.
Inside was a hospital identification bracelet.
LILY CARTER.
My heart stopped.
“That’s impossible.”
Lily’s bracelet was still around her ankle.
Daniel examined the one in the folder.
“It’s a duplicate.”
There was also a printed collection label.
Blood sample.
Patient: Lily Carter.
Status: Pending.
Margaret whispered,
“They prepared this before she was even born.”
I stared at the date.
The label had been printed six weeks ago.
Six weeks before Lily’s birth.
“How could they know?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
Then one of the computer monitors turned on by itself.
A video feed appeared.
Security camera footage.
A dark room.
Two men.
And someone tied to a chair.
I stopped breathing.
“Ethan.”
He was alive.
His hands were bound behind him.
Blood ran from a cut near his eyebrow.
But he was conscious.
I moved closer to the screen.
“Ethan!”
Of course he couldn’t hear me.
Then someone entered the camera frame.
A man in a white coat.
Daniel stumbled backward.
“No.”
Margaret looked at him.
“Who is that?”
Daniel’s face went gray.
The man on the monitor stepped closer to Ethan.
Then looked directly into the security camera.
Almost as if he knew we were watching.
He smiled.
Daniel whispered,
“That’s impossible.”
“Who is he?” I demanded.
Daniel didn’t answer.
The man on the screen held up a phone.
Our computer suddenly rang.
One incoming video call.
Daniel stared at it.
Then accepted.
The man’s face filled the monitor.
“Hello, Daniel.”
Daniel’s hands began shaking.
“You’re dead.”
The man smiled.
“So were you.”
Margaret whispered,
“Oh my God.”
I looked at her.
She recognized him too.
“Who is he?”
Daniel stared at the screen.
Then he said the name like a curse.
“Dr. Victor Hale.”
I frowned.
“Hale?”
Daniel looked at me.
“My brother.”
My blood ran cold.
Ethan had an uncle.
A living uncle.
Victor smiled through the screen.
“Congratulations, Daniel.”
Daniel said nothing.
“You finally came back.”
“What do you want?”
Victor’s eyes shifted toward Lily in my arms.
“You already know.”
Daniel moved in front of me.
“You’re not getting near her.”
Victor smiled wider.
“That decision was made before she was born.”
I held Lily tighter.
Victor continued.
“Bring the child to Meridian.”
“No.”
“Then Ethan dies.”
Margaret gasped.
I stared at the screen.
Victor leaned closer to the camera.
“You have one hour.”
The call ended.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then another video feed appeared.
Ethan.
Still tied to the chair.
A digital timer appeared above him.
59:59.
59:58.
59:57.
I looked at Daniel.
“No more secrets.”
He didn’t answer.
I stepped toward him.
“You tell me everything now.”
Daniel stared at the countdown.
Then at Lily.
And finally at me.
“What I’m about to tell you is the reason I disappeared.”
He swallowed.
“And it’s the reason Victor will kill every one of us before he lets Lily leave this family.”
PART 5 — THE TRUTH BURIED INSIDE THE HALE FAMILY
Daniel stared at the countdown on the monitor.
59:32.
59:31.
59:30.
Then he turned away.
“Project Meridian was never supposed to become what Victor made it.”
I held Lily tighter.
“What was it supposed to be?”
“A medical study.”
“That’s what you already told us.”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I told you the version everyone else was allowed to know.”
Margaret stared at him.
“Daniel…”
He looked at her.
“I should have told you twenty-eight years ago.”
“You should have told me a lot of things.”
He accepted that without defending himself.
Then he pulled out the chair beside the desk.
“Sit down, Claire.”
“I’m fine.”
“You gave birth yesterday.”
“I said I’m fine.”
Daniel looked at me for a moment.
Then nodded.
“All right.”
He turned toward the folders.
“My father, Charles Hale, founded Hale Biomedical in the late 1970s.”
Margaret slowly lowered herself into a chair.
“I knew that.”
“But you didn’t know why.”
Daniel opened one of the files.
Inside were old research notes.
Photographs.
Blood charts.
Family trees.
Names covered entire pages.
Daniel pointed toward the top of one diagram.
CHARLES HALE.
Below his name were two branches.
DANIEL HALE.
VICTOR HALE.
Then another line.
ETHAN HALE.
And beneath Ethan’s name, someone had recently added:
LILY CARTER.
My stomach twisted.
“They’ve already put her in their records.”
Daniel nodded.
“She was in their records before she was born.”
“How?”
“Because they were watching Ethan.”
“For how long?”
Daniel looked at the photograph of Ethan as a child.
“His entire life.”
Margaret stood suddenly.
“No.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You said after the adoption he was safe.”
“I believed he was.”
“You promised me.”
“I know.”
“You said changing his name would protect him.”
“I thought it had.”
Margaret’s voice cracked.
“All these years?”
Daniel nodded.
“All these years.”
She turned away, crying silently.
I looked at the screen.
58:14.
“Tell me what they want with Lily.”
Daniel inhaled slowly.
“My father discovered something unusual in our family.”
“The mutation?”
“Yes.”
“What does it actually do?”
“At first, we thought it was simply unusual DNA repair.”
He looked at Lily.
“But then Victor discovered something else.”
“What?”
“People carrying the mutation responded differently to certain treatments.”
“What kind of treatments?”
“Experimental ones.”
I felt my pulse rising.
Daniel continued.
“Victor believed the mutation could help develop therapies for degenerative diseases.”
“That sounds like something that could help people.”
“It could have.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“If he had cared about patients.”
“What did he care about?”
“Control.”
I frowned.
Daniel walked toward an old whiteboard covered in faded writing.
“My brother hated waiting.”
“For what?”
“Clinical trials. Regulations. Ethics reviews. Consent.”
A sick feeling settled in my stomach.
“He experimented on people.”
Daniel didn’t answer immediately.
That was enough.
Margaret covered her mouth.
“You knew?”
“I found out.”
“When?”
“The night of the accident.”
The room went silent.
Daniel looked down.
“That accident was not an accident.”
Margaret’s face went completely still.
“What?”
Daniel looked at her.
“The brakes were cut.”
She stared at him.
“No.”
“I found evidence that Victor had been testing on children.”
Margaret’s eyes filled.
Daniel continued.
“I confronted him.”
“What happened?”
“He threatened me.”
“With what?”
“With Ethan.”
My grip tightened around Lily.
Daniel looked at me.
“He told me Ethan had inherited the mutation.”
Margaret whispered,
“How could he know?”
Daniel looked toward the photograph.
“Because Victor had already tested him.”
Her face crumpled.
“The photograph.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“When Ethan was five.”
Margaret shook her head violently.
“No. I would have known.”
“You were told he was receiving treatment for a severe allergic reaction.”
Her eyes widened.
I watched the realization hit her.
“You took him.”
Daniel’s face filled with shame.
“Yes.”
“You let them touch our son?”
“I didn’t know what Victor was doing.”
“You brought him there.”
“I thought my father needed a family sample.”
Margaret slapped him.
The sound echoed through the underground office.
Daniel didn’t move.
Margaret stared at him, breathing hard.
“You don’t get to tell me you protected Ethan.”
Daniel’s eyes filled.
“I know.”
“You handed him to them.”
“I know.”
She raised her hand again.
Then stopped.
Her anger collapsed into grief.
Daniel whispered,
“That’s why I disappeared.”
Margaret shook her head.
“No.”
“I discovered Victor had classified Ethan as a successful hereditary subject.”
“Successful?”
Her voice became sharp.
“He was a child.”
“I know.”
“What did that mean?”
Daniel looked at me.
“It meant Victor wanted to keep studying him.”
My skin crawled.
“So you ran.”
“Yes.”
“With no explanation.”
“If Victor believed I was dead, he had less reason to keep pressuring the family.”
Margaret stared at him.
“But he kept watching Ethan anyway.”
Daniel looked at the floor.
“Yes.”
“So everything you did failed.”
The words hurt him.
I could see it.
But he didn’t argue.
Then I noticed something.
“If Victor wanted Ethan all these years, why wait until now?”
Daniel slowly looked at Lily.
“Because Ethan wasn’t enough.”
“What does that mean?”
“The mutation weakens in some generations.”
He pointed toward the genetic chart.
“Victor needed to see whether Ethan could pass on the complete sequence.”
I looked down at Lily.
“And he thinks she has it.”
“The birthmark strongly suggests it.”
Margaret shook her head.
“A birthmark can’t prove that.”
“No.”
Daniel looked at the duplicate blood label.
“That’s why he wants her sample.”
My anger rose so quickly it almost erased my fear.
“Nobody is touching my daughter.”
Daniel nodded.
“Agreed.”
I pointed at Ethan on the screen.
“Then get my husband back.”
Daniel looked at the timer.
54:47.
“I intend to.”
“How?”
He didn’t answer.
“Daniel.”
“There’s one thing Victor doesn’t know.”
“What?”
Daniel opened the bottom drawer of the desk.
Inside was a metal case.
He entered a code.
The case clicked open.
Inside were several old storage drives.
One folder.
And a black keycard.
Margaret stared.
“What is that?”
Daniel lifted the folder.
“Evidence.”
“Of what?”
“Everything.”
He placed photographs across the desk.
Children in hospital beds.
Research rooms.
Old company records.
Signed orders.
Victor’s name appeared again and again.
I felt sick.
“You’ve had this the whole time?”
“I stole it before the accident.”
“Then why didn’t you go to the police?”
Daniel gave me a painful look.
“I did.”
I frowned.
“What happened?”
“Someone inside the investigation warned Victor.”
My body went cold.
“Police?”
“I never learned who.”
Daniel continued.
“Two days later, my brakes failed.”
Margaret stared at him.
“That’s why you let everyone think you died.”
“Yes.”
“What about the body?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“There was another man in the car.”
Margaret looked confused.
“Who?”
“My colleague.”
Daniel’s voice broke slightly.
“Thomas Reed.”
He swallowed.
“He died.”
“And they thought he was you?”
“The fire destroyed most of the vehicle.”
Margaret whispered,
“Oh my God.”
Daniel looked at the files.
“Afterward, I disappeared and spent years trying to build a case against Victor without exposing Ethan.”
I stared at him.
“Twenty years?”
“Yes.”
“And you still haven’t stopped him.”
“No.”
At least he didn’t lie.
The monitor suddenly beeped.
A new message appeared.
45 MINUTES REMAIN.
Then the camera feed changed.
Someone entered the room where Ethan was being held.
Victor.
He walked behind Ethan and placed a hand on his shoulder.
Ethan jerked away.
Victor smiled.
Then audio came through the speakers.
“Your family has always been dramatic.”
Ethan looked directly at him.
“You kidnapped me.”
“Temporarily detained.”
“You threatened my wife and daughter.”
Victor smiled.
“Your wife is irrelevant.”
My anger exploded.
Daniel immediately placed a hand on my arm.
I pulled away.
On the screen, Ethan’s expression changed.
“Say that again.”
Victor laughed.
“There he is.”
Ethan stared at him.
“The temper.”
Victor leaned closer.
“You got that from your father.”
Ethan said nothing.
Victor continued.
“Daniel spent his entire life pretending he was different from me.”
“You are different.”
“Oh?”
“My father ran from you.”
Victor smiled.
“Exactly.”
Ethan leaned forward as far as the restraints allowed.
“He ran because you’re a monster.”
Victor’s smile faded.
For the first time, I saw something dangerous in his face.
He crouched in front of Ethan.
“You know nothing about your father.”
“I know he abandoned me.”
Daniel flinched beside me.
Victor nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed.
Victor continued.
“He always does that when things become difficult.”
Daniel whispered,
“Don’t listen to him.”
Of course Ethan couldn’t hear.
Victor leaned closer.
“Would you like to know the real reason your father disappeared?”
Ethan said nothing.
Victor smiled.
“It wasn’t to protect you.”
Daniel went rigid.
Margaret looked at him.
“What is he talking about?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
Victor continued.
“Your father stole something from Meridian.”
Ethan stared at him.
“What?”
“Something worth more than this entire company.”
Victor looked directly into the camera.
“And he has kept it hidden for twenty years.”
Daniel’s face changed.
I noticed.
Victor knew exactly where the camera was.
He knew we were watching.
“He’s talking to you,” I whispered.
“Yes.”
Victor continued.
“Daniel.”
Daniel stared at the screen.
“If you’re watching, bring me the original Meridian sequence.”
Margaret looked confused.
“The what?”
Victor smiled.
“You have forty-five minutes.”
Then he walked out of frame.
The audio cut.
I turned toward Daniel.
“What is the Meridian sequence?”
He remained silent.
“Daniel.”
Nothing.
My anger returned.
“You said no more secrets.”
He closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“So tell me.”
He walked toward the metal case.
Then removed one of the storage drives.
“This contains the original genetic sequence my father isolated.”
I stared at it.
“That little thing is what Victor wants?”
“Not exactly.”
Daniel shook his head.
“The sequence is incomplete.”
“Then why does he want it?”
“Because I removed the final section before I disappeared.”
“Where is it?”
Daniel looked at Ethan on the monitor.
My stomach dropped.
“No.”
Margaret saw it too.
“Daniel.”
He didn’t answer.
“Where is it?”
Daniel whispered,
“Inside Ethan.”
I felt my skin go cold.
“What do you mean inside Ethan?”
“It isn’t a physical object.”
He pointed toward the genetic charts.
“The final sequence can only be reconstructed using DNA from the carrier line.”
I looked at Lily.
“No.”
Daniel nodded slowly.
“Ethan carries one half.”
“And Lily?”
Daniel’s silence gave me the answer.
“She carries the other.”
Margaret sat down hard.
“So Victor needs both of them.”
“Yes.”
“That’s why he took Ethan first.”
“Yes.”
“And now he wants Lily.”
“Yes.”
I stared at the monitor.
Ethan was still bound to the chair.
Alive.
Waiting.
The timer continued falling.
42:03.
42:02.
42:01.
Then I looked at Daniel.
“We’re not giving him Lily.”
“No.”
“And we’re not leaving Ethan there.”
“No.”
“So what’s the plan?”
Daniel picked up the black keycard.
“We give Victor exactly what he expects.”
Margaret stared.
“You want to take Lily there?”
“No.”
Daniel looked at me.
“We make him believe we did.”
I frowned.
“How?”
He held up the duplicate hospital bracelet.
For the first time, I understood.
“We create a fake sample.”
Daniel nodded.
“And while Victor is verifying it?”
“We get Ethan.”
Margaret looked doubtful.
“Victor is not stupid.”
“No.”
Daniel placed the old storage drive into his pocket.
“But he is arrogant.”
I looked at Lily.
“And if it fails?”
Daniel met my eyes.
“Then Victor kills Ethan.”
Silence.
My heart twisted.
Then Daniel continued.
“And if we do nothing, he kills Ethan anyway.”
I hated that he was right.
Margaret moved toward the desk.
“I’m coming.”
Daniel looked at her.
“No.”
“You lost the right to tell me what to do twenty years ago.”
“This is dangerous.”
“Our son is tied to a chair.”
“Margaret—”
“I’m coming.”
Daniel stared at her for several seconds.
Then nodded.
I looked down at Lily.
“What about her?”
Daniel pointed toward another part of the underground level.
“There’s a secure emergency room behind this corridor.”
“With who?”
“No one.”
“That’s not happening.”
“Claire—”
“I am not leaving my newborn alone in an abandoned underground facility.”
Margaret stepped closer.
“I’ll stay with her.”
I looked at her.
She continued.
“You go with Daniel.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“I don’t even know you.”
Her expression softened.
“I know.”
She looked at Lily.
“But I already failed one child in this family.”
Her voice cracked.
“I won’t fail another.”
I studied her face.
Every instinct told me not to trust anyone.
But another part of me saw something real in Margaret.
Regret.
Love.
And determination.
Before I could answer, Daniel’s phone vibrated.
A message.
Unknown number.
He opened it.
Three words.
CHECK THE EAST DOOR.
Daniel’s face changed.
“What?”
He rushed toward the security monitor.
The east corridor camera showed an empty hallway.
Then someone stepped into view.
Hospital scrubs.
Mask.
Cap.
The person looked directly toward the camera.
Then slowly removed the mask.
I heard Margaret gasp.
I stared at the screen.
It was a woman.
Maybe thirty-five.
Blonde hair.
Pale face.
I didn’t recognize her.
But Daniel did.
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“No, no, no.”
“Who is she?”
He didn’t answer.
The woman held up a piece of paper to the camera.
Four words were written across it.
VICTOR KNOWS YOUR PLAN.
Then she looked behind her.
Terrified.
Daniel whispered,
“Emily.”
Margaret turned toward him.
“Emily?”
I looked between them.
“Who is Emily?”
Daniel’s expression told me this was another secret.
Margaret slowly backed away from him.
“No.”
Her voice became weak.
“Daniel… who is she?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
Margaret’s eyes widened.
Then she looked at the woman on the screen.
Then back at Daniel.
“She has your eyes.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
And Margaret whispered the question that changed everything again.
“Is she your daughter?”
Daniel opened his eyes.
“Yes.”
The room went completely silent.
I stared at him.
Ethan had a sister.
And judging by Margaret’s expression, she had never known.
Then the east-door alarm began screaming.
Someone was coming inside.
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