Chapter 9 - The Woman Behind the Locked DoorThe contract was hidden beneath the mansion.
Mara had spent seven years searching for it.
Victor had spent seven years moving it.
They finally found it because Noah remembered something.
“When you were in the wheelchair,” he said, “there was always one room you weren't allowed to enter.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“The west archive.”
Noah nodded.
“Your father always locked it.”
“I remember.”
They returned to the mansion before dawn.
The guards had been doubled.
But Damien knew a route.
An old servant's tunnel.
They entered the archive.
Dust covered everything.
Boxes.
Ledgers.
Medical records.
Evelyn searched desperately.
Then she found it.
A black folder.
PROJECT EDEN.
Her hands trembled.
Inside were financial records.
Patient reports.
Research notes.
And a video drive.
Mara connected it to a laptop.
A recording appeared.
Evelyn's mother sat in a chair.
She looked terrified.
“If you're watching this,” she said, “Victor has probably found out.”
Evelyn covered her mouth.
Her mother's voice continued.
“The program began as legitimate trauma research. Victor changed it.”
A document appeared on screen.
“Patients who suffered physical injuries were subjected to prolonged psychological conditioning.”
Mara whispered,
“He wanted controllable heirs.”
Evelyn listened.
“The purpose was simple. Destroy resistance. Create dependency. Make vulnerable people believe they cannot survive without the person controlling them.”
Evelyn began crying.
Her mother continued.
“Evelyn was never supposed to be a subject.”
The video changed.
“Until she discovered the accounts.”
Victor appeared.
Young.
Cold.
Talking to someone outside the frame.
“We need her isolated.”
Evelyn froze.
“She knows too much.”
Her mother replied,
“She is my daughter.”
Victor smiled.
“That is why it works.”
The recording ended.
Silence filled the room.
Noah looked at Evelyn.
“Your mom knew.”
Evelyn nodded.
“She tried to save me.”
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Damien raised a hand.
Everyone froze.
The door opened.
A woman stood there.
Gray coat.
Dark hair.
Scar across her cheek.
Mara gasped.
“No.”
The woman smiled.
“Hello, sister.”
Mara nearly collapsed.
“You died.”
“No.”
The woman stepped inside.
“I disappeared.”
Evelyn stared at her.
“Who are you?”
The woman looked at her.
“My name is Lena Bell.”
Noah stared.
“Bell?”
Lena nodded.
“My brother was Daniel.”
Evelyn's heartbeat stopped.
“Daniel was your brother?”
“Yes.”
“Then you know what happened the night of the crash.”
Lena's expression darkened.
“I know who cut the brakes.”
“Who?”
Lena opened her coat.
She pulled out a small envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
A man stood near Evelyn's limousine.
Evelyn stared.
She recognized him instantly.
Julian Mercer.
Her doctor.
But the photograph had been taken before the accident.
Julian was holding a wrench.
Standing beside the brakes.
Lena whispered,
“He didn't do it alone.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“Who helped him?”
Lena slowly turned the photograph over.
There was one name written on the back.
DAMIAN CROSS.
Evelyn's blood ran cold.
She turned toward the man standing behind her.
Damien looked at the photograph.
May you like
Then he raised his eyes.
“I can explain.”
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