Chapter 8 - The Man in the CarI turned slowly.
There were only three people in the car.
Me.
Eleanor.
And the driver.
Except Eleanor was driving.
My heart pounded.
“Who?”
She didn't answer.
I looked into the rearview mirror.
The driver seat was empty.
Impossible.
The car was moving.
Eleanor had somehow taken her hands off the wheel.
I screamed.
She grabbed the steering wheel.
The vehicle swerved.
“Stay calm!”
“Who is Stephanie talking about?”
Eleanor didn't answer.
Then the dashboard screen lit up.
A video appeared.
Stephanie.
She was lying in the hospital bed.
Her face was bruised.
“Emily.”
I leaned closer.
“I need you to listen.”
Her voice shook.
“The person you've been looking for isn't Mr. Black.”
I froze.
“He's someone you already know.”
Stephanie's eyes filled with tears.
“Your biological father.”
The video cut.
I stared at Eleanor.
“Who?”
She pulled over.
Then she looked at me.
“I lied.”
“About what?”
“I told you we didn't know.”
She hesitated.
“We do.”
“Who is he?”
She opened a folder.
Inside was a photograph.
I recognized the man immediately.
Professor Victor Lennox.
I felt sick.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“He's my father?”
“Biologically.”
I stared at the photograph.
The professor who had tried to destroy my academic career.
The man who had testified against me.
My biological father.
My phone rang.
Stephanie.
I answered.
“Emily?”
“Tell me the truth.”
Silence.
Then:
“Lennox is your biological father.”
My throat tightened.
“Did you know?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Since I was twelve.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because they told me you'd be killed.”
I closed my eyes.
“Who?”
“The Meridian Initiative.”
“What do they want from me?”
“You.”
I laughed bitterly.
“That's not an answer.”
“It is.”
She sounded exhausted.
“They created me to replace you.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“They believed you were genetically unpredictable.”
“So they made you?”
“Not exactly.”
She began crying.
“They selected me because I was obedient.”
“Stephanie…”
“They trained me.”
I remembered the cruelty.
The competition.
The insults.
Every time she had tried to make me doubt myself.
“You were jealous.”
“I was scared.”
“Those aren't the same.”
“I know.”
Her voice broke.
“I thought if I made you fail, they'd leave me alone.”
“Did they?”
“No.”
“What did they do?”
Silence.
“They told me I had one final assignment.”
“What?”
“To kill you.”
My blood went cold.
“Stephanie…”
“I refused.”
The line crackled.
Then a man's voice appeared in the background.
“Give me the phone.”
Stephanie screamed.
The call ended.
I stood.
“We have to go.”
Eleanor grabbed my wrist.
“No.”
“She's in danger.”
“So are you.”
I pulled away.
“I don't care.”
“Emily.”
She looked at me.
“You have one chance to stop this.”
“How?”
“Expose Meridian.”
“That simple?”
“No.”
She handed me another file.
“There is a public hearing next week.”
“On what?”
“University funding.”
“And?”
“Every major donor will be there.”
I understood.
“You want me to expose them publicly.”
“Exactly.”
“With evidence.”
“Enough evidence.”
I opened the file.
Inside was a list of transactions.
Universities.
Companies.
Politicians.
Media organizations.
Then I saw something.
A payment made to a private security firm.
Recipient:
Carter Family Trust.
I stared.
“My family was paid.”
Eleanor nodded.
“Your father.”
I looked up.
“Why?”
“To keep you quiet.”
My hands shook.
“I didn't know.”
“Of course not.”
“Where is my father?”
Eleanor looked away.
“I don't know.”
Then the car's Bluetooth connected.
A call appeared.
Unknown.
I answered.
Mr. Black's voice came through.
“You're digging in the wrong place.”
“Where is Stephanie?”
“Alive.”
“For now.”
I clenched my fists.
“What do you want?”
“I want the file.”
“No.”
“You have something that belongs to your family.”
“What?”
“The original birth records.”
I looked at Eleanor.
She went pale.
Mr. Black continued.
“Bring them to the old science building.”
“When?”
“Midnight.”
“And if I don't?”
A pause.
Then:
“Your sister dies.”
The call ended.
Eleanor shook her head.
“Don't go.”
“I have to.”
“No.”
“I can't lose her.”
“She tried to destroy you.”
“She was manipulated.”
“That doesn't erase what she did.”
I looked at the road ahead.
“No.”
“But it explains it.”
At midnight, I entered the abandoned science building.
The hallways were dark.
My footsteps echoed.
I carried the birth records.
Then the lights turned on.
One by one.
At the end of the hallway stood Mr. Black.
And beside him…
Professor Lennox.
He smiled.
“Hello, Emily.”
Then he said the one sentence that shattered everything.
“I'm not your father.”
I froze.
He pointed behind me.
“Your real father is the man you trusted most.”
May you like
I turned.
And saw my father.
