Chapter 3 - Saint Martha's Children's Center had been abandoned for six years.Yet every light was on.
Adrian parked outside the rusted gate.
He checked the clock.
Forty-six minutes had passed.
He was alone.
At least, that was what the caller wanted him to believe.
He entered through the front doors.
The lobby smelled of disinfectant and wet concrete.
A reception desk sat empty.
Children's drawings still hung on the walls.
Rain tapped against the windows.
Adrian noticed something strange.
Every drawing had the same symbol.
A black circle.
Three white dots.
He walked deeper into the building.
A loudspeaker crackled.
“Welcome home, Mr. Vale.”
Adrian raised his gun.
“Where are my daughters?”
“Downstairs.”
“Bring them out.”
“Not yet.”
Adrian's patience snapped.
“I swear to God…”
“You've spent fourteen months believing your wife died.”
Adrian froze.
“Who are you?”
“You'll know soon.”
The speaker clicked off.
Adrian searched the ground floor.
Rooms.
Storage closets.
Treatment halls.
Nothing.
Then he found an elevator.
The buttons had been ripped out.
Except one.
B.
He pressed it.
The doors opened.
He stepped inside.
The elevator descended.
Ten seconds.
Twenty.
Thirty.
The display showed nothing.
Then came a metallic jolt.
The doors opened.
Adrian stepped into an underground facility.
Not abandoned.
Operating.
Men in security uniforms moved between rooms.
Computers glowed.
Monitors showed surveillance feeds.
One screen displayed his mansion.
Another showed Elena's house.
Another showed the Vale family vault.
Adrian's face hardened.
Then he saw his daughters.
Olivia.
Sophie.
Nora.
They were sitting inside a glass room.
Alive.
A man stood behind them.
Victor.
Adrian raised his weapon toward the monitor.
“Victor!”
Victor appeared on a nearby screen.
“You came alone.”
“Let them go.”
Victor smiled.
“You still don't understand.”
“Explain.”
“You think this is about killing you.”
“Isn't it?”
“No.”
Victor looked almost sad.
“This is about what your wife left behind.”
“What did she leave?”
Victor glanced toward the children.
“The proof.”
Adrian stared.
“Proof of what?”
Victor didn't answer.
Instead, a new figure entered the screen.
A woman.
Dark hair.
Long black coat.
Adrian stopped breathing.
She stood beside the girls.
He knew that face.
He had kissed it.
Held it.
Buried it.
“Evelyn?”
Victor smiled.
Adrian stumbled backward.
“No.”
The woman turned toward the camera.
It was Evelyn.
Older.
Paler.
But alive.
She looked directly at him.
“Hello, Adrian.”
The gun nearly slipped from his hand.
“You're dead.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because you were supposed to believe it.”
Adrian's entire world collapsed.
“You let me think you died?”
“I had no choice.”
“You let our children believe you were dead.”
“They knew enough to stay alive.”
Adrian slammed his fist into the monitor.
“What the hell is going on?”
Evelyn's expression changed.
“They're using you.”
“Who?”
She hesitated.
Then looked toward Victor.
“Your own family.”
Adrian stared.
“My family?”
“Your father knew.”
Adrian's chest tightened.
“My father died twelve years ago.”
“So did mine.”
“What does that mean?”
Evelyn looked directly into the camera.
“It means neither death was what you were told.”
A door opened behind Adrian.
He turned.
Two armed men stood there.
Victor's voice came through the speakers.
“Drop the gun.”
Adrian slowly lowered it.
One guard walked toward him.
Then a gunshot exploded.
The guard dropped.
Adrian looked toward the upper corridor.
Elena stood there.
Holding a pistol.
“Move!”
Adrian grabbed the weapon from the dead guard.
Elena ran toward him.
“How did you get here?”
“I followed you.”
“Where are the girls?”
“Still inside.”
“We're getting them.”
They rushed through the facility.
Alarms blared.
Red lights flashed.
Doors locked one after another.
Adrian reached the glass room.
Inside, Olivia pressed her hand against the glass.
“Daddy!”
Adrian fired at the lock.
The door opened.
All three girls ran toward him.
He dropped to his knees and wrapped them in his arms.
For the first time in fourteen months, his daughters were speaking freely.
“Daddy.”
“Daddy.”
“Daddy.”
Adrian kissed their hair.
“We're getting out.”
Then Nora pulled his sleeve.
She looked terrified.
“Dad.”
“What?”
She pointed toward the ceiling.
“Mom is lying.”
Adrian froze.
“What?”
Nora whispered:
“She isn't our real mom.”
The lights went out.
A woman's scream echoed through the facility.
Then the speakers crackled.
May you like
Victor's voice returned.
“Now you finally understand.”
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