Chapter 13: The Grandmother's Secret
The woman stood beneath the white spotlight, holding the photograph of Ethan as a newborn.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Ethan stared at her.
His grandmother.
A woman he had never seen.
A woman who had supposedly died before he was born.
She looked nothing like the grandmother he had imagined.
There was no warmth in her expression.
No hesitation.
Only absolute confidence.
Ethan raised his gun.
"Put the folder down."
She smiled.
"You really are your father's son."
Robert stepped forward.
"Helena."
The woman's smile disappeared.
"Don't call me that."
Robert stopped.
Ethan looked between them.
"Her name is Helena?"
Robert nodded.
"Helena Carter."
Ethan's voice hardened.
"Who is she?"
Robert answered quietly.
"Your grandmother."
Helena corrected him.
"Your father's mother."
She looked at Ethan.
"And the founder of Meridian."
Silence.
Ethan's stomach dropped.
Robert shook his head.
"No."
Helena laughed.
"You always hated that word."
She walked toward him.
"No."
"No."
"No."
"You said it every time you couldn't accept what I'd done."
Ethan looked at Robert.
"You said you created Meridian."
Robert lowered his eyes.
"I was wrong."
Helena smiled.
"Your father was the architect."
"I was the founder."
Ethan felt sick.
"Then my entire family..."
"Built this."
Helena looked around the laboratory.
"Not just this."
She pointed toward the files.
"All of it."
"The hospitals."
"The research centers."
"The private clinics."
"The identity networks."
"The adoption agencies."
"The genetic databases."
Ethan stared at her.
"You controlled all of them."
"For decades."
Michael stepped forward.
"Why?"
Helena looked at him.
"Because knowledge is power."
Richard laughed bitterly.
"No."
Helena turned.
"Because blood is power."
She looked toward the children.
"Your family carries something the rest of the world doesn't."
Ethan shook his head.
"You mean the disease."
Helena smiled.
"No."
She pointed at him.
"Your family carries the cure."
Ethan's face went pale.
"Then why are people dying?"
"Because the cure is incomplete."
She opened the folder.
"The mutation exists in fragments."
She pointed to Sophie.
"One fragment."
Then Lily.
"Another."
Then Ava.
"The third."
Finally, she looked at the baby.
"And the fourth."
Ethan stared.
"Four children."
Helena nodded.
"Four genetic components."
"And me?"
"You are the original sequence."
Ethan looked at his hands.
"So you created this entire organization to collect pieces of my DNA."
"Not yours alone."
She smiled.
"Your descendants."
Emily suddenly shouted:
"Don't believe her!"
Helena looked at her.
"You were always sentimental."
"You murdered people."
"I eliminated variables."
"You kidnapped children."
"I preserved samples."
Emily's voice cracked.
"They were children!"
Helena's expression remained cold.
"They were carriers."
Ethan stepped forward.
"They're my children."
Helena looked at him.
"Exactly."
She held up the photograph.
"You were the first successful subject."
Ethan stared at the image.
He was only hours old.
His tiny face looked peaceful.
His mother was holding him.
But standing behind her was Helena.
And beside Helena...
was Adrian.
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
"Adrian was there."
"Of course."
"How old was he?"
"Twenty."
Ethan looked at Adrian.
"You were twenty?"
Adrian nodded.
Helena continued.
"Adrian was the first person to understand what Ethan could become."
"What I could become?"
"A bridge."
"Between what?"
"Human biology and controlled genetic evolution."
Ethan laughed bitterly.
"You experimented on me before I could even speak."
Helena smiled.
"You volunteered."
Ethan's expression changed.
"What?"
"When you were seventeen."
Helena opened another file.
A document appeared.
Ethan's signature was at the bottom.
He stared.
The signature was his.
But the date was impossible.
Seventeen years old.
CONSENT TO MEMORY SUPPRESSION.
Ethan's breathing stopped.
"I don't remember signing this."
"You weren't supposed to."
Robert looked away.
Ethan turned toward him.
"You erased my memories."
Robert nodded.
"Because you discovered what Meridian was doing."
"What did I discover?"
Robert hesitated.
Helena answered.
"You discovered the fourth child."
Ethan looked toward the baby.
"No."
"Yes."
"You knew about him before I did."
"Of course."
"Then why hide him?"
Helena smiled.
"Because he was the most valuable."
Ethan stepped toward her.
"What makes him different?"
Helena looked at the newborn.
"He inherited all four sequences."
Ethan froze.
"All four?"
"Yes."
The room went silent.
Helena continued.
"Your son is the complete genetic sequence."
Ethan's heart pounded.
"Then why do you need me?"
"Because he cannot survive without you."
Ethan frowned.
"What?"
"His cells are unstable."
She pointed toward the medical monitor.
"His body needs your blood to stabilize."
Ethan looked at his son.
"No."
Helena nodded.
"That's why you're here."
Ethan tightened his grip around the baby.
"You want my blood."
"Not just your blood."
"What else?"
"Your bone marrow."
Emily screamed:
"No!"
Helena didn't react.
"One procedure."
"Your son survives."
"Your daughters survive."
"And your family's disease can finally be cured."
Ethan stared at her.
"And me?"
Helena was silent.
Ethan understood.
"I die."
Helena didn't deny it.
Robert stepped forward.
"That's why I tried to destroy Meridian."
Helena turned toward him.
"And failed."
Robert looked at Ethan.
"I wanted you to have a normal life."
"You lied to me."
"Yes."
"You erased me."
"Yes."
"You let me believe my mother was dead."
Robert's eyes filled with tears.
"Because if you remembered..."
He couldn't finish.
Ethan looked at him.
"If I remembered, Meridian would find me."
Robert nodded.
"And they did anyway."
A sudden alarm sounded.
Michael rushed toward the console.
"Something's wrong."
Helena looked at him.
"What?"
"The external network."
He stared at the screen.
"Someone is breaking into the facility."
Helena frowned.
"Who?"
Michael's expression changed.
"The police."
Ethan froze.
"Police?"
Michael nodded.
"The archive upload triggered an automatic investigation."
Richard smiled.
"Then Meridian is finished."
Helena calmly closed the folder.
"No."
She pressed a button.
Every door in the facility locked.
"Not yet."
Ethan stepped toward her.
"Let my family go."
Helena looked at him.
"You have a choice."
"I've heard enough choices."
"Then hear this one."
She pointed toward the exit.
"Walk away with Sophie and Lily."
Ethan stared.
"Or stay."
She pointed toward the baby.
"And save your son."
Ethan's jaw tightened.
"You're asking me to sacrifice myself."
"I'm offering you the opportunity to save all three."
Emily shouted:
"She's lying!"
Helena looked at her.
"Am I?"
Emily stared at Ethan.
Then whispered:
"Ethan..."
"What?"
"There's another way."
Helena's expression changed.
"Emily."
Emily smiled through her tears.
"You forgot one thing."
Helena frowned.
"What?"
Emily looked at Ethan.
"He isn't the only person who carries the sequence."
Helena's face suddenly went pale.
Ethan looked at Emily.
"Who else?"
Emily slowly turned toward Ava.
The little girl stood silently beside Margaret.
Emily whispered:
"She does."
Helena stared at Ava.
For the first time, genuine fear appeared in her eyes.
"No."
Ava looked directly at Helena.
Then she lifted her sleeve.
A strange mark covered her wrist.
The same symbol Ethan had seen throughout the mansion.
The circle divided by three lines.
Helena took a step backward.
"Where did she get that?"
Emily answered:
"From you."
Helena shook her head.
"Impossible."
Ava spoke for the first time.
Her voice was calm.
"You forgot me."
Everyone froze.
Ava looked at Helena.
"You forgot what you did to me."
Helena's face went white.
Ava continued.
"You made me before Ethan was born."
Ethan stared.
"What?"
Ava looked at him.
"I wasn't born."
Silence.
"I was created."
Helena suddenly raised her weapon.
Michael reacted instantly.
He fired.
The gun flew from Helena's hand.
Chaos erupted.
Robert grabbed Ethan.
"Get the children out!"
Ethan turned toward Emily.
But Emily was already moving.
She grabbed Ava.
Margaret seized Lily.
Richard pulled Sophie toward the emergency corridor.
Everyone scattered.
Then the laboratory lights flickered.
A massive explosion shook the building.
Glass shattered.
Fire erupted across the ceiling.
Ethan grabbed his son.
"Emily!"
"I'm here!"
They ran toward the exit.
Behind them, Helena screamed:
"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT AVA IS!"
Ethan turned.
Helena was trapped beneath a fallen metal beam.
She looked directly at him.
"She isn't your daughter."
Ethan froze.
Helena smiled.
"She's the reason your family was destroyed."
Ava stood beside Emily.
Her eyes were strangely calm.
Then the girl looked at Ethan.
"Daddy..."
Ethan stared at her.
Ava whispered:
"Don't let them wake me up."
May you like
And somewhere deep beneath Blackwater...
a machine began powering on.
