Chapter 10 - The old man led them to the river.At dawn, the city looked colorless.
Atlas walked beside him.
Émilie followed with Gabriel several meters behind.
The old man stopped beneath a bridge.
He finally turned.
“I wondered how long it would take.”
“Who are you?”
The man smiled.
“You knew me as Henri.”
“You knew my mother.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Lucie.”
“Yes.”
“Is she alive?”
Henri's smile disappeared.
“That's complicated.”
Émilie stepped forward.
“I'm tired of complicated.”
He nodded.
“Fair.”
Henri opened his bag.
Inside was a small wooden box.
He handed it to her.
“This belonged to your biological mother.”
Émilie opened it.
Inside was a necklace.
A photograph.
And a letter.
She unfolded the letter.
Her hands trembled.
My daughter,
If you are reading this, I failed to keep you safe.
The letter explained everything.
Her biological mother had been a forensic accountant.
She discovered millions of dollars moving through shell companies.
The network used missing people to create false identities.
Children were the most valuable because their records could be rewritten.
She discovered that a small group of officials, businessmen, and doctors were involved.
Then she discovered something worse.
The network had created a program called The Garden.
Children were placed with carefully selected families.
Their identities altered.
Their memories manipulated.
They were raised under new names.
Émilie had been one of them.
Lucie had been another.
The letter continued.
Henri will protect you.
Then:
Do not trust the woman who raised you.
Émilie looked up.
Marianne.
Her adoptive mother.
Henri lowered his eyes.
“She wanted me to hate her.”
“Why?”
“Because she knew the only way to protect you was to make you believe she had abandoned you.”
“Did she?”
“No.”
“Then why did she disappear?”
Henri looked toward the river.
“She didn't.”
“What do you mean?”
Henri pointed across the water.
A woman stood on the opposite bank.
Marianne.
She raised one hand.
Then dropped something onto the ground.
A flash of metal.
Henri's face changed.
“That's the signal.”
“What signal?”
“The signal that it's over.”
A gunshot rang out.
Marianne collapsed.
Émilie screamed.
Henri pulled her down.
Gabriel ran toward the river.
Three more shots echoed.
Then silence.
The woman on the opposite bank was gone.
Émilie sobbed.
“She's dead.”
Henri shook his head.
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because she planned this.”
He pulled Émilie behind a concrete pillar.
“Your mother wouldn't die where everyone could watch.”
“You're saying she's alive?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did she fall?”
“Because the bullet was meant for you.”
Émilie stared at him.
“What?”
Henri looked at the bridge.
A sniper's laser crossed the concrete.
He pushed her down.
“Get ready.”
“For what?”
“For the part of the story nobody told you.”
The laser vanished.
A second later, Atlas suddenly lunged toward Émilie and knocked her over.
A bullet struck the ground where her head had been.
Henri shouted:
“Run!”
They fled beneath the bridge.
Atlas led them into a hidden maintenance tunnel.
Inside, Émilie finally broke down.
“Why me?”
Henri looked at her.
“Because your biological mother left something inside you.”
“What?”
“Not physically.”
He paused.
“A memory.”
“I don't remember anything.”
“You were six months old.”
“So?”
“She knew memories could survive through patterns.”
“I don't understand.”
“She encoded the location of the financial records into a lullaby.”
Émilie stared.
“The lullaby my mother sang?”
Henri nodded.
“Your entire life, you thought it was a song.”
“And?”
May you like
Henri smiled.
“It is a map.”
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