Chapter 9 - Daniel's mind couldn't keep up.Richard alive.
Victor alive.
Emily captured.
Two fathers standing together.
Two sons.
One impossible past.
Victor raised a hand.
“Put the guns down.”
Michael laughed.
“You're insane.”
“No.”
Victor looked at Daniel.
“I'm finally honest.”
Richard stepped forward.
“You want answers.”
Daniel stared at him.
“I want the truth.”
“You can't handle it.”
“Try me.”
Richard smiled.
“You were never my son.”
Daniel felt nothing.
No shock this time.
Only exhaustion.
“You adopted me?”
“No.”
Richard glanced at Michael.
“I stole you.”
Victor said quietly:
“Because your biological father wanted you dead.”
Daniel looked at Victor.
“You?”
Victor nodded.
“Yes.”
Sophia turned toward her father.
“Why?”
Victor looked at her.
“Because Alexander inherited something.”
“What?”
Victor's face darkened.
“Knowledge.”
He pointed at Michael.
“And Michael inherited something else.”
“What?”
“Instinct.”
Richard laughed.
“Together, they're dangerous.”
Daniel frowned.
“Dangerous to whom?”
Neither man answered.
Michael stepped forward.
“To you.”
Daniel turned.
Michael looked at him.
“Remember the laboratory.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
The memory returned.
Two beds.
Two boys.
Doctors.
A machine.
Victor standing behind glass.
Richard beside him.
Emily screaming.
Then a third person.
A woman Daniel didn't recognize.
She leaned over the boys.
And said:
“Only one child should leave this room.”
Daniel opened his eyes.
“Who was she?”
Victor's face changed.
Richard's smile disappeared.
Michael whispered:
“Dr. Evelyn Ward.”
Daniel stared.
“Who is that?”
Victor answered:
“The founder of Project Dove.”
Sophia's eyes widened.
“She died.”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
Daniel felt a cold sensation move through him.
“Where is she?”
Victor looked directly at him.
“She became your therapist.”
Daniel froze.
His mind flashed backward.
A woman in a quiet office.
Thirty years old?
Maybe older?
Always asking him about dreams.
Always asking what he remembered about his childhood.
He had seen her every month for years.
Dr. Evelyn Ward.
Daniel whispered:
“She knows.”
Richard nodded.
“She knows everything.”
Michael suddenly grabbed Daniel's arm.
“Then we have to find her.”
Victor raised his gun.
“No.”
Michael stopped.
“She has the final key.”
“To what?”
Victor looked at Daniel.
“Your memories.”
The roof went silent.
Then Sophia's phone rang.
She answered.
A woman's voice said:
“Sophia, it's Emma.”
Sophia nearly collapsed.
“Emma?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
A pause.
“I'm with Dr. Ward.”
Daniel stared.
The voice continued:
“She says Daniel has to come alone.”
The line went dead.
Daniel looked at Victor.
“You knew she had Emma.”
Victor smiled.
“I know everything that happens in my family.”
Richard stepped forward.
“No.”
Victor looked at him.
“You're forgetting something.”
Richard's expression changed.
Victor continued:
“I built this family.”
Then Richard pulled a second gun.
He shot Victor.
Sophia screamed.
Victor stumbled.
Michael fired.
Richard ducked behind a concrete barrier.
The rooftop exploded into chaos.
Daniel grabbed Sophia.
“GET DOWN!”
Michael ran toward Victor.
Victor collapsed.
Richard disappeared down the stairwell.
Daniel followed.
They raced through the building.
Down three floors.
Into an empty lobby.
Richard stood at the exit.
He wasn't running.
He was waiting.
He looked at Daniel.
“Do you want to know why I stole you?”
Daniel raised his gun.
“Talk.”
Richard smiled.
“Because the woman you call Mom asked me to.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
Richard whispered:
“She gave you to me.”
He dropped the gun.
Then said something that made Daniel's entire world crack apart.
“She gave you to me because you were the one who killed Michael.”
Daniel stared at him.
Michael stepped into the lobby.
Alive.
“What?”
Richard pointed at Daniel.
“He doesn't remember.”
Michael looked at Daniel.
May you like
Richard smiled.
“But I do.”
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