Chapter 11 - Jonathan followed the scream.It led to another sealed room.
He slammed his shoulder against the door.
Once.
Twice.
On the third attempt, the lock broke.
Emma was inside.
Alone.
She was tied to a chair, crying.
Jonathan rushed toward her.
“Emma!”
She threw herself against him.
“Daddy!”
He untied her.
Mara hugged her next.
Emma clung to her.
Then she looked up.
“Where's the other girl?”
Jonathan froze.
“Sofia?”
Emma nodded.
“She told me to run.”
“When?”
“Before they took me.”
Jonathan looked at Celeste.
“What happened?”
Emma wiped her tears.
“She said they weren't trying to hurt us.”
Jonathan frowned.
“What did she say?”
“She said they were testing us.”
“Testing what?”
Emma hesitated.
“Our memories.”
Mara stared.
“Your memories?”
Emma nodded.
“She asked me who I was.”
Jonathan felt a chill.
“What did you say?”
“I said Emma.”
“What did she say?”
Emma looked at him.
“She said, 'That's the name they gave you.'”
Jonathan closed his eyes.
The truth had become a maze.
He picked Emma up.
“Where is Sofia?”
Emma pointed toward the far wall.
“There.”
A hidden panel opened.
Behind it was a staircase.
Jonathan turned to Celeste.
“You knew?”
Celeste shook her head.
“No.”
They followed the stairs down.
At the bottom was a circular chamber.
A large machine occupied the center.
Jonathan stared.
“What is that?”
Celeste whispered,
“The memory archive.”
Screens showed children's faces.
Medical histories.
Video recordings.
Interviews.
One screen showed Emma at age three.
Another showed Sofia.
Another showed Jonathan.
He stared.
Someone had recorded his memories.
Questions flashed on screen.
WHO ARE YOU?
WHO IS YOUR DAUGHTER?
WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT THE NIGHT OF THE BIRTH?
Jonathan felt sick.
“Someone has been manipulating all of us.”
Celeste nodded.
A voice came from the darkness.
“No.”
Jonathan turned.
Lydia stepped forward.
“Not manipulating.”
She gestured toward the screens.
“Editing.”
Mara stepped closer.
“What is the difference?”
Lydia looked at Jonathan.
“Manipulation changes what you believe.”
She touched one screen.
“Editing changes what actually happened.”
Jonathan stared.
“You altered our records.”
“We altered timelines.”
“How?”
“By creating parallel identities.”
Jonathan's mind raced.
“So Emma…”
“Is Emma.”
“And Sofia?”
“Sofia is Sofia.”
“Then why do they have the same face?”
Lydia smiled.
“Because they are twins.”
Silence.
Mara covered her mouth.
“Twins?”
Lydia nodded.
“Identical.”
Jonathan stared at the girls' photographs.
“That explains the faces.”
“But not the records.”
“No.”
Lydia pointed to another file.
“The problem was their father.”
Jonathan froze.
“Their father?”
Lydia looked at him.
“Your father.”
Jonathan's expression collapsed.
“You're saying…”
“Your father was their biological father.”
Mara looked at Jonathan.
Tears appeared in her eyes.
“No.”
Jonathan stared at the screen.
A DNA chart appeared.
PATERNAL MATCH: JONATHAN HALE
Jonathan took a step back.
“But I didn't…”
Lydia interrupted.
“You were adopted.”
Jonathan stopped.
“What?”
She showed him another file.
Birth records.
His surname had been changed.
His biological family was the Vale line.
Jonathan stared at the page.
His entire identity began to fracture.
“My father.”
“Was not your biological father.”
Jonathan swallowed.
“Then who?”
Lydia smiled.
“You never knew.”
Mara whispered,
“Then Emma's father…”
Lydia pointed to the DNA chart.
“Jonathan.”
He looked at Emma.
A thousand memories collided.
Her first steps.
Her first word.
The day she called him Daddy.
Every birthday.
Every fever.
Every night he had carried her upstairs.
Biology suddenly felt less important than all of that.
He whispered,
“She is my daughter.”
Lydia nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then why create Sofia?”
Lydia's voice darkened.
“Because one twin inherited a genetic sequence your family wanted.”
“And the other?”
“She was the backup.”
Jonathan felt sick.
“A backup child?”
Lydia nodded.
“If Emma died, Sofia would take her identity.”
Mara's face twisted.
“They planned to replace her.”
“Yes.”
Jonathan turned toward the screen.
A new file opened.
TRANSFER PROTOCOL: EMMA HART
STATUS: ACTIVE
Then another.
SOPHIA HALE
STATUS: TERMINATION PENDING
Jonathan's blood froze.
“Termination?”
Lydia answered quietly.
“That's why Richard took her.”
“Where is she?”
Lydia looked toward the ceiling.
“Above us.”
Jonathan ran.
They reached the upper floor.
A door opened automatically.
Inside, Sofia was standing beside a window.
Richard held a knife to her throat.
Jonathan stopped.
“Let her go.”
Richard looked at him.
“Now you know.”
Jonathan's voice shook with rage.
“Let her go.”
Richard laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
He looked at Emma.
“She was never the backup.”
Jonathan frowned.
“Then who was?”
Richard turned toward the girl beside him.
Sofia stared at Jonathan with tears in her eyes.
May you like
Richard smiled.
“The backup was you.”
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