Chapter 6 - Adrian searched every room."Vanessa!"
Nothing.
The front door was locked.
The back door was locked.
The windows were secured.
There was nowhere she could have gone.
Except the basement.
Adrian ran downstairs.
He reached the underground laboratory.
The door was open.
Vanessa stood beside a computer.
She was crying.
Adrian stopped.
"How did you get down here?"
She looked at him.
"I came to destroy something."
"What?"
"My records."
Adrian walked toward her.
"You aren't destroying anything."
"I have to."
"No."
He grabbed her wrist.
"Tell me everything."
Vanessa looked at him for several seconds.
Then whispered:
"I was sent to marry you."
Adrian let go.
The words struck harder than any weapon.
"What?"
"I didn't know at first."
"You just said..."
"They chose me because I was close enough to the family."
"Who?"
"Your father."
Adrian's face became expressionless.
"Why?"
"He needed someone who could monitor you."
"Monitor me for what?"
"Your genetic instability."
Adrian stared.
"What instability?"
Vanessa pointed toward the screen.
"Your father's research was based on inherited neurological conditions."
Adrian shook his head.
"My father was a businessman."
"That was the public story."
"And the real story?"
"He was building a private genetic program."
Adrian looked at Emma.
"And you were part of it."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because of you."
Adrian's voice dropped.
"What does that mean?"
Vanessa swallowed.
"You carry a mutation."
Clara appeared at the doorway.
"So does Emma."
Vanessa nodded.
"Yes."
"And Olivia?"
Vanessa looked away.
Adrian stepped closer.
"Answer her."
"Olivia doesn't."
Adrian froze.
"Then why was she in the files?"
"Because she was the control."
Olivia entered the room.
"What?"
Vanessa looked at her daughter.
"You were the only child not carrying the mutation."
Olivia stared.
"So I was normal."
Vanessa shook her head.
"No."
"Then what was I?"
"The baseline."
Olivia's face fell.
Adrian couldn't understand.
"Why does any of this matter?"
Vanessa stared at him.
"Because your father believed the mutation could be corrected."
"And Emma?"
"Emma was the first successful case."
Adrian's eyes moved toward the files.
"She doesn't have the mutation?"
"She has something else."
"What?"
"Resistance."
Adrian frowned.
"Resistance to what?"
Vanessa whispered:
"The treatment."
Clara suddenly stepped closer.
"What treatment?"
Vanessa looked at her.
"The one they tested on you."
Clara stopped breathing.
Adrian turned.
"My father experimented on Clara?"
Vanessa nodded.
"He used people who weren't aware they were part of the study."
Clara's face went pale.
"And Emma?"
Vanessa looked toward the computer.
"Emma was supposed to be the final step."
Adrian stared.
"The final step to what?"
"Immortality."
Silence.
Olivia laughed in disbelief.
"That's impossible."
Vanessa shook her head.
"Not immortality."
She pointed at the screen.
"Cellular regeneration."
Adrian looked at the medical data.
The numbers were incomprehensible.
But one phrase appeared repeatedly.
AGE REVERSAL POTENTIAL.
He felt sick.
"Why would anyone want Emma?"
Vanessa whispered:
"Because your father isn't the only one who wants it."
A sound came from behind them.
Slow applause.
Adrian turned.
Daniel Voss stepped into the laboratory.
Older.
Thinner.
But unmistakable.
Adrian stared at him.
"You."
Daniel smiled.
"Hello, little brother."
Adrian raised his fists.
Daniel looked amused.
"I wouldn't."
"Why?"
"Because your wife isn't the threat."
Adrian stared.
Daniel's smile disappeared.
"I am."
May you like
Then he looked at Emma.
"And I'm here to take what belongs to me."
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