Chapter 7 - Daniel's appearance shattered every assumption Adrian had held for years."You died."
Daniel smiled.
"Your father wanted everyone to believe that."
"Why?"
"Because dead sons don't ask questions."
Adrian stepped forward.
"What happened to you?"
"Your father happened."
Clara stared at Daniel.
"You were there."
Daniel looked at her.
"You remember."
She nodded slowly.
"You were in the laboratory."
"Yes."
"You helped them."
Daniel's face darkened.
"I was one of them."
Adrian looked between them.
"What does that mean?"
Daniel answered:
"I was the first subject."
Adrian froze.
"You were tested?"
"Not tested."
Daniel looked at the equipment around them.
"I was created."
Olivia whispered:
"What?"
"Your grandfather wanted a child designed to survive his treatment."
Adrian stared.
"My brother..."
"Was born naturally."
Daniel shook his head.
"Adrian was the mistake."
Adrian's fists tightened.
"And me?"
"You were the unexpected success."
"Then why did he hate me?"
"He didn't."
Daniel looked at him.
"He feared you."
Adrian couldn't speak.
Daniel continued.
"Your father discovered something after you were born."
"What?"
"The mutation didn't make you weak."
He pointed toward Emma.
"It made you adaptable."
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"Meaning?"
"You carry the ability to recover from certain cellular damage far faster than normal humans."
Adrian looked at Clara.
"And Emma inherited it."
"Exactly."
Daniel smiled.
"That's why everyone wants her."
"Who?"
Daniel's expression turned serious.
"The people who funded your father's research."
"Names."
"You've met some of them."
Adrian thought.
His father's business partners.
Doctors.
Lawyers.
Politicians.
Daniel nodded.
"One of them is already inside this house."
Everyone froze.
Adrian turned toward Vanessa.
She shook her head.
"Not me."
Daniel looked toward the doorway.
"No."
He smiled.
"Her."
Everyone turned toward Clara.
She stared at him.
"Me?"
Daniel nodded.
"You were never a victim."
Adrian's heart stopped.
"What are you saying?"
Daniel looked at Clara.
"Tell him."
Clara shook her head.
"I don't know."
"You do."
"No."
Daniel stepped toward her.
"You remember everything."
Clara's face changed.
Images seemed to flood her mind.
The white room.
The lights.
The machines.
Her mother's voice.
A syringe.
A man behind glass.
And a baby crying.
Clara gasped.
"I was there."
Adrian grabbed her shoulders.
"Where?"
"Emma's birth."
Adrian's face turned white.
"That's impossible."
"I remember."
Clara covered her mouth.
"I saw your wife."
Vanessa looked terrified.
"What?"
"You were talking to someone."
"Who?"
Clara stared at Vanessa.
"Your father."
Adrian stared.
"My father was alive?"
"At the hospital."
"When?"
"The night Emma was born."
Vanessa began crying.
"No."
Clara continued.
"He told you the baby had to survive."
Adrian turned toward Vanessa.
"Is that true?"
Vanessa said nothing.
Daniel stepped closer.
"He told her something else."
"What?"
"Emma wasn't the first baby."
Adrian's expression changed.
Daniel continued:
"She was the seventeenth."
Olivia looked at the project file.
"E-17."
Daniel nodded.
"There were sixteen before her."
Adrian's stomach dropped.
"Where are they?"
Daniel didn't answer.
"Where are the other babies?"
Daniel looked at him.
"Dead."
Silence.
Adrian's arms went numb.
Then Daniel placed a small memory card on the table.
"Everything is on this."
Adrian picked it up.
Daniel said:
"But don't watch it here."
"Why?"
"Because the moment you do..."
Daniel looked toward the ceiling.
"...they'll know."
The lights flickered.
Daniel stepped backward.
Adrian shouted:
"Wait!"
Daniel smiled.
"One more thing."
"What?"
"Your father didn't die of natural causes."
Adrian froze.
Daniel leaned closer.
May you like
"He was murdered."
Then the laboratory door slammed shut.
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