Chapter 7 - REBECCAThomas forgot how to breathe.
Rebecca looked directly into the camera.
Her hair was shorter.
Her face thinner.
But it was her.
No doubt.
No trick.
No recording.
His wife was alive.
Five years of grief exploded inside him.
He stepped toward the screen.
"Rebecca."
Evelyn grabbed his arm.
"Don't."
"Let go."
"It's a live transmission."
"That's my wife."
"I know."
Rebecca spoke.
"Thomas."
Her voice broke.
He covered his mouth.
Sarah woke up.
"Daddy?"
Thomas turned away from the screen.
He couldn't let Sarah see.
Not yet.
Rebecca continued.
"I'm sorry."
Thomas looked back.
"Where are you?"
"I don't know."
"Who took you?"
She looked toward Julian.
"They did."
Julian smiled.
"You shouldn't have found this room."
Thomas shouted at the screen.
"What happened?"
Rebecca looked terrified.
"I tried to protect you."
"You let me think you were dead."
"I had no choice."
"You had five years."
"I was watched."
"You could have contacted me."
"They would have killed you."
Thomas shook his head.
"Why Sarah?"
Rebecca's face changed.
"Sarah isn't your daughter."
Silence.
Thomas felt like the world had stopped.
Evelyn whispered:
"No."
Rebecca looked into the camera.
"Sarah is mine."
"I know."
Rebecca swallowed.
"But she's not Thomas's biological daughter."
Thomas staggered backward.
"What?"
Evelyn looked at him.
Rebecca continued.
"I met you because they wanted me to."
Thomas's mind raced.
"No."
She began crying.
"You were supposed to be monitored."
"No."
"They believed your family carried the Miller Pattern."
Thomas shook his head.
"Stop."
"They used me to get close to you."
Evelyn stepped forward.
"Rebecca, don't."
Rebecca looked at her.
"Evelyn knows."
Thomas turned.
"You knew?"
Evelyn's face broke.
"Not everything."
Thomas backed away from both women.
"Who is Sarah's father?"
Rebecca hesitated.
Then said:
"Julian Cross."
Thomas froze.
Julian smiled.
"You understand now."
Thomas stared at Sarah sleeping nearby.
"No."
Julian continued.
"Your wife was part of the experiment."
Thomas looked at Rebecca.
"What experiment?"
"The Legacy Project."
Rebecca's voice shook.
"They took embryos."
Thomas could barely hear.
"Whose?"
"Mine."
"Evelyn's."
"Others."
"And Sarah?"
Rebecca nodded.
"She was created using genetic material from three families."
Thomas felt sick.
"Why?"
"To create someone they believed could inherit Black Crown."
Evelyn stared at the screen.
"My daughter."
Rebecca nodded.
"Your daughter survived."
Evelyn's eyes filled.
Julian said:
"Sarah is not the only child."
Thomas looked at him.
"What?"
"There were six."
Thomas's stomach turned.
"Where are they?"
Julian smiled.
"Some are dead."
"Some are missing."
"And one is sitting beside you."
Thomas looked at Sarah.
"No."
Julian leaned closer.
"Sarah is worth more than Apex Holdings."
Thomas stepped toward the screen.
"What do you want?"
"The drawing."
Thomas remembered it.
Julian said:
"Bring it to the old Croft mansion."
"When?"
"Tonight."
"What happens if I don't?"
Julian looked at Sarah.
"Then Rebecca dies."
The screen went black.
Thomas stood in silence.
Evelyn whispered:
"I have to tell you something."
He turned.
"Not now."
"I knew Rebecca survived."
Thomas stared.
"How long?"
"Two years."
He looked like she'd struck him.
"You knew?"
"I was searching for her."
"You lied to me."
"I was trying to protect you."
"You lied."
Evelyn's eyes filled.
"I loved her."
Thomas stopped.
Evelyn looked down.
"Before you met her, Rebecca was working for me."
Thomas said nothing.
"She wasn't your enemy."
"Then what was she?"
"My friend."
Evelyn looked toward Sarah.
"And when she realized what Black Crown had done, she asked me to save the child."
Thomas whispered:
"Sarah."
"Yes."
"Why me?"
"Because you were the only person she trusted."
Thomas stared.
"So the marriage was fake?"
Evelyn hesitated.
"No."
Thomas blinked.
"Rebecca was supposed to use you."
"But?"
"But she fell in love with you."
Thomas looked away.
The truth hurt more than any lie.
Because it meant parts of his life had been real.
And parts hadn't.
Evelyn opened the red archive's final drawer.
Inside was a small metal box.
A label was attached.
FOR THOMAS MILLER. OPEN ONLY WHEN REBECCA IS FOUND.
He opened it.
Inside was a key.
And a photograph.
Thomas stared.
It showed Rebecca.
Evelyn.
Daniel.
And a fourth person.
Thomas recognized him instantly.
His father.
Dead for twenty-two years.
Standing alive.
Beside Richard Croft.
On the back was a sentence.
The man Thomas thinks is dead is the one who started everything.
Thomas's hand shook.
"My father is alive."
Evelyn whispered:
"Then we have been fighting the wrong man."
Behind them, Sarah began to cry.
Thomas turned.
She was awake.
She looked directly at the photograph.
Then she said something that made both adults freeze.
"Daddy..."
Thomas rushed to her.
"What?"
Sarah pointed at the picture.
"I know that man."
Thomas's heart stopped.
"How?"
May you like
Sarah's eyes filled with tears.
"He visits me in my dreams."
