Chapter 13 - The Man Behind MarkMark stood beside Dr. Vance.
His hands were raised.
“Don't hurt her.”
Emily was crying.
I looked at him.
“Why are you with her?”
“I had no choice.”
“That's what you always say.”
Dr. Vance pressed a syringe against Emily's arm.
“Move away from the door.”
I did.
Daniel stepped beside me.
“Don't.”
Dr. Vance smiled.
“You uploaded the files.”
“Yes.”
“Then your daughter is now a public asset.”
I stared.
“What?”
“Everyone knows she exists.”
“She is a child.”
“She is evidence.”
Mark looked at me.
“We have seconds.”
“Then help us.”
He nodded.
Then he did something unexpected.
He reached behind him and pulled a keycard.
He gave it to Emily.
She stared.
“Dad?”
He whispered:
“Run.”
Dr. Vance turned.
“Mark.”
He stepped in front of her.
She raised the syringe.
“You never were very good at betrayal.”
Mark smiled sadly.
“I learned from you.”
He shoved her.
The syringe flew.
Daniel opened the door.
“Emily!”
She ran.
I grabbed her.
For the first time in hours, I held my daughter in my arms.
She was shaking.
“Mom.”
“I've got you.”
Behind us, Dr. Vance screamed.
“Take them!”
Security officers rushed into the corridor.
Police stormed the facility.
Everything happened at once.
People shouted.
Doors opened.
Computers were seized.
Cameras flashed.
Dr. Vance was restrained.
Mark dropped to his knees.
Emily clung to me.
Then one detective looked at Mark.
“Your real name is Mark Whitman?”
“Yes.”
The detective shook his head.
“No.”
He held up a document.
“That's the name you were given.”
Mark looked confused.
“What are you talking about?”
The detective placed a second document on the table.
“This is your original birth record.”
Mark's face changed.
I looked at it.
His biological parents were listed.
His father was someone whose name I recognized.
Richard Vance.
Dr. Sarah Vance's brother.
I stared at Mark.
He had been part of the program by blood.
He wasn't merely working for them.
He was family.
Mark looked at me.
“I didn't know.”
Dr. Vance laughed from across the room.
“You knew enough.”
Mark turned toward her.
“You lied to me too.”
She smiled.
“That was the point.”
The detective asked:
“What happened to the original trust?”
Dr. Vance said nothing.
I felt Emily's hand tighten around mine.
Then Daniel pointed at the screen.
“Rachel.”
“What?”
“Look.”
The research database showed one final record.
SUBJECT 001.
Name:
Rachel Whitman.
Status:
ACTIVE.
I stared.
Emily looked at me.
“Mom?”
I couldn't breathe.
My entire life had been a study.
My marriage had been engineered.
My daughter had been monitored.
And I was not simply the mother of the subject.
I was the original subject.
The first one.
May you like
The experiment had never really been about Emily.
It had always been about me.
