Chapter 10: The Mother Behind the Glass
“Don’t trust Alexander.”
The words were still echoing through the laboratory when the lights returned.
Ethan stood completely still.
Alexander was gone.
Thomas was gone.
Michael was gone.
Even Emily had disappeared.
Only Vanessa, Victor, and Sophie remained.
And somewhere above them, Ethan's mother was alive.
His mother.
The woman he had mourned for twenty-five years.
“Mom?”
Ethan looked toward the speakers.
“Mom, can you hear me?”
Static answered.
Then her voice returned.
“Ethan.”
His knees nearly gave out.
He grabbed the edge of the console.
“Where are you?”
A pause.
“Beneath you.”
Ethan looked down.
“What?”
“I'm under the laboratory.”
Victor's expression changed.
“That's impossible.”
Ethan turned.
“What?”
Victor shook his head.
“This entire facility was sealed after the fire.”
Vanessa stared at the floor.
“Not all of it.”
Ethan looked at her.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“Stop saying that.”
He turned toward the control panel.
“How do we reach her?”
His mother's voice came through again.
“You can't.”
“Why?”
“Because Michael built the room to keep me alive.”
Ethan froze.
“To keep you alive?”
“Yes.”
“Why would he do that?”
“He needed me.”
“For what?”
Silence.
Then:
“For you.”
Ethan's heart tightened.
“What does that mean?”
“You were never supposed to find me.”
“Why?”
“Because if you did, Michael would know the truth.”
Ethan looked at Vanessa.
“What truth?”
His mother answered.
“The truth about your birth.”
Ethan's face hardened.
“Tell me.”
“I can't.”
“Mom!”
“I need you to listen carefully.”
Ethan stepped closer to the speaker.
“I've spent twenty-five years thinking you were dead.”
“I know.”
“I thought you left me.”
“I know.”
“I thought you chose Emily.”
“I never chose one child over the other.”
Ethan's eyes filled with tears.
“Then why wasn't I with you?”
“Because Michael took you.”
Silence.
“He told me you were dead.”
Ethan's breath caught.
“What?”
“He told me you had been killed.”
“But I wasn't.”
“No.”
“Then why didn't you find me?”
“I did.”
Ethan stared at the speaker.
“When?”
“Every year.”
His voice broke.
“You saw me?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“From a distance.”
“Why didn't you come to me?”
“Because Michael threatened to kill you.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
His entire childhood suddenly felt different.
The strange woman he had occasionally noticed outside school.
The anonymous birthday cards.
The letters his mother had supposedly never sent.
Could they have been hers?
His mother continued.
“I wanted to tell you everything.”
“Then tell me now.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because Michael is listening.”
Ethan looked around.
The laboratory cameras were still active.
Victor immediately began disconnecting them.
“Give me two minutes.”
His mother spoke again.
“Ethan, you must find the archive.”
“What archive?”
“The original Eden archive.”
“Where?”
“Inside the room beneath the mansion.”
Ethan frowned.
“We already found the room.”
“No.”
“You said there was a room beneath the east wing.”
“Yes.”
“We entered it.”
“That wasn't the room.”
Ethan stared.
“What?”
“It was a decoy.”
Victor stopped working.
“A decoy?”
His mother continued.
“Michael built three false archives.”
“Then where is the real one?”
“Under your childhood bedroom.”
Ethan's blood ran cold.
“My bedroom?”
“Yes.”
“What's inside?”
“Everything.”
“Everything about Black Meridian?”
“Yes.”
“About Michael?”
“Yes.”
“About me?”
A pause.
“About your father.”
Ethan's eyes moved toward Alexander's photograph.
“Alexander?”
His mother went silent.
“Mom?”
When she spoke again, her voice sounded frightened.
“Not Alexander.”
Ethan frowned.
“You just said not to trust him.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because he wasn't the man who rescued me.”
Ethan froze.
“What?”
“Alexander is not your biological father.”
Silence.
Victor slowly looked toward Ethan.
Vanessa's face went pale.
Ethan whispered,
“Then who is?”
His mother's voice broke.
“I don't know.”
Ethan stared.
“What?”
“I never knew.”
“You're my mother.”
“Yes.”
“You know who my father is.”
“I thought I did.”
“Then who?”
She whispered,
“Michael.”
The room fell silent.
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
“I was wrong.”
“You said Alexander was my father.”
“I believed he was.”
“Thomas said he was.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you say Michael?”
“Because Michael had DNA testing done.”
Ethan's heart pounded.
“And?”
“He matched.”
Ethan stared at the floor.
“My father is Michael?”
His mother whispered,
“No.”
“Then what?”
“He changed the results.”
Victor looked stunned.
“He manipulated the DNA records.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To make everyone believe Ethan belonged to him.”
Ethan suddenly understood.
Michael had spent twenty-five years building a false identity around him.
His childhood.
His inheritance.
His marriage.
Everything.
His mother continued.
“Your real father is the one person Michael never found.”
“Who?”
“I don't know his name.”
Ethan's expression tightened.
“You're telling me you don't know who my father is?”
“I knew him only once.”
“When?”
“Before Michael found me.”
“Where?”
“Black Meridian.”
Ethan's stomach tightened.
“Was he part of the organization?”
“No.”
“Then what was he doing there?”
“He was trying to destroy it.”
A sound came from the corridor.
Footsteps.
Victor raised his weapon.
“Someone's coming.”
Ethan looked toward the door.
His mother's voice became urgent.
“Ethan, listen to me.”
“I'm listening.”
“Don't let Michael take Sophie.”
“I won't.”
“Don't let him take Emily.”
“I won't.”
“And whatever happens…”
She paused.
“Do not open the Eden archive until you find the blue key.”
Ethan frowned.
“What blue key?”
“You'll know it when you see it.”
The speakers went silent.
“Mom?”
Nothing.
“Mom!”
No response.
Victor looked at the equipment.
“The signal is gone.”
Ethan turned.
“What happened?”
“Someone cut the connection.”
A slow clap echoed through the hallway.
Everyone froze.
Michael stepped into the laboratory.
He wasn't alone.
Thomas stood beside him.
And behind them was Emily.
Her hands were no longer tied.
She walked toward Ethan.
“Ethan.”
He stared at her.
“Emily.”
She stopped.
“I need to tell you something.”
Thomas immediately raised his gun.
“Don't.”
Emily ignored him.
She looked at Ethan.
“Our mother is lying.”
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
“About what?”
Emily looked toward Michael.
“Everything.”
Michael smiled.
Thomas pointed his gun at Emily.
“Enough.”
Emily continued.
“She isn't trapped beneath the mansion.”
Ethan froze.
“Then where is she?”
Emily looked at him.
“She isn't there.”
“Where is she?”
Emily swallowed.
“She left years ago.”
Ethan stared.
“Why?”
“Because she wanted to disappear.”
“From Michael?”
Emily shook her head.
“From you.”
The words hit Ethan like a physical blow.
“No.”
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
“She was afraid of what you'd become.”
Ethan stepped back.
“What?”
“She believed you were dangerous.”
Michael smiled.
“Now you're beginning to understand.”
Ethan looked at him.
“You're lying.”
Emily shook her head.
“I'm not.”
“Then why?”
Emily reached into her pocket.
She pulled out a small envelope.
“This was given to me when I was eighteen.”
She handed it to Ethan.
His name was written across the front.
ETHAN.
His hands trembled as he opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
Ethan as a baby.
Beside him stood his mother.
And a man whose face had been scratched away.
On the back was a message:
YOUR FATHER IS THE ONLY PERSON MICHAEL COULD NEVER CONTROL.
Ethan stared.
Then he noticed something.
A ring on the man's finger.
A silver ring with a strange symbol.
He recognized it.
He had seen that symbol before.
On the documents in the hidden archive.
On the walls of Black Meridian.
And on the metal key.
“The symbol,” he whispered.
Vanessa stepped closer.
“What?”
Ethan showed her.
She immediately went pale.
“That's impossible.”
“What?”
“That ring belonged to your grandfather.”
Ethan froze.
“My grandfather?”
Vanessa nodded.
“Michael's father.”
Ethan's eyes widened.
“So the man in the photograph…”
Victor suddenly interrupted.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
Victor stared at the ring.
“That symbol doesn't belong to Michael's family.”
“What?”
Victor's voice trembled.
“It belongs to the original founder of Black Meridian.”
Ethan looked at him.
“Who?”
Victor swallowed.
Then said the name that made Michael's smile disappear.
“Jonathan Bennett.”
Ethan froze.
“Who is Jonathan Bennett?”
Michael's expression changed for the first time.
Fear.
Real fear.
Victor whispered,
“Your grandfather.”
Michael stepped forward.
“Enough.”
But Ethan had already understood.
His grandfather wasn't just the founder of Black Meridian.
He was the man who had disappeared before Michael took control.
And if the ring in the photograph belonged to him...
then the man beside Ethan's mother might not have been Alexander.
He might have been Jonathan.
Ethan looked at Michael.
“Where is my grandfather?”
Michael said nothing.
Ethan stepped closer.
“Where is Jonathan Bennett?”
Michael's face hardened.
“Dead.”
“Like you?”
Silence.
Ethan smiled bitterly.
“You're all very bad at staying dead.”
Suddenly, the laboratory doors exploded open.
A group of armed men stormed inside.
Everyone scattered.
Thomas shouted.
“Get Ethan!”
Gunfire erupted.
Ethan grabbed Sophie.
Vanessa grabbed Emily.
Victor fired back.
Michael disappeared into the chaos.
And from somewhere beyond the smoke, a man's voice shouted:
“Ethan!”
Ethan turned.
A tall stranger stood in the doorway.
He held up the blue key.
The key his mother had warned him about.
He looked directly at Ethan.
“I know who your real father is.”
May you like
Then he smiled.
“And Michael has been lying to you for twenty-six years.”
