CHAPTER 14 THE REAL GRACE CARTER
The handle turned.
Slowly.
Grace backed away.
Lily clung to her waist.
Nathan raised his gun.
“Stay behind me.”
The door opened.
A woman stepped into the laboratory.
She looked exhausted.
Her clothes were torn.
There was blood on her forehead.
But the moment Nathan saw her face, his weapon dropped slightly.
Same eyes.
Same mouth.
Same scar above the eyebrow.
Grace stared at her.
The woman stared back.
Neither spoke.
Then the stranger whispered:
“Lily.”
The little girl looked up.
“Mommy?”
Grace's face went white.
The stranger's eyes filled with tears.
“No, sweetheart.”
She looked at Grace.
“I’m your mother.”
Grace stopped breathing.
Nathan stepped between them.
“Who are you?”
The woman looked at him.
“My name is Grace Carter.”
Nathan's blood ran cold.
Grace shook her head.
“No.”
The woman nodded.
“Yes.”
She touched the scar above her eyebrow.
“You remember this?”
Grace instinctively touched the exact same spot.
The stranger continued:
“You got yours when we were eight.”
Grace stared.
“I…”
“You fell from the old oak tree.”
A memory flashed through Grace's mind.
A little girl.
A tree.
Another little girl laughing.
Two identical faces.
One memory.
Then another.
A bedroom.
A woman screaming.
A hospital.
A newborn baby.
Grace staggered.
Nathan caught her.
“What are you remembering?”
She looked at him.
“I don't know.”
The real Grace stepped closer.
“They erased your memories.”
Nathan looked at her.
“Who?”
“Emily.”
Grace's eyes widened.
“Emily did this?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she was trying to save Lily.”
Nathan shook his head.
“You've been alive all these years?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
The woman looked toward the corridor.
“In the place where they kept everyone they couldn't control.”
Nathan stared.
“The basement?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“Below it.”
Grace looked horrified.
“How long?”
“Five years.”
Nathan clenched his fists.
“They told us you were dead.”
“I know.”
“Who knew?”
The real Grace looked toward the door.
“Everyone who mattered.”
Nathan's expression darkened.
“Richard?”
“Yes.”
“Eleanor?”
“Yes.”
“Emily?”
“Yes.”
“Edward?”
“Yes.”
Nathan stared at her.
“Then why didn't anyone tell me?”
The real Grace looked at him.
“Because you were next.”
Nathan frowned.
“Next for what?”
She looked at Lily.
“They were going to use you to create the final heir.”
Nathan's face changed.
“What?”
“You weren't supposed to father Lily.”
Nathan stared.
“She was created using your DNA.”
“But you said she was naturally conceived.”
“She was.”
The real Grace looked at the other Grace.
“By me.”
Grace's eyes widened.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You're lying.”
“I gave birth to her.”
The woman looked at Lily.
“I held her first.”
Grace began crying.
“Then why don't I remember?”
“Because they took her.”
Grace stared.
“They took Lily from you?”
“Yes.”
“And replaced her with me?”
The real Grace nodded.
“They needed someone who looked exactly like me.”
Nathan finally understood.
“They used your twin.”
“Yes.”
He looked at Grace.
“She was made to believe she was you.”
The real Grace nodded.
“Her memories were rewritten.”
Grace whispered:
“So everything I remember…”
“Was implanted.”
Grace touched her face.
“My childhood.”
“False.”
“My parents.”
“False.”
“My memories of Lily.”
“Some are yours.”
Grace looked at Lily.
“Which ones?”
The real Grace's voice broke.
“The love.”
Silence.
“That part was never implanted.”
Grace looked at Lily.
The little girl reached for her.
“Mommy?”
Grace dropped to her knees.
Lily ran into her arms.
The real Grace watched them.
Tears rolled down her face.
Nathan stood frozen.
He had spent five years believing Grace was the woman he loved.
Now another woman stood before him claiming to be the original.
Yet when he looked at the woman holding Lily, he felt something impossible.
Love.
Not because of DNA.
Not because of memories.
Because Lily was his daughter.
And Grace was the woman who had protected her.
Nathan turned toward the real Grace.
“I don't care which one of you has the original memories.”
She looked at him.
Nathan continued:
“She calls her Mommy.”
The real Grace nodded.
“I know.”
Nathan looked at the other Grace.
“And you protected her.”
She cried.
“I tried.”
Nathan stepped between them.
“Then you're both her family.”
Neither woman spoke.
Suddenly, a gunshot echoed.
The real Grace collapsed.
Nathan caught her.
“Grace!”
Blood spread across her side.
The other Grace screamed.
“NO!”
Nathan looked toward the corridor.
A figure stood there.
Emily.
She held a gun.
Nathan raised his weapon.
“Emily!”
Emily looked at the wounded woman.
Then at Lily.
“I didn't want this.”
Nathan's voice became furious.
“You shot her!”
“I had no choice.”
“You always say that!”
Emily's face broke.
“You think I wanted any of this?”
She lowered the gun.
“I spent fifteen years trying to keep these children alive.”
Nathan stepped forward.
“Then why did you erase her memories?”
Emily looked at Grace.
“Because Alexander was going to kill her.”
The wounded Grace struggled to breathe.
“I didn't ask you to.”
“I know.”
“You stole my daughter.”
“I saved her.”
“You stole my life.”
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“You don't get to decide who lives and who dies.”
Emily looked at him.
“Neither did I.”
She turned toward the hallway.
“Thomas did.”
Nathan froze.
“What?”
Emily whispered:
“Thomas created the entire program.”
Nathan's face changed.
“My father?”
“Your biological father.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed the Cole family needed a successor.”
Nathan stared.
“He created Emma.”
“Yes.”
“Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“Lily?”
Emily shook her head.
“No.”
Nathan frowned.
“Then who created Lily?”
Emily looked at Grace.
“Her.”
Everyone froze.
“The original Grace.”
Grace stared.
“I didn't.”
“You did.”
Emily continued:
“Before they took you, you secretly changed the embryo.”
Grace's face went pale.
“I was pregnant.”
“You were.”
“But…”
“You knew what they were doing.”
Emily looked at Nathan.
“Grace altered the genetic sequence before Lily was born.”
Nathan looked at Lily.
“That means…”
Emily nodded.
“Lily isn't a Cole experiment.”
“She is something else.”
“What?”
Emily smiled sadly.
“Human.”
Silence.
“She was born naturally.”
Nathan looked at Grace.
The real Grace nodded weakly.
“I wanted her to be free.”
Emily continued:
“And that's why Alexander fears her.”
Suddenly, the lights flickered.
A deep mechanical rumble shook the floor.
Emily looked upward.
“We're out of time.”
Nathan frowned.
“What now?”
Emily pointed toward the corridor.
“Alexander activated the final protocol.”
“What protocol?”
“The one that kills everyone inside.”
Grace tightened her arms around Lily.
“How long?”
Emily looked at the timer.
00:04:12.
Nathan stared.
“Four minutes.”
Emily nodded.
“And the only way to stop it…”
She looked at Lily.
“…is to open the final chamber.”
Nathan understood.
“The vault.”
“No.”
Emily shook her head.
“Something beneath the vault.”
Nathan's eyes narrowed.
“What?”
Emily looked toward the floor.
“The original laboratory.”
She turned to the two Graces.
“And only one of them can open it.”
Nathan stared.
“Which one?”
Emily smiled faintly.
“The real Grace.”
The floor suddenly split open.
A staircase appeared beneath them.
Cold air rushed upward.
At the bottom was a massive steel door.
And on it were four words:
MOTHER. FATHER. CHILD. TRUTH.
Nathan looked at Lily.
Then the real Grace.
Then the other Grace.
He finally understood.
This was never about money.
Never about inheritance.
The Cole family had spent decades trying to control one thing.
The truth.
Nathan took Grace's hand.
Then he took Lily's.
“Let's end this.”
They descended.
But halfway down the stairs, a voice came from above.
Richard.
“Nathan!”
Nathan turned.
His father stood at the entrance.
Blood covered his shirt.
He was barely standing.
“Don't open that door.”
Nathan stared.
“Why?”
Richard's eyes filled with terror.
“Because your mother lied.”
Eleanor appeared behind him.
Her face was pale.
Richard whispered:
“She wasn't trying to protect you.”
Nathan froze.
“What?”
Richard looked at Lily.
“She was trying to protect herself.”
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Then Eleanor slowly raised a gun toward Richard.
And smiled.
