Chapter 12 - The Real TripletThe truth arrived in pieces.
The three girls had been born that night.
But the babies in the nursery had been switched.
Someone wanted Dr. Mercer's biological child to disappear.
Someone else wanted their mother's child to survive.
And somewhere between those two plans, three babies ended up growing up together.
We spent the night reconstructing every record we could find.
Finally, Daniel found a hidden database.
There were three original birth codes.
A.
C.
J.
But the DNA profiles didn't match the wristbands.
The original records showed:
A = Ava.
C = June.
J = Claire.
The names had been altered later.
Someone had rearranged them.
My hands shook.
"Why?"
Daniel opened another file.
The answer was devastating.
Their mother had discovered that Dr. Mercer's organization was experimenting on newborns who carried certain genetic markers.
One of the girls had that marker.
But the doctors didn't know which one.
So they created confusion.
They switched labels.
They changed records.
They even changed the mothers' identities.
Then someone intervened.
Their mother.
Martin.
And my mother.
They stole the three girls from the hospital.
They hid them with me.
But they couldn't remember which baby was which.
So they kept all three together.
For twenty-two years.
I sat back.
"So the entire time..."
Daniel nodded.
"Nobody knew."
Not even their mother.
Not even Martin.
Not even me.
Then Claire said something.
"What about the fourth baby?"
We searched.
Lucas Mercer had no surviving record.
Except one.
A photograph.
The baby's face was hidden.
But on his wrist was the same black mark.
The mark meant something.
Daniel recognized it.
"My father used it to identify children who had been genetically tested."
My stomach twisted.
"Where did Lucas go?"
Daniel hesitated.
"According to my father's records..."
He looked at us.
"Lucas was transferred."
"Where?"
A file opened.
A private clinic.
Outside the country.
Date:
Twenty-two years ago.
Then another document appeared.
STATUS: ALIVE.
My blood ran cold.
"He's alive?"
Daniel nodded.
"And he's been looking for you."
The door suddenly slammed downstairs.
We froze.
Ava whispered:
"Someone's here."
Footsteps climbed the stairs.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Three knocks hit the door.
Everyone went silent.
Then a man's voice came through.
"I'm not here to hurt you."
Daniel grabbed a weapon.
I stood in front of the girls.
The door opened.
A man stepped inside.
He was around twenty-five.
Dark hair.
Pale eyes.
A scar across his cheek.
He looked at the three girls.
Then at me.
"I'm Lucas."
Daniel dropped the weapon.
"That's impossible."
Lucas smiled bitterly.
"My father said the same thing."
Then he looked at June.
"I've spent twenty-two years searching for you."
June stared at him.
"Why?"
Lucas's expression hardened.
"Because you have something my father spent his entire life trying to destroy."
"What?"
Lucas stepped closer.
"The original records."
He pulled a folded document from his jacket.
"The truth about all three of you."
May you like
Then he looked at me.
"And the truth about why Martin really left."
