Chapter 13 - Nobody moved.
Lucia looked at the page as if it were a loaded weapon.
Victor stared at me.
Samuel stepped closer.
“Elizabeth…”
I raised the ledger.
“It's not a death schedule.”
Victor nodded slowly.
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
“A succession record.”
Lucia's voice was barely audible.
“You weren't supposed to find that.”
“Why am I the successor?”
“Because Eden was always designed to outlive me.”
She looked at my stomach.
“The baby was supposed to complete the transfer.”
I felt cold.
“What transfer?”
“Authority.”
Alessandro stepped beside me.
“You're telling me she built an empire around a child?”
Lucia looked at him.
“I built it around blood.”
Victor laughed.
“You built it around fear.”
Lucia ignored him.
I looked at Victor.
“How did you get involved?”
His smile disappeared.
“Because I wanted to stop her.”
“Then why did you kill my father?”
“Because he tried to expose me instead of helping me.”
“You chose money.”
“I chose survival.”
“That cost him his life.”
“Yes.”
He didn't apologize.
For some reason, that honesty was more terrifying.
Lucia stepped toward me.
“You have no idea what happens if Eden collapses.”
“People go free.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“People die.”
“Why?”
“Because there are thousands of people whose identities depend on Eden.”
“Then destroy the organization.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand enough.”
Lucia's eyes darkened.
“Do you?”
She pointed at Alessandro.
“He is the only reason the system still works.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because your father transferred the final access code to his DNA.”
Alessandro stared.
“My DNA?”
“Yes.”
Victor nodded.
“Lucia can't access the master system without you.”
I suddenly understood.
That was why Alessandro was dangerous.
Why his brother died.
Why Lucia controlled him.
Why she needed me.
And why she wanted the baby.
A perfect genetic key.
“What happens if we refuse?”
Lucia answered:
“Eden goes dark.”
“That sounds good.”
“For twelve hours.”
She smiled.
“Then every protection protocol fails.”
“What protections?”
“Banks. Security networks. Witness identities. Safe houses. Government informants.”
Victor added:
“People who vanished from the world will suddenly become visible.”
“And they'll kill anyone who knows.”
I looked at the ledger.
“How do we stop that?”
Lucia smiled.
“Give me the baby.”
“No.”
“Then give me Alessandro.”
“No.”
“Then you all die.”
I looked at Liam.
Rachel.
Samuel.
Everyone who had followed me into this nightmare.
Then I remembered my father's letter.
There is only one way to stop Eden.
Find the original subject.
I looked at Victor.
“You said my mother was a surrogate.”
“Yes.”
“Who was the original subject?”
Nobody answered.
Lucia's face changed.
“Don't.”
I knew then.
The answer was close.
I turned to Samuel.
“Who started Eden?”
He swallowed.
“There was a woman.”
“Name?”
“Dr. Eleanor Mercer.”
My blood froze.
“Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“My father's sister.”
I remembered an old photograph.
A woman I had been told was an aunt.
A woman who supposedly died before I was born.
“What happened to her?”
Samuel looked away.
“She disappeared.”
“When?”
“The same year you were born.”
Lucia whispered:
“She was the original subject.”
Everything clicked.
Dr. Eleanor Mercer wasn't the scientist who built Eden.
She was the first person Eden experimented on.
And my DNA came from her.
I stared at Victor.
“So I'm not a Vitali.”
Victor shook his head.
“Not entirely.”
Lucia looked furious.
“Enough.”
She raised her weapon.
Alessandro grabbed my hand.
“Run.”
We sprinted.
Shots exploded behind us.
Victor fired back.
Samuel tackled one of the guards.
Liam and Rachel followed.
We reached an old maintenance tunnel.
Alessandro slammed the door.
“Keep moving.”
We ran through darkness.
At the end, sunlight hit my eyes.
A black car waited.
The driver opened the door.
I stopped.
The driver was an elderly woman.
She looked at me.
Then smiled.
“Elizabeth.”
I knew her.
My grandmother's housekeeper.
I thought she had died years ago.
She opened the door wider.
“Your father told me you'd come.”
I climbed inside.
Alessandro followed.
The car pulled away.
“Where are we going?”
The woman looked at me through the mirror.
“To meet Eleanor.”
My breath caught.
“She’s alive?”
The woman nodded.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
She didn't answer.
Instead, she handed me a sealed envelope.
I opened it.
Inside was an ultrasound photograph.
My baby's face was visible.
But someone had written across the image.
HE IS NOT THE CHILD THEY EXPECTED.
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
The woman whispered:
“Because you're carrying twins.”
My entire body went cold.
I looked at Alessandro.
His eyes widened.
May you like
The woman continued:
“And one of them has already been taken.”
