Chapter 11 - I left alone.
At least that was what I told everyone.
The meeting place was the cemetery where my father had been buried.
Rain fell softly.
The cemetery was empty.
I walked between rows of graves.
Thomas Reed.
Three years.
The grave looked untouched.
I crouched.
The stone had my father's name.
And beneath it:
1952-2023.
I pulled out the silver key.
A voice came from behind me.
“Don't bother digging.”
I turned.
Adrian.
My biological father.
He looked like an older version of me.
For a moment I couldn't speak.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I never knew you were alive.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Thomas made sure I believed the first experiment had killed you.”
“Then why did you come back?”
“To stop him.”
“Why now?”
“Because he found Emma.”
I lowered the key.
“You've been sending the messages.”
“Yes.”
“Why pretend to be Thomas?”
“Because Thomas trusts his own name.”
I looked at the grave.
“Who is buried here?”
Adrian stared at the stone.
“Someone who died believing he was Thomas Reed.”
I stepped closer.
“Explain.”
He sighed.
“Thomas created a network of doubles.”
“Like the women who looked like my mother?”
“Yes.”
“He used one to fake his funeral too.”
My heart stopped.
“You mean the man buried here…”
“Was a double.”
I stared at the grave.
“My father is alive.”
Adrian nodded.
“And he's coming for Emma.”
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
I didn't believe him.
He handed me his phone.
A live video showed Emma in the back seat of a car.
My mother sat beside her.
Ella was driving.
“Where are they?”
“Moving.”
“Who is following them?”
Adrian looked at me.
“Thomas.”
I grabbed his coat.
“You have until we find them.”
He nodded.
“There is one thing you need to know first.”
“What?”
“You were never the experiment.”
I stared.
“Then what was I?”
“A decoy.”
“For what?”
“Your twin.”
“Ella?”
“No.”
My blood froze.
“Then who?”
Adrian looked toward the cemetery.
“There's a third child.”
I thought I had misunderstood.
“What?”
“Triplets.”
I laughed.
“This is insane.”
“Your mother gave birth to three children.”
“Where is the third?”
Adrian looked at me.
“You.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
He continued.
“Ella was the first.”
“Then me?”
“You were second.”
“And the third?”
He handed me another photograph.
A newborn.
Same face.
Same birthmark.
Different name.
MICHAEL VALE.
My knees weakened.
“Who is Michael?”
Adrian whispered:
“Thomas took him.”
“Where?”
“The same place he took Emma.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
He nodded.
“Thomas doesn't want Emma because of the gene.”
“Then why?”
“Because Emma is the key to finding Michael.”
My head spun.
“Why would she be?”
“Because they share the complete sequence.”
I looked toward the cemetery gate.
A black car entered.
Thomas stepped out.
He smiled.
“Hello, son.”
Adrian pulled a gun.
Thomas raised his hands.
“I'm not here to fight.”
“Then why?”
Thomas looked at me.
“Because you finally deserve the truth.”
“Where is Emma?”
“Exactly where I want her.”
My heart stopped.
Thomas smiled.
“She's with her uncle.”
“Michael?”
Thomas nodded.
May you like
Then he whispered:
“Your brother has been alive all along.”
