Chapter 13 - We took Michael to an abandoned clinic that Adrian still controlled.
His condition was critical.
But the doctors stabilized him.
For the first time, the three brothers were in one room.
Ella sat beside the bed.
My mother stood near the window.
Emma slept against my shoulder.
Nobody spoke.
Until Adrian entered.
“We found something.”
He placed an old black box on the table.
Inside was a final videotape.
Michael opened his eyes.
“Play it.”
The screen flickered.
Thomas appeared.
But this time, he looked terrified.
“If you're watching this, then I failed.”
Adrian frowned.
Thomas continued.
“The sequence was never meant to improve human health.”
My mother whispered:
“What?”
“It was designed to preserve memory.”
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
Thomas explained that the genetic sequence affected cellular repair.
But during experiments, they discovered something unexpected.
Certain carriers showed unusually strong memory retention.
Not just memories from their own lives.
Fragments from previous generations.
Adrian stared at the screen.
“This is impossible.”
Thomas continued.
“Subject D-19 will be the first full carrier.”
I looked at Emma.
“She has it.”
“Yes.”
“But why does he need her?”
Thomas looked into the camera.
“To transfer the sequence into Michael.”
My stomach twisted.
Then the video changed.
A photograph appeared.
A woman.
My mother's face.
But younger.
Standing beside another woman.
Another photograph.
The same woman.
Different identity.
A third photograph.
Different name.
I looked at my mother.
“How many identities did you have?”
“Three.”
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
Then something strange happened.
Emma woke.
She stared at the screen.
“Dad.”
“Yes?”
“I know her.”
She pointed to the woman in the photograph.
“That woman talked to me yesterday.”
My mother stood.
“That isn't possible.”
Emma nodded.
“She said she was Grandma.”
My mother walked closer.
“Which Grandma?”
“The one who died.”
I looked at the screen.
The photograph showed my mother.
But the clothes were different.
The date was five years after her supposed death.
Someone had photographed her.
Alive.
We searched the archive.
Found another image.
Then another.
My mother had been alive all these years.
But she wasn't always Margaret.
She had been moving through different identities.
Watching us.
Protecting us.
Then we found the final record.
A government seal.
An official program.
A code:
M-17 / FAMILY CONTINUITY PROJECT
Adrian stared.
“This was bigger than Thomas.”
“What does that mean?”
“The research wasn't private.”
“Who funded it?”
He turned the page.
Several signatures.
Government officials.
Corporate executives.
Scientists.
Judges.
I felt sick.
My family wasn't just hiding from my father.
We were hiding from an entire network.
Marcus entered the room.
“We need to leave.”
“Why?”
He showed me his phone.
News reports were appearing.
MASSIVE FIRE DESTROYS ABANDONED RESEARCH FACILITY.
Then:
POLICE ISSUE WARRANT FOR DANIEL REED.
I stared.
“They're framing me.”
Marcus nodded.
“They're saying you caused the fire.”
Adrian looked at me.
“They want you arrested before you can expose them.”
My mother grabbed Emma.
“We leave now.”
But then someone knocked on the door.
Three times.
Everyone froze.
Marcus checked the camera.
A police officer stood outside.
“Open up.”
Marcus turned pale.
“He found us.”
“Who?”
Marcus whispered:
“Thomas.”
The officer smiled at the camera.
Then removed his police hat.
It was Thomas.
His voice came through the speaker.
“You can't hide forever.”
Then he said something that made my blood freeze.
“Daniel, your mother isn't the woman you think she is.”
May you like
My mother stared at the door.
For the first time in twelve years, she looked afraid.
