Chapter 10 - The Woman Who DiedAdrian stared at the photograph.
Every memory of his mother had been built around death.
A funeral.
A coffin.
His father's grief.
Marcus holding Adrian's hand.
All lies.
“Where is she?”
Marcus looked at him.
“You're not ready.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“Try me.”
Marcus sighed.
“She disappeared because Father wanted her dead.”
“Why?”
“Because she knew what Lucian was building.”
Adrian shook his head.
“Lucian was a strategist.”
“He was more than that.”
Marcus pointed toward the video.
“He was running the research program.”
Adrian looked at the screen.
His mother's face appeared.
She was younger.
Alive.
Standing in a laboratory.
Next to her was Lucian.
Marcus continued.
“She discovered what they were doing to children.”
Adrian's stomach tightened.
“Children?”
“Children with the mutation.”
“What happened?”
“She tried to expose them.”
“And Father stopped her?”
Marcus nodded.
“But she escaped.”
Adrian stared at the photograph.
“Then why did everyone believe she died?”
“Because she needed you to.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
All his life, his mother's death had been the wound he never understood.
Now it was becoming a weapon.
Marcus said:
“She took Mia.”
Adrian's eyes snapped open.
“You gave her my daughter?”
“She is protecting her.”
“You don't get to make that choice.”
“I did when you were dying.”
Adrian's anger flared.
“What does that mean?”
Marcus looked at him.
“Your first cardiac episode wasn't three days ago.”
Adrian froze.
“What?”
“You collapsed when you were seventeen.”
Adrian remembered.
A fainting episode.
Doctors had called it exhaustion.
His father had made sure nobody investigated further.
Marcus continued.
“Father knew about your condition.”
Adrian felt sick.
“He knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't he tell me?”
“Because he wanted to see how long you could survive.”
Adrian's hands tightened.
“Why?”
Marcus said nothing.
Then the room filled with a voice.
Lucian.
The speakers crackled.
“You finally understand.”
Adrian turned.
The screens came alive.
Lucian appeared.
Beside him stood Clara.
And Mia.
Adrian's heart pounded.
Lucian smiled.
“Your family has been lying to you since birth.”
Adrian raised his gun toward the screen.
“Give them back.”
“You still don't understand the real tragedy.”
“What?”
“You think your heart is failing.”
Lucian leaned forward.
“It isn't.”
Adrian stopped.
“The disease is progressing.”
“No.”
Lucian smiled.
“Your heart was deliberately damaged.”
Silence.
“Your father did it.”
Adrian felt his knees weaken.
“Why?”
“To make you controllable.”
Marcus whispered:
“No.”
Lucian continued.
“You were an experiment.”
Adrian stared at the screen.
His father.
His childhood.
His illness.
Everything.
A lie.
Then Lucian said the words that changed everything.
“And your daughter was born to finish the experiment.”
Mia began crying.
Adrian whispered:
“No.”
Lucian nodded.
“Yes.”
He raised a syringe.
“If you want your daughter alive, come to the old Moretti estate alone.”
Adrian looked at Marcus.
“Where?”
Lucian answered.
“Basement.”
The screen went black.
A second later, every door in the house locked.
Marcus looked toward Adrian.
“We're trapped.”
Adrian heard a mechanical click.
Then another.
Then dozens.
Vincent looked down.
“Weapons.”
The hidden walls opened.
Guns slid into position.
A countdown appeared on the television.
05:00
Marcus looked at Adrian.
“What do you plan to do?”
Adrian stared at the timer.
“Go downstairs.”
Marcus shook his head.
“That's suicide.”
Adrian looked at him.
“My daughter is down there.”
The countdown reached four minutes.
Adrian walked toward the basement door.
“My heart might fail.”
May you like
He opened it.
“But hers won't.”
