Chapter 12 - Emily's WarningEmily dragged me into an underground parking garage.
We ran between concrete pillars.
“You haven't changed,” she said.
“You're talking about my haircut?”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“You still trust people too easily.”
I almost laughed.
“After tonight, that's not exactly my problem.”
She stopped.
“Listen carefully.”
“I am.”
“The people who controlled your family aren't just the Thornes.”
“Who are they?”
“A consortium.”
She looked around.
“Banks. Private security companies. politicians. Lawyers.”
“Blackstone?”
“Blackstone was one branch.”
“And the others?”
“Vale.”
I stared.
“My father's family?”
She nodded.
“Your father tried to expose them.”
“He was part of them?”
“Once.”
That hurt.
Adrian had told me everything.
Or so I thought.
“Why did you leave me?”
Emily looked away.
“They threatened my family.”
“What did they say?”
“They said if I stayed with you, my younger brother would die.”
Silence.
“I believed them.”
I looked down.
“So you knew.”
“I knew they were watching you.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was trying to find proof.”
She reached into her bag.
A flash drive.
“I found this eight months ago.”
“What is it?”
“Your father's final investigation.”
I took it.
A folder appeared.
PROJECT ORCHID 2.0
My blood ran cold.
“2.0?”
“They restarted it.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
I looked at her.
“Why would they restart something involving me?”
She hesitated.
“Because you weren't their only subject.”
I opened the file.
Twenty names.
Twenty people.
All around my age.
All assigned numbers.
Subject 47.
Subject 48.
Subject 49.
My stomach tightened.
“What are they doing?”
Emily whispered.
“Testing inheritance transfers.”
I looked confused.
She explained.
“They've been using people as legal proxies. They create identities. Transfer assets. Move money.”
“And me?”
“You were the prototype.”
I stared at the screen.
Then another file opened.
It contained a photograph of a young woman.
I recognized her.
My mother's face.
Taken twenty years earlier.
Pregnant.
A second photograph showed another pregnant woman.
Standing beside Daniel.
Then I noticed the date.
The same year I was born.
I stared.
“Who is she?”
Emily's face went pale.
“That's Daniel's wife.”
“My mother?”
“No.”
She pointed.
“That woman gave birth to Kyle.”
I frowned.
“Then who gave birth to me?”
Emily looked at me.
“That's what they deleted.”
Suddenly my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A distorted voice spoke.
“Your father lied.”
I froze.
“Who is this?”
“The woman who gave birth to you is still alive.”
My heart stopped.
“Where is she?”
The voice answered.
“Blackwood Manor.”
Then the call ended.
I turned to Emily.
“We have to go back.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I know what they're waiting for.”
“What?”
She looked at the entrance of the garage.
“They want you to return home.”
Sirens began approaching.
May you like
Emily whispered:
“Because your mother isn't the one in that hospital bed.”
