CHAPTER 14 WHAT I DID
The lights went out.
For several seconds, there was nothing.
No alarms.
No footsteps.
No voices.
Only the sound of my own breathing.
Then every screen in the underground facility turned on simultaneously.
One word appeared.
REMEMBER.
My mother's hand found mine.
“Don't look.”
I pulled away.
“Why?”
“Because once you see it, you can't unsee it.”
I stared at the screen.
“That's exactly why I need to.”
The first image appeared.
A hospital room.
Twenty years earlier.
I was lying in a crib.
My mother stood beside me.
Gabriel was holding a small device.
And Victor Hale stood across the room.
My biological father.
I stared at him.
“Why was he there?”
Victor didn't answer.
The recording continued.
Gabriel said:
“The child is ready.”
Victor replied:
“She isn't a child.”
“She is a vessel.”
“No.”
Victor stepped closer to the crib.
“She is my daughter.”
Gabriel smiled.
“Then you're going to have to let her go.”
Victor looked at my mother.
“Sarah.”
My mother shook her head.
“I can't.”
“You promised.”
“I changed my mind.”
Gabriel raised the device.
“Too late.”
The screen went black.
A second recording appeared.
I was five years old.
Sitting in the laboratory.
Elena stood beside me.
My brother Elias was behind the glass.
And Victor was kneeling in front of me.
He held my hands.
“Evelyn.”
I looked at him.
“You're going to forget me.”
“Why?”
“Because they are going to make you.”
“Make me what?”
“Something they can control.”
I frowned.
“Will you come back?”
Victor smiled sadly.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“When you remember.”
The recording ended.
I turned toward him.
“You knew.”
Victor nodded.
“I knew everything.”
“Why didn't you save me?”
“I tried.”
“Not hard enough.”
He lowered his eyes.
“I failed.”
Another screen activated.
This time, I saw myself.
But older.
Twenty-three years old.
Pregnant.
Standing in the hospital corridor.
Daniel was beside me.
Luka was watching from a distance.
Victoria was talking to a doctor.
Then something happened.
I suddenly stopped walking.
I looked directly toward the camera.
And smiled.
My blood froze.
“That isn't possible.”
Luka whispered,
“She knew.”
“What?”
“She knew the cameras were there.”
I stared at the recording.
The woman who looked like me walked into a private room.
Daniel followed.
Victoria stood outside.
The door closed.
Then my younger self spoke.
“I know what they're doing.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
“M-17.”
“You remember?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
She touched her stomach.
“The twins.”
Daniel looked terrified.
“You're pregnant.”
“I know.”
“Emma…”
“Not Emma.”
He stared.
“Evelyn.”
She smiled.
“I remembered.”
I covered my mouth.
The recording continued.
Daniel whispered,
“What are you going to do?”
My younger self looked at him.
“I'm going to end it.”
“How?”
She smiled.
“By letting them think they won.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“What about the babies?”
“They're the key.”
“To what?”
“The archive.”
I stared at the screen.
The woman who looked like me continued:
“One baby will carry the trigger.”
She touched her stomach.
“The other will carry the lock.”
Daniel looked confused.
“And you?”
She smiled.
“I'll carry the key.”
The recording ended.
I couldn't breathe.
My mother whispered,
“You planned it.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“You knew.”
“I didn't.”
“You did.”
“I don't remember.”
“You deliberately erased your own memory.”
I shook my head.
“Why?”
“To protect the plan.”
“What plan?”
My mother looked at Amelia.
“You planned to destroy M-17 from the inside.”
My blood ran cold.
The next recording appeared.
The night of my delivery.
I was lying in the hospital bed.
Daniel was beside me.
Victoria stood near the door.
Luka was hidden in the corridor.
And I was awake.
Fully awake.
My younger self looked at Daniel.
“It's time.”
He shook his head.
“I can't.”
“You have to.”
“They'll kill you.”
“They already tried.”
“Emma…”
“Listen to me.”
She reached beneath the blanket.
Pulled out a tiny black device.
And handed it to him.
“Take this.”
“What is it?”
“The reset key.”
Daniel stared.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Give it to Luka.”
Daniel looked toward the door.
“What about the baby?”
My younger self looked down.
“Which one?”
I stopped breathing.
Daniel whispered:
“Both.”
She smiled.
“Only one will leave this hospital with us.”
My mother covered her mouth.
“No…”
The recording continued.
Daniel asked:
“And the other?”
My younger self closed her eyes.
“She goes to them.”
I stared at the screen.
“Why?”
My mother whispered,
“To activate the network.”
The next image appeared.
The delivery room.
The first baby was born.
Amelia.
Then the second.
The camera angle changed.
Doctors moved quickly.
One baby was placed beside me.
The other was taken away.
My younger self looked at the camera.
And smiled.
Then she mouthed two words.
“Begin.”
The recording ended.
I couldn't speak.
Luka looked at me.
“You planned everything.”
I shook my head.
“I don't remember.”
“You made sure you wouldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because Gabriel would search your memories.”
I looked toward my father.
“You couldn't find what you didn't know existed.”
Gabriel suddenly stepped forward.
“You manipulated all of us.”
I stared at him.
“You deserved it.”
He laughed.
“You don't even remember what you did next.”
The screens flickered.
A final recording appeared.
The night of my birth.
But this time, the footage was different.
It showed me as a newborn.
Victor was holding me.
My mother was crying.
Gabriel stood nearby.
And another man entered the room.
Adrian.
He looked younger.
He walked directly toward Victor.
“You failed.”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
“You were supposed to transfer the consciousness.”
“I refused.”
“Then I'll do it myself.”
Adrian reached toward the baby.
Victor pulled me away.
“No.”
Adrian raised a gun.
My mother screamed.
Gabriel attacked him.
The two men fought.
Then a gunshot.
Adrian fell.
Victor looked at him.
Then at me.
He whispered:
“Remember me.”
The recording ended.
I stared at Victor.
“You didn't create M-17.”
“No.”
“Adrian did.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Gabriel take control?”
“Because he thought he could improve it.”
“And you?”
Victor looked at me.
“I tried to destroy it.”
My mother stepped forward.
“But you failed.”
Victor nodded.
“Yes.”
Then the screens changed again.
A map appeared.
A location blinked.
Not the hospital.
Not the mansion.
A prison.
Federal property.
Luka looked at it.
“What is that?”
Victor answered:
“The original M-17 facility.”
I stared.
“That's where Adrian is?”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
Victor looked at me.
“The person who has been controlling every cycle.”
I felt a chill.
“Who?”
He didn't answer.
The lights flickered.
A door opened at the end of the corridor.
A woman stepped inside.
She wore a dark coat.
Her face was partially hidden.
But I knew her voice.
“Hello, Emma.”
My heart stopped.
Victoria.
I stared at her.
“You.”
She smiled.
“I told you.”
“You kidnapped my daughter.”
“No.”
She walked closer.
“I rescued her.”
“From whom?”
“From you.”
I tightened my grip on Amelia.
“You're lying.”
Victoria smiled.
“Ask your mother.”
I looked at Sarah.
She was crying.
Victoria continued.
“Ask her why she allowed your daughter to be taken.”
My mother couldn't answer.
Victoria looked toward the second baby.
“And ask her why she ordered me to take the other one.”
My blood froze.
“What?”
My mother whispered,
“I had to.”
Victoria nodded.
“She gave me both babies.”
I stared at her.
“No.”
“She wanted the archive.”
“What archive?”
“The one inside Amelia.”
Victoria reached into her coat.
She pulled out an envelope.
A DNA test.
She held it toward me.
“Before you decide who to trust…”
She smiled.
“…read this.”
I took the envelope.
My hands were shaking.
The report showed three names.
EMMA HALE
AMELIA MORETTI
VICTOR HALE
I scanned the results.
Then stopped.
The paternity section was impossible.
Victor was not listed as Amelia's father.
Neither was Gabriel.
Neither was Daniel.
Instead, it said:
PATERNITY: 99.9998%
Then another name.
I stared at it.
My heart stopped.
The father was listed as:
ADRIAN MORETTI.
I looked at Victoria.
“How?”
She smiled.
“That's the part you forgot.”
I turned toward my mother.
She was crying.
“Mom?”
She whispered:
“I was there.”
“When?”
“The night Amelia was conceived.”
I couldn't breathe.
Victoria stepped closer.
“And that wasn't the only thing that happened that night.”
I looked at her.
“What else?”
Victoria's smile disappeared.
“Your husband wasn't the man who got you pregnant.”
Silence.
Daniel looked at me.
His face had gone white.
I stared at him.
“Then who was?”
Nobody answered.
Victoria pointed toward the final screen.
A photograph appeared.
It showed me.
Pregnant.
Standing beside Adrian.
And Adrian's hand was resting on my stomach.
The date was printed beneath the image.
THREE MONTHS BEFORE YOUR WEDDING.
I felt the world tilt.
I looked at Daniel.
“You knew.”
He began crying.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
He whispered:
“From the truth about who Amelia's father really is.”
Then the photograph changed.
A second image appeared.
Adrian wasn't standing beside me.
He was standing inside my hospital room.
Holding newborn Amelia.
And I was smiling at him.
The caption beneath the image read:
MOTHER AND FATHER REUNITED.
I stared at the screen.
“I don't remember this.”
My mother whispered:
“Because you weren't supposed to.”
Suddenly Amelia looked up at me.
Her tiny eyes were calm.
She reached toward the screen.
And spoke in my own voice:
“Mommy…”
I leaned closer.
“What?”
She smiled.
“Ask Daddy why he killed me.”
I froze.
“Which Daddy?”
Amelia pointed at Daniel.
Daniel's face turned white.
Then she pointed at Gabriel.
Then Victor.
Then finally the screen showing Adrian.
“Which one?”
Amelia smiled.
“All of them.”
The underground facility went completely silent.
Then every screen displayed a new countdown.
00:59
00:58
00:57
My mother screamed:
“RUN!”
I looked at the timer.
“What happens at zero?”
Victor answered.
“The archive releases every memory.”
“And then?”
He looked at me.
“Everyone will remember what happened that night.”
The timer reached:
00:41.
Adrian's face appeared on the screen.
He smiled.
“Emma.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“You wanted the truth.”
“Yes.”
“Then at zero…”
May you like
His smile widened.
“…you'll finally remember why you killed your husband.”
