Chapter 8 - Seven CribsThe lockdown lasted eleven minutes.
But it felt like an hour.
Security guards filled the corridor.
Police surrounded our floor.
Nobody knew who had triggered the system.
Then the emergency doors opened.
Not for us.
For Evelyn Vale.
She walked into the hospital wearing a cream coat, perfectly calm.
Marcus stared at his mother.
“You.”
Evelyn looked at me.
Then at my stomach.
“You shouldn't have gone looking.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“Where is Adrian?”
She said nothing.
“WHERE IS HE?”
Evelyn's expression did not change.
“You have no idea what you're dealing with.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“You tried to kill my wife.”
“I tried to protect you.”
“You drugged her.”
“I protected the family.”
He looked at her like she was a stranger.
“What family?”
Evelyn's eyes hardened.
“The only family that matters.”
She looked at my stomach.
“The child.”
I stood.
“You don't get to call my baby yours.”
Evelyn stared at me.
“You still don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
She walked toward me.
“Seven years ago, your husband was diagnosed with a hereditary condition that could have affected his future children.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No one told me.”
“You were never supposed to know.”
Evelyn continued.
“So we created a solution.”
My stomach twisted.
“A child?”
“A bloodline.”
She looked at Marcus.
“Your father's obsession became mine.”
Marcus stared at her.
“And the seven babies?”
Evelyn hesitated.
That was answer enough.
I whispered,
“There really are seven.”
She looked at me.
“Yes.”
Marcus's voice broke.
“Where?”
“At the estate.”
“Why?”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“Because your father believed the future belonged to those who could design it.”
Marcus looked sick.
“And Khloe?”
Evelyn stared at me.
“You were never selected randomly.”
My heart stopped.
“Why me?”
“Because you were already connected to Daniel Cross.”
I turned pale.
“What?”
“Before you met Marcus, you unknowingly signed a medical consent form.”
My mind raced.
The clinic.
The sedation.
The missing memory.
Evelyn continued.
“Daniel's genetic material was used because your bloodwork showed exceptional compatibility.”
Marcus stared at me.
“So Khloe knew Daniel.”
“I knew him,” I said. “I didn't know this.”
Evelyn looked at the ceiling.
“Someone is coming.”
A gunshot echoed from another floor.
Everyone ducked.
Security shouted.
Evelyn grabbed my arm.
“Listen carefully.”
I pulled away.
“You don't touch me.”
“Your child is in danger.”
Marcus raised his weapon.
“What are you talking about?”
Evelyn whispered,
“Adrian doesn't want the baby.”
She looked at me.
“He wants the DNA.”
A second shot rang out.
Then the lights went off.
Complete darkness.
A man's voice came from the hallway.
“Evelyn.”
She froze.
The voice continued.
“You were told not to interfere.”
Adrian.
Marcus grabbed my hand.
We moved toward the emergency stairwell.
The door opened.
Someone was waiting on the other side.
A nurse.
She wore a surgical mask.
She pushed a cart toward us.
“Take this.”
A blanket was pulled back.
Inside was a newborn baby.
Marcus stared.
“That can't be.”
The nurse looked at me.
“He was one of the seven.”
May you like
Then she whispered,
“And your name is on his original birth record.”
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