Chapter 14 - THE CHILDI reached the hospital with Mason beside me.
The neonatal ward was empty.
No nurses.
No doctors.
No patients.
Only one incubator remained.
Inside was a newborn baby.
A note was taped to the glass.
MY FINAL LEVER.
I stared at the baby.
Mason stepped forward.
“That child isn’t yours.”
I looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because I checked the records.”
The baby opened its eyes.
Dark eyes.
Familiar eyes.
My mother walked into the room behind us.
She looked at the child.
Then whispered:
“Victor’s.”
I turned.
“My father?”
She nodded.
I felt dizzy.
“But he was supposed to be infertile.”
“He wasn’t.”
Mason stared at her.
“What are you saying?”
“Victor had another child.”
“Where?”
Elaine pointed toward the incubator.
“Here.”
I looked at the baby again.
“You’re saying this is my half-brother?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“Your son.”
The room went silent.
I stared at her.
“That’s impossible.”
“Not according to the records.”
Mason looked horrified.
“How?”
My mother finally told us the truth.
Before my parents’ staged disappearance, they had created embryos using Victor’s genetic material and Elaine’s eggs.
One embryo was implanted into Elaine.
That became me.
Another was frozen.
Years later, after my marriage to Julian, someone secretly used the embryo.
The result was the baby.
My baby.
My own DNA.
And Victor’s.
I stepped toward the incubator.
Everything inside me shattered.
“Who did this?”
My mother whispered:
“Mercer.”
A door closed behind us.
Dr. Mercer.
He stood holding a syringe.
“You’re finally beginning to understand.”
Mason raised his weapon.
Mercer smiled.
“You shoot me and the child dies.”
I froze.
“Put it down.”
Mason hesitated.
Mercer looked at me.
“Your entire family thought blood was power.”
He walked closer.
“But blood is only power when people believe in it.”
Then he looked at my mother.
“And you taught them that.”
Elaine whispered:
“Why?”
Mercer’s smile faded.
“Because your husband was never the mastermind.”
I looked at him.
“Then who was?”
Mercer pointed toward the door.
Julian entered.
His face was covered in blood.
Behind him came Chloe.
Alive.
Smiling.
And between them stood a woman in an elegant black coat.
I recognized her immediately.
Julian’s mother.
She looked at me.
Then said:
“Hello, Valerie.”
Julian stepped aside.
May you like
His mother smiled.
“You’ve finally come home.”
