Chapter 13: The Woman Who Raised Him
“Margaret is not your mother.”
The words echoed through the underground chamber.
Ethan stared at the man trapped inside the cylinder.
His biological father.
Alive.
After twenty years.
Everything Ethan believed about his childhood had just collapsed.
He turned slowly toward Margaret.
She stood motionless at the foot of the stairs.
For the first time since Ethan had known her, she looked afraid.
“Tell me he's lying.”
Margaret said nothing.
“Mom.”
Still nothing.
“Tell me.”
Margaret lowered the gun.
Ethan's voice cracked.
“Tell me you're my mother.”
Margaret finally looked at him.
“I raised you.”
“That wasn't my question.”
She closed her eyes.
“No.”
One word.
It destroyed him.
Clara covered her mouth.
Daniel looked away.
Ethan felt as though the floor had disappeared beneath his feet.
“No.”
Margaret continued.
“You were never my biological son.”
“Then who am I?”
She looked toward the cylinder.
“His.”
Ethan stared at the man inside.
“My father.”
“Yes.”
“Who is my mother?”
Margaret's lips trembled.
“She died.”
“What's her name?”
Margaret hesitated.
Then:
“Sarah.”
Ethan repeated the name silently.
“Sarah.”
His father inside the cylinder suddenly spoke.
“Your mother was my wife.”
Ethan looked at him.
“What happened to her?”
Margaret answered.
“She discovered the program.”
“And?”
“She tried to expose us.”
Ethan's jaw tightened.
“You killed her.”
Margaret shook her head.
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
“She disappeared.”
His father slammed his hand against the glass.
“You know what happened!”
Margaret looked at him.
“You were never supposed to wake up.”
His father laughed bitterly.
“Neither was Ethan.”
Ethan stared.
“What does that mean?”
His father looked at him.
“When you were born, Helena wanted you.”
“Why?”
“Because you were the first child to inherit the complete Cross-Parker sequence naturally.”
Ethan frowned.
“Then why did you say Ava was the original?”
“Because Ava was created from the sequence.”
He looked toward the baby in Ethan's arms.
“She was designed to remember.”
Ethan stared at Ava.
“Why does she look like Lily?”
His father answered:
“Because Lily is her genetic template.”
Ethan's eyes widened.
“What?”
“Lily was born naturally.”
“Ava was created from her.”
Clara looked horrified.
“They made another child from my daughter?”
“Yes.”
Ethan's grip tightened around Ava.
Margaret suddenly spoke.
“That's not the whole story.”
Everyone turned.
Margaret looked at Ethan.
“Ava wasn't created eighteen months ago.”
Ethan frowned.
“What?”
“She was created twenty years ago.”
Silence.
Ethan stared.
“How?”
Margaret looked toward the cylinder.
“Your father stole her.”
His father shouted:
“Don't listen to her!”
Margaret continued.
“He took the original embryo.”
Ethan's face went pale.
“You're saying Ava…”
“She is your sister.”
Ethan looked down at the baby.
Ava stared back.
Her tiny fingers touched his face.
“Brother.”
His chest tightened.
Clara stepped closer.
“Then who is Lily?”
Margaret smiled.
“The second version.”
Lily stared at her.
“I don't understand.”
“You weren't supposed to.”
Lily began crying.
Clara pulled her close.
“Don't listen to her.”
Margaret's voice remained calm.
“Lily was born eighteen months ago.”
“Then why does she have memories of being six?”
“Because those memories were implanted.”
Ethan's blood ran cold.
“So Lily's entire childhood…”
“Never happened.”
Lily looked at Clara.
“Mommy…”
Clara hugged her tighter.
“I know.”
“I remember school.”
“I know.”
“My bedroom.”
“I know.”
“My birthday.”
“I know.”
“Were they all fake?”
Clara couldn't answer.
Ethan looked at Margaret.
“You stole her identity.”
“I gave her one.”
“You stole her life.”
Margaret's expression hardened.
“She needed memories to survive.”
“No.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“You needed a child you could control.”
Margaret raised her gun.
“Don't test me.”
Daniel immediately raised his weapon.
“Put it down.”
Margaret laughed.
“You still think guns matter.”
A sudden mechanical sound came from the ceiling.
The lights flickered.
Ava began crying.
The machine reacted.
Ethan's father shouted:
“Get her away from the chamber!”
Ethan moved.
Too late.
A blue beam shot from the machine and struck Ava.
Ethan screamed.
“NO!”
Ava's body lifted slightly.
Her eyes glowed.
Every monitor in the room activated.
Thousands of files appeared.
Names.
Dates.
Photographs.
Medical records.
Birth certificates.
Videos.
Everything the program had hidden.
Daniel stared at the screens.
“It's broadcasting.”
“To where?”
“Everywhere.”
Ethan looked at his father.
“Can we stop it?”
“No.”
“Then let it continue.”
Margaret screamed:
“Shut it down!”
Helena, still wounded on the floor, laughed weakly.
“It's over.”
Margaret turned toward her.
“You did this.”
Helena shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at Ava.
“She did.”
The machine suddenly displayed a final message.
MEMORY ARCHIVE: OPEN
Then every door in the underground facility opened.
Hundreds of people began walking into the chamber.
Former patients.
Doctors.
Workers.
Families.
Children.
Some were crying.
Some were furious.
One woman walked toward Margaret.
“My daughter.”
Margaret stepped backward.
“Stay away.”
“You took my daughter.”
Another person shouted:
“You erased my husband.”
Another:
“You told me my son died.”
The room became chaos.
Margaret fired into the ceiling.
“GET BACK!”
Nobody listened.
Ethan grabbed Clara.
“We need to leave.”
Clara nodded.
“What about Noah?”
Ethan looked around.
Noah was still in her arms.
Lily was beside her.
Ava was in Ethan's arms.
All three children were together.
For the first time.
Then the cylinder behind them cracked.
Ethan turned.
His biological father was staring at him.
“Ethan.”
“What?”
“Free me.”
Ethan ran toward the cylinder.
Daniel helped him find the release mechanism.
“Where's the control?”
His father pointed.
“Behind the panel.”
Ethan ripped it open.
A red switch.
He pulled it.
The cylinder opened.
His father collapsed.
Ethan caught him.
For a moment, father and son stared at each other.
Then the older man whispered:
“I am sorry.”
Ethan's eyes filled with tears.
“You should be.”
“I failed your mother.”
“You failed me.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“Yes.”
“You let me grow up with her.”
His father closed his eyes.
“I thought I could protect you.”
“You couldn't.”
“No.”
He looked at Ethan.
“But you can protect them.”
His eyes moved toward the three children.
“Don't let them become what we became.”
Ethan nodded.
“I won't.”
Suddenly Margaret shouted.
“Ethan!”
He turned.
She was standing beside Clara.
A gun pressed against Clara's head.
Ethan froze.
Margaret smiled.
“Put Ava down.”
“No.”
“Then Clara dies.”
Ethan slowly lowered his arms.
“Let her go.”
“First, the baby.”
Ava stared at Margaret.
Then she smiled.
Margaret's expression changed.
“What?”
Ava spoke.
Not like a baby.
Like an adult.
“You're afraid.”
Margaret's face went white.
Ava continued:
“Because I remember.”
Margaret's hand began shaking.
“What do you remember?”
Ava's eyes glowed.
“Everything.”
The machine suddenly screamed.
Margaret dropped the gun.
A memory flashed across every screen.
Margaret.
Twenty years earlier.
Holding Ethan as a newborn.
Beside her stood Sarah, Ethan's biological mother.
Sarah was crying.
Margaret was smiling.
Then Margaret said:
“Your son will belong to me.”
Sarah answered:
“Never.”
Margaret raised a syringe.
The video froze.
Everyone saw it.
Ethan stared at the screen.
“Mom…”
The memory continued.
Margaret injected Sarah.
Then she turned toward the newborn Ethan.
And whispered:
“Now you're mine.”
Ethan's face went numb.
He looked at Margaret.
“You killed her.”
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
“I loved you.”
“No.”
Ethan's voice was quiet.
“You wanted me.”
Margaret stepped backward.
“You were all I had.”
“You stole me.”
“I saved you.”
“You destroyed my family.”
Margaret shook her head.
“I made you.”
Ethan looked at Clara.
Then at Lily.
Noah.
Ava.
“You don't get to decide who I am.”
He stepped forward.
“You never did.”
Suddenly, an explosion shook the chamber.
The ceiling cracked.
Dust fell.
Daniel shouted:
“The whole facility is collapsing!”
Everyone began running.
Ethan grabbed Clara.
His father carried Noah.
Daniel took Lily.
Ethan held Ava.
They rushed toward the exit.
Behind them, Margaret stood motionless.
Ethan looked back.
“Come with us.”
Margaret smiled sadly.
“No.”
“Why?”
She looked toward the collapsing machine.
“Because there's one thing you still don't know.”
“What?”
Margaret pointed toward Clara.
“The baby she's carrying…”
Her smile returned.
“…isn't yours.”
Ethan stopped.
Clara froze.
Margaret whispered:
“Ask her who the real father is.”
Then the ceiling collapsed between them.
Ethan stared at the rubble.
Clara's face went white.
May you like
And for the first time…
she couldn't look him in the eyes.
