Chapter 10 - Claire watched Sebastian Mercer walk into the frame.Alive.

Calm.

Smiling.

Her entire world cracked.

The video ended.

No explanation.

No answer.

Just a black screen.

Claire turned to Adrian.

“Your brother is alive.”

“Yes.”

“My father isn't my father.”

“I don't know.”

“Then who is?”

Adrian didn't answer.

Claire shoved the USB into his chest.

“You all keep saying you want to protect me.”

Her voice broke.

“But nobody tells me anything!”

Adrian caught her wrists gently.

“Claire.”

“Don't.”

She pulled away.

“I trusted you.”

“And I trust you.”

“Then tell me the truth.”

“I don't have it.”

“Then find it.”

Adrian stared at her.

“I will.”

They spent the night searching old records.

Birth certificates.

Hospital files.

Medical archives.

Everything surrounding Claire's birth had been altered.

Every original document was missing.

Except one.

A handwritten delivery note from the hospital.

Mother: Elizabeth Bennett.

Father: unknown.

Claire stared.

“My mother's name was Elizabeth.”

Adrian nodded.

“But why does it say father unknown?”

Marcus looked at the page.

“Maybe because Thomas adopted you.”

Claire shook her head.

“My parents were married before I was born.”

Adrian noticed something.

There was a second notation on the page.

A symbol.

A black circle containing a thin white line.

Marcus recognized it.

“Orpheus.”

Claire's blood ran cold.

“What does it mean?”

“It means someone marked your file.”

Adrian leaned closer.

“Why?”

Marcus searched the archives.

“Because Claire was part of a study.”

“What study?”

He pulled up a scanned document.

“Children born to families connected to Orpheus.”

Claire frowned.

“How many?”

“Thirty-two.”

“And what happened to them?”

Marcus didn't answer.

Claire's voice dropped.

“What happened?”

“Twenty-one died before age ten.”

Silence.

“Eight disappeared.”

Adrian stared.

“And the last one?”

Marcus looked at Claire.

“You.”

Claire felt dizzy.

Adrian caught her before she fell.

“Easy.”

“What were they studying?”

Marcus shook his head.

“We don't know.”

A phone vibrated.

Not Adrian's.

Claire looked at hers.

Unknown number.

A text.

YOU'VE ALWAYS BEEN THE LAST PIECE.

Another message appeared.

LILY IS THE KEY.

Claire turned white.

Adrian took the phone.

“Don't reply.”

A third message came.

ASK YOUR FATHER ABOUT ROOM 17.

Adrian looked at Marcus.

“Find Room 17.”

Marcus searched.

Nothing.

Then Claire suddenly remembered.

Her father's clinic.

There had been seventeen rooms.

Room 17 was kept locked.

She had been told it was storage.

“It's at the clinic.”

They returned before dawn.

Room 17 was at the end of a corridor.

The lock was old.

Claire used the silver key.

The door opened.

Inside was not storage.

It was a laboratory.

Medical equipment.

Files.

Photographs.

Children.

Claire's photographs.

At six.

Seven.

Nine.

Twelve.

Fifteen.

Every year documented.

Someone had been monitoring her entire life.

Adrian looked through the files.

One page made him freeze.

“Claire.”

She turned.

He held up a document.

At the top was a name.

SUBJECT C-17.

Below it:

GENETIC RELATIONSHIP: RICHARD MERCER.

Claire stared.

“What?”

Adrian couldn't speak.

Marcus whispered:

“She's a Mercer.”

Then the lights went out.

A voice echoed through the room.

“Finally.”

Claire turned.

Sebastian Mercer stood in the doorway.

Alive.

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Smiling.

“Now you know.”