Chapter 12 - THE WOMAN WITH TWO FACESOne Mother Was a LieSylvester had seconds.
The first woman grabbed Anna.
The second woman reached for Noah's room.
Victor raised his weapon.
Sylvester fired first.
The shot struck the gun from Victor's hand.
Chaos exploded.
The first woman pulled Anna toward the tunnel.
Sylvester tackled the second.
She fought with frightening precision.
Not like a terrified mother.
Like a trained operative.
Sylvester slammed her against the wall.
"Who are you?"
She smiled.
"You already know."
He froze.
She whispered a childhood phrase only his wife should have known.
Sylvester released her.
For one second, doubt took over.
Then she whispered another.
Wrong.
The phrase had never been used in his family.
He realized she had stolen it.
He pushed her away.
"You're not her."
She attacked again.
Sylvester blocked the blow.
Across the room, the first woman was fighting Victor.
Anna crawled toward the control panel.
She saw a file marked:
MOTHER CLASSIFICATION.
She opened it.
Inside was a photograph of the real woman.
But the picture was from fifteen years ago.
Much older than either woman.
Anna stared.
"Mom?"
The first woman looked over.
Her face broke.
Anna held up the file.
"This says your name is Sarah."
The woman froze.
Sylvester turned.
"What?"
The woman whispered:
"I was going to tell you."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Sarah."
"Who was my wife?"
Sarah looked at the other woman.
"Her name was Elizabeth."
The second woman laughed.
"No."
Sarah stepped forward.
"Elizabeth died eleven years ago."
Victor shouted:
"Enough!"
He rushed toward Anna.
Sarah tackled him.
They crashed into the control panel.
The chamber door unlocked.
Noah stumbled out.
"Dad!"
Sylvester pulled him close.
Then Noah whispered:
"I know where Mom is."
Sylvester stared.
"What?"
"I saw her."
"Where?"
Noah pointed toward the lower tunnel.
"She's alive."
"Who?"
"The real Mom."
Anna looked at him.
"How do you know?"
"Because she talked to me."
"When?"
"Before they brought me here."
Sylvester's breathing stopped.
"Where?"
Noah looked terrified.
"She told me not to trust the woman upstairs."
Sylvester looked at Sarah.
Sarah began crying.
"I thought she meant me."
Noah shook his head.
"No."
He pointed toward the second woman.
"She meant her."
The second woman suddenly stopped fighting.
Her face became calm.
Almost relieved.
"You finally remembered."
She reached behind her neck.
Pulled away a thin strip of synthetic skin.
Beneath it was a scar.
Anna recoiled.
"What are you?"
The woman smiled.
"Someone who spent eleven years pretending to be your mother."
Sylvester looked toward Victor.
"You created her."
"No."
Victor shook his head.
"She created us."
The woman stepped closer.
"My name is Elena."
"Who are you?"
She smiled.
"I am the woman who inherited your father's secret."
Sylvester frowned.
"My father died."
"He did."
She removed another document.
"But before he died, he transferred the entire network."
"To whom?"
She looked at Anna.
"Her."
Anna's face went white.
"Me?"
Elena nodded.
"The trust was never designed for Sylvester."
She pointed at Noah.
"Or Noah."
Then at Daniel's image on the screen.
"Or Daniel."
Her eyes locked on Anna.
"It was built for the only child who could activate everything."
Anna slowly backed away.
"Why?"
Elena whispered:
"Because your mother was never supposed to give birth to you."
Sylvester stared.
"What does that mean?"
Elena smiled.
"It means you were created deliberately."
Then every alarm in the underground complex began screaming.
The system announced:
PRIMARY HEIR IDENTIFIED.
ACTIVATION SEQUENCE BEGINNING.
Anna's eyes widened.
A door opened beneath her feet.
And beneath that door was an enormous chamber filled with servers.
May you like
At the center stood a single chair.
Waiting for her.
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