Chapter 14 - THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEADFather, Son, and the Last LieSylvester couldn't move.
His father stood in the smoke.
Alive.
Older.
Leaning on a cane.
Noah looked up.
"Grandpa?"
The old man smiled.
"I remember you."
Sylvester's fists clenched.
"You've been alive."
"Yes."
"You watched all of this happen."
"Yes."
"You let me believe my wife died."
"Yes."
Sylvester stepped forward.
"Why?"
His father looked at the twins.
"Because I needed to know whether you would choose them over the family legacy."
Sylvester stared in disbelief.
"People died."
"I know."
"Children were experimented on."
"I know."
"My wife was tortured."
"I know."
His father lowered his eyes.
"I made the wrong choice."
"Eleven years too late."
"Perhaps."
Noah stepped between them.
"Why did you steal Anna?"
The old man looked at him.
"I didn't."
Noah frowned.
"Then who did?"
His father pointed at the wall.
A hidden door opened.
Behind it was a small room.
Inside sat a woman.
Older.
Weak.
Alive.
Sylvester's heart stopped.
His wife.
The real one.
Not Sarah.
Not Elena.
His actual wife.
She looked at him.
Tears filled her eyes.
"Sylvester."
He crossed the room.
She held him.
For several seconds, neither could speak.
Then she whispered:
"I'm sorry."
He shook his head.
"No."
"I thought I could stop them."
"You should have told me."
"I couldn't."
"Why?"
She looked toward his father.
"Because he threatened the twins."
Sylvester's face hardened.
She continued.
"He said if I escaped, Noah would die."
"And Anna?"
"He said Anna would be used as the next subject."
Sylvester looked at his father.
The old man didn't deny it.
"I thought I was protecting them."
His wife shook her head.
"You were protecting the network."
Silence.
Then Daniel's voice came through a portable speaker.
"I found the last file."
Everyone turned.
Daniel entered the room.
He looked at Sylvester.
"This is everything."
He handed him a small drive.
Sylvester inserted it into a laptop.
The file opened.
It contained the names of everyone involved.
Doctors.
Lawyers.
Agents.
Executives.
Judges.
And at the top:
PROJECT DIRECTOR: ELIZABETH STALLONE.
Sylvester stared.
His father's face changed.
"My wife?"
"Yes."
Sylvester looked at the real woman.
She shook her head.
"That was before I met you."
The truth was finally clear.
The woman who had created the original program wasn't his wife.
It was his father's second wife.
The woman everyone believed had died decades earlier.
The same woman who had created Evelyn's sister.
The same woman who had started the identity experiments.
And Elena?
Her daughter.
Victor?
Her servant.
The entire network was a family empire built across generations.
But one name remained.
Evelyn.
Sylvester looked at her.
"Where is she?"
Nobody knew.
Then the laptop beeped.
A video opened.
Evelyn stood in a dark room.
She was crying.
"I didn't steal your child."
Sylvester leaned closer.
"I saved one."
The screen shifted.
A hospital photograph appeared.
A newborn baby.
Then another.
Then another.
Evelyn spoke:
"They told me to destroy the third child."
Sylvester stared.
"But I couldn't."
She lifted the picture.
"So I hid him."
Daniel stepped closer.
"I was the third child."
Evelyn shook her head.
"No."
Daniel froze.
"You were not the third."
The room went silent.
Evelyn continued:
"The third child was a girl."
Anna stared.
"Who?"
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
"You."
Anna shook her head.
"No."
"Yes."
"That's impossible."
Evelyn whispered:
"They took your twin sister."
Sylvester looked at her.
"You said three babies."
"There were four."
Silence.
"Four?"
Evelyn nodded.
"The fourth child was born minutes after Anna."
Sylvester's face went white.
"Where is she?"
Evelyn looked at the camera.
"You've already met her."
The video ended.
Anna whispered:
"Who?"
The room door opened.
A young woman stood there.
Same face as Anna.
But older.
About eighteen.
She held a photograph.
May you like
She looked directly at Sylvester.
"Hi, Dad."
