Chapter 5 - The woman in the video was wearing Evelyn's old blue dress.The same dress Julian had buried with his wife.
He couldn't breathe.
Mara stared at the screen.
Her lips trembled.
“Evelyn…”
The woman smiled.
“That's what he called me.”
Julian whispered:
“Who are you?”
She laughed softly.
“Still asking the wrong question.”
The video ended.
Julian immediately called his head of security.
No answer.
He called three more men.
No answer.
His entire security network had gone silent.
Someone had taken control.
Julian drove toward a safe house he had not used in years.
It was a stone cottage outside the city.
No cameras.
No smart locks.
No digital systems.
Mara held Noah the entire way.
Neither of them spoke.
When they arrived, Julian locked every door manually.
Then he turned toward Mara.
“Tell me everything you remember.”
“I don't know what's real anymore.”
“Start with what you know.”
She sat at the kitchen table.
Noah slept in her arms.
“My name is Mara Ellis.”
Julian waited.
“Or at least that's what I was told.”
She swallowed.
“I was raised by foster parents. They died when I was twenty-two.”
“Where were you born?”
“St. Vincent Hospital.”
Julian nodded.
“What happened when you were seventeen?”
“My mother died.”
“Your biological mother?”
“I don't know.”
“What did she leave you?”
Mara reached into her bag.
She removed a small wooden box.
Inside were photographs.
One showed two teenage girls.
Evelyn and Mara.
Julian recognized Evelyn immediately.
She was younger.
But unmistakable.
Standing beside her was Mara.
Same face.
Same eyes.
Same scar.
Julian stared.
“Why didn't you remember her?”
“Because I was told I had an imaginary sister.”
She showed him another photograph.
A family dinner.
Evelyn sat beside a man Julian recognized.
His father.
Victor Mercer.
Julian's stomach dropped.
“That's my father.”
“I know.”
Mara pulled out a third photo.
Evelyn was holding a newborn baby.
Julian's hands began shaking.
The baby had the same crescent-shaped mark.
Under the photograph was a handwritten note.
He survived. Keep him away from Victor.
Julian read it twice.
“Why would Evelyn keep my son from my father?”
Mara shook her head.
“Maybe she wasn't.”
A sound came from upstairs.
Julian immediately stood.
Mara froze.
The floor creaked.
Slowly.
One step.
Then another.
Julian reached for the pistol hidden beneath the kitchen counter.
He signaled Mara to stay quiet.
Another step.
A door opened upstairs.
Julian moved toward the staircase.
Then Noah began crying.
The footsteps stopped.
A voice called from above.
“Don't shoot.”
Julian recognized it.
His mother's brother.
Daniel Mercer.
Dead for seven years.
Julian raised the gun.
Daniel walked downstairs.
Older.
Thinner.
Alive.
Mara backed into the wall.
Julian stared.
“You're dead.”
Daniel smiled bitterly.
“That's what they needed everyone to believe.”
“What happened to you?”
“I tried to expose Project Mercer.”
“Who stopped you?”
Daniel looked at Mara.
“Your sister.”
Mara's face hardened.
“Evelyn?”
Daniel nodded.
“She wasn't the monster you think she was.”
Julian lowered the gun slightly.
“Then why did she steal my son?”
“She didn't.”
Mara looked at him.
“Then who did?”
Daniel answered:
“The woman in the video.”
Julian's stomach twisted.
“Who is she?”
Daniel walked to the table.
He pointed at a photograph.
“She is not Evelyn.”
Mara stared.
“Then why does she look like her?”
“Because she is Evelyn.”
Silence.
Julian shook his head.
“My wife died.”
“No.”
Daniel looked at him.
“The woman who died was a decoy.”
Julian felt the room tilt.
Daniel continued.
“Project Mercer wasn't about babies.”
“What was it about?”
“Identity.”
Mara's grip tightened around Noah.
“They created people who could replace powerful families.”
Julian stared.
“Evelyn?”
“Your father wanted someone who could control your fortune if you refused to obey him.”
“And my wife?”
“She discovered the project.”
“So they replaced her?”
Daniel nodded.
“The woman you saw tonight is the real Evelyn.”
Julian stepped back.
“But the woman who died…”
“An artificial identity.”
Mara whispered:
“Then what happened to the real Evelyn?”
Daniel looked toward the window.
“She became obsessed with one thing.”
“What?”
“Getting her son back.”
Julian froze.
“She thought Noah belonged to her.”
Daniel shook his head.
“She was wrong.”
Mara looked at him.
“Whose son is he?”
Daniel looked down at Noah.
“Yours.”
The baby suddenly opened his eyes.
He stared at Mara.
Then at Daniel.
And smiled.
Daniel went pale.
“He recognizes me.”
Julian's pulse quickened.
“How?”
Daniel took one step closer.
Then another.
His face changed.
Fear replaced every other emotion.
“What?”
Daniel whispered:
“The last time I saw that baby…”
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He looked directly at Mara.
“...he was in a freezer.”
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