Chapter 10: The Body in the Morgue
For a moment, Emily thought she had misunderstood.
The words were too impossible.
Too cruel.
Too insane.
The body in the morgue was Nadia Rahman.
The woman standing before them.
The woman who had been dead for eight years.
No.
Her mind rejected it.
She looked at Nadia.
Then Daniel.
Then Adam.
Everyone had secrets.
Everyone had lied.
But this...
This was beyond deception.
"You expect me to believe that?"
Emily's voice was quiet.
Daniel looked at her.
"I expect you to believe what your own hands already discovered."
Emily froze.
Her hands.
The examination.
The body.
The wrong face.
The warm skin.
The hidden identity.
Everything.
Daniel continued.
"You noticed the body wasn't Amina because you are trained to see what others ignore."
His eyes narrowed.
"But you never asked the most important question."
Emily swallowed.
"What question?"
"Why would someone fake Amina's death?"
Silence.
Daniel looked at Nadia.
"Because the person who needed to disappear..."
"Was never Amina."
Nadia's expression remained emotionless.
But Emily noticed something.
A small movement.
A flicker of pain.
Like Daniel had touched an old wound.
Adam stepped forward.
"You're lying."
Daniel looked at him.
"Am I?"
Adam shook his head.
"My mother died."
Nadia looked at him.
"No."
Her voice was soft.
"Your mother disappeared."
The words broke him.
"Why?"
Nadia looked away.
"Because I had no other choice."
Adam's voice became angry.
"You abandoned us."
"I saved you."
"From what?"
Nadia looked at Daniel.
"From him."
Daniel laughed.
"You still blame me for everything."
Nadia turned toward him.
"Because you deserve it."
Emily looked between them.
She realized something.
This wasn't a battle between good and evil.
It was a war between people who had all crossed lines.
People who believed their actions were justified.
And that made it more dangerous.
Eight years earlier.
The night Nadia Rahman disappeared.
Rain covered the streets.
The Rahman mansion was filled with shouting.
Nadia stood in the study holding a folder.
Inside were documents that could destroy the entire Circle.
Financial records.
Secret identities.
Evidence of crimes committed by powerful people.
Her husband had built an empire on silence.
And she had discovered everything.
"You don't understand what you've found."
A younger Daniel stood across from her.
Calm.
Confident.
Dangerous.
Nadia held the folder tighter.
"I understand enough."
Daniel smiled.
"No. You understand the surface."
He walked closer.
"The Circle is not about money."
"Then what is it about?"
"Control."
Nadia looked disgusted.
"People aren't pieces."
Daniel smiled.
"Everyone is a piece."
That was the moment Nadia understood.
She wasn't dealing with criminals.
She was dealing with people who no longer saw humanity.
Back in the abandoned station...
Emily looked at Nadia.
"If you faked your death..."
She paused.
"Why come back now?"
Nadia didn't answer immediately.
Then she said:
"Because Amina found what I couldn't."
"What?"
"The person who inherited the Circle."
Marcus suddenly looked alarmed.
"Wait."
Everyone looked at him.
Marcus stared at Nadia.
"You mean..."
Nadia nodded.
"Yes."
Emily felt the tension change.
Someone else.
Someone hidden.
Someone controlling Daniel.
"The new leader."
Nadia nodded.
"Someone inside the Rahman family."
Adam's face changed.
"No."
Emily looked at him.
"You know who?"
Adam didn't answer.
Nadia did.
"His name is Elias."
Everyone froze.
The second son.
The forgotten twin.
The man who looked exactly like Adam.
Adam shook his head.
"Impossible."
Nadia looked at him sadly.
"You never understood your brother."
The phone in Emily's hand suddenly vibrated.
Everyone turned.
A new message.
From Amina.
Emily opened it.
Only one sentence.
"Do not let my mother find Elias."
Emily looked up.
Confused.
"Why?"
A second message arrived.
This time with a video.
Amina appeared on the screen.
Her face was bruised.
But her eyes were clear.
"Emily, listen carefully."
Everyone gathered around.
"A lot of people will tell you they are saving me."
She looked directly into the camera.
"My brother."
A pause.
"My mother."
Another pause.
"Even Daniel."
Emily felt a chill.
Amina continued:
"They are all telling part of the truth."
The screen flickered.
Then Amina whispered:
"But nobody has told you the biggest lie."
The video glitched.
Her voice became weaker.
"The person who died at my wedding..."
Static.
"...was not my mother."
Everyone froze.
Nadia stepped closer.
"What?"
The video continued.
Amina's final words came through:
"Emily..."
"Check the DNA."
The screen went black.
Nobody spoke.
Then Emily realized something.
Amina wasn't telling them who the body belonged to.
She was telling them to find out.
Because even Nadia...
might not be who she claimed to be.
The next morning.
St. Mary's Hospital.
The morgue was surrounded by police.
The body recovered from the wedding was placed back under investigation.
Emily stood outside the examination room.
She had one final test.
DNA comparison.
One sample from the body.
One sample from Nadia.
If they matched...
Nadia was telling the truth.
If they didn't...
Everything they believed was another lie.
The technician entered.
Holding a folder.
Emily looked at his face.
And immediately knew.
Something was wrong.
"What happened?"
The technician slowly handed her the results.
His hands were shaking.
Emily opened the report.
Read the first line.
Then stopped.
Because the DNA results said:
The body in the morgue belonged to Nadia Rahman.
Emily exhaled.
But then she saw the second line.
The comparison sample from Nadia...
Was also a match.
A perfect match.
Emily looked up slowly.
Impossible.
Two women.
One DNA profile.
One dead.
One alive.
The technician whispered:
"Miss Carter..."
His face turned pale.
"That's not supposed to happen."
Emily stared at the report.
Because she finally understood.
The mystery wasn't who died.
The mystery was...
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End of Chapter 10
