Chapter 10 - St. Mary's Hospital had been abandoned for years.Rain battered the broken windows.
The sign above the entrance hung crooked.
Gabriel parked two blocks away.
Harper looked at him.
“You said no men.”
“There aren't any.”
“What about Victor?”
“He's watching from a distance.”
She frowned.
“Derek said come alone.”
“I don't obey Derek.”
They entered through a side door.
The hall smelled of mold and rust.
Harper looked around.
She remembered almost nothing.
Yet something felt familiar.
A blue staircase.
A cracked clock.
A faded mural of clouds.
She stopped.
“I've been here.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“When?”
“I don't know.”
She touched the wall.
A memory surfaced.
A woman holding her.
Crying.
A man's voice shouting.
A baby crying.
Harper gasped.
Gabriel caught her.
“What did you see?”
“My mother.”
“Which one?”
“I don't know.”
Another memory.
A white room.
A bloodstained sheet.
A doctor whispering.
“She's alive.”
Then another voice.
“Take the baby.”
Harper opened her eyes.
“There was another baby.”
Gabriel stared.
“The bracelet.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“I don't know.”
They reached the old maternity ward.
The doors were sealed.
Gabriel broke the lock.
Inside was a room untouched by the fire.
Hospital records covered the floor.
Harper found a metal cabinet.
Inside were files.
One file had her name.
BABY GIRL, UNKNOWN IDENTITY.
Another file.
BABY BOY, ASHFORD.
Gabriel took it.
His hands shook.
“There's a match.”
Harper looked.
“What?”
The documents showed two births on the same night.
A boy.
A girl.
Both records had been altered.
Then one line appeared.
TRANSFERRED TO PRIVATE CUSTODY.
“Who took them?”
Gabriel turned the page.
There was no name.
Only a symbol.
Black Wolf.
Harper's breathing became shallow.
“Someone switched us.”
Gabriel looked up.
“But why?”
A voice answered from the doorway.
“Because one child was meant to inherit Black Wolf.”
Gabriel raised his weapon.
Derek stood there.
Alone.
Blood on his shirt.
Harper's heart hammered.
“You.”
Derek smiled.
“Miss me?”
Gabriel aimed.
“You're surrounded.”
Derek laughed.
“No.”
He pointed behind them.
Three men appeared at the opposite end of the hallway.
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
“Why bring us here?”
Derek looked at Harper.
“Because this is where your real story began.”
Harper stepped forward.
“Tell me the truth.”
Derek's smile disappeared.
“Your mother loved Adrian Ashford.”
Gabriel stared.
“Adrian was my father.”
“Yes.”
“What happened to him?”
“Black Wolf killed him.”
Harper's eyes filled.
“Why?”
“Because he wanted to destroy the organization.”
Gabriel lowered the gun slightly.
“And my grandfather?”
“Built it.”
Derek nodded.
“Your father tried to destroy it.”
Gabriel's expression became bitter.
“Then why was Harper hidden?”
“Because Adrian left evidence.”
“What evidence?”
“Names. Payments. Orders.”
Derek looked at Harper.
“And the proof was hidden in her memory.”
Harper shook her head.
“I don't remember anything.”
“You will.”
“How?”
Derek stepped closer.
“You need to remember the night your mother died.”
Harper's heart raced.
“My mother died when I was ten.”
“No.”
Derek shook his head.
“She died when you were born.”
Harper froze.
“Rachel raised you after that.”
“But Rachel died years later.”
“Yes.”
“Then who died when I was ten?”
Derek looked at her.
“A woman hired to pretend she was your mother.”
Harper felt sick.
“What?”
Derek's eyes narrowed.
“Black Wolf changed your memories.”
Gabriel stared.
“That's why she doesn't remember.”
Derek nodded.
“She was conditioned.”
Harper backed away.
“No.”
“Your childhood is fake.”
“No.”
“Your first home.”
“No.”
“Your mother's face.”
“Stop.”
“Your father's voice.”
“STOP!”
Derek smiled.
“You've never actually remembered James Queen.”
Harper froze.
Images rushed through her mind.
A man's face.
Her father's smile.
His hands.
His voice.
Suddenly they felt wrong.
Artificial.
Like pieces of a dream.
Gabriel stepped toward her.
“Harper.”
She turned.
“Don't.”
He stopped.
Derek smiled.
“Now you understand.”
A hidden door opened behind him.
“Come with me.”
Harper stared.
“Where?”
“To the room where your memories were taken.”
Gabriel raised his weapon.
“She's not going anywhere.”
Derek laughed.
“Then she dies without learning who she is.”
He turned.
And walked away.
Harper looked at Gabriel.
“I have to know.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“I know.”
Then the lights went out.
A siren began screaming through the hospital.
Derek's voice echoed from the dark.
May you like
“Welcome home, Harper.”
And somewhere beneath the hospital, a child's voice started crying.
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