Chapter 10 - Emily stared at the ultrasound image.“No.”
Raymond didn't speak.
Victoria.
Pregnant for eleven months.
Impossible.
Emily looked at the monitor.
“That's not medically possible.”
“Not naturally.”
The room fell silent.
Then Dr. Shaw appeared in the doorway.
His wound had been bandaged.
He looked exhausted.
“You need to come with me.”
Emily stepped toward him.
“Tell me what's happening.”
“Victoria isn't carrying a normal pregnancy.”
Raymond frowned.
“What did Black Rose do?”
Dr. Shaw hesitated.
“I'm not proud of my involvement.”
Emily stared at him.
“Then start talking.”
He closed the door.
“Your baby and Victoria's baby are biologically linked.”
“How?”
“The program was designed to transfer genetic material between selected pregnancies.”
Emily felt nauseous.
“They experimented on pregnant women?”
“Yes.”
“Why would anyone do this?”
“Because Richard Hayes believed he could create a child capable of surviving a specific treatment.”
“What treatment?”
Dr. Shaw looked at Raymond.
“The Black Rose formula.”
Raymond's face became grim.
“It's not a drug.”
“What is it?”
“An experimental compound designed to activate the mutation.”
Emily whispered:
“And my baby carries it naturally.”
“Yes.”
“Then Victoria…”
“Was used as the second subject.”
Emily's hands trembled.
“What happens when the children are born?”
Dr. Shaw looked down.
“One of them dies.”
Silence.
Emily's eyes widened.
“What?”
“The protocol requires only one surviving carrier.”
Raymond grabbed Dr. Shaw by the collar.
“You helped them?”
The doctor shook his head.
“I tried to stop it.”
“But you signed the files.”
“I was threatened.”
“With what?”
Dr. Shaw looked at Emily.
“Your mother.”
Emily froze.
“They told me she was being held.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Before anyone could speak, the hospital doors slammed.
A voice came over the intercom.
“Emily Carter.”
Victoria.
“You've learned enough.”
Emily looked around.
Victoria continued:
“You have ten minutes.”
“For what?”
“To choose.”
“What?”
Silence.
Then the screen above the nurse's station turned on.
Victoria appeared.
Behind her was Margaret.
The real Margaret.
Emily gasped.
“Mom!”
Victoria smiled.
“She's alive.”
Emily moved toward the screen.
“Let her go.”
“I will.”
“When?”
“When you give me your baby.”
Emily froze.
Victoria continued:
“Your child is the only reason she is still breathing.”
Raymond stepped forward.
“You won't get away with this.”
Victoria laughed.
“You still think this is about money?”
“What do you want?”
“I want what your mother stole.”
“The company?”
“No.”
Victoria shook her head.
“I want the Black Rose formula.”
Emily stared.
“You don't even know what it is.”
“Oh, I know.”
Victoria looked directly into the camera.
“Because I already have the final ingredient.”
A door opened behind Margaret.
A man walked in.
Emily stopped breathing.
It was Lucas Black.
Her father.
Alive.
Victoria stepped aside.
Lucas looked directly at the camera.
“Hello, Emily.”
Emily couldn't speak.
Raymond whispered:
“Lucas…”
Lucas smiled.
“Brother.”
“You're working with her?”
Lucas shook his head.
“No.”
“Then why is she holding Margaret?”
Lucas looked at Victoria.
“Because she's stupid enough to think she controls this.”
Victoria's face hardened.
“What did you just say?”
Lucas turned.
“You've never understood Black Rose.”
Victoria stepped backward.
Lucas continued:
“The program was never about the children.”
Emily whispered:
“Then what is it about?”
Lucas looked into the camera.
“You.”
Emily froze.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your blood contains the original sequence.”
Raymond stared.
“Margaret never gave birth to a second-generation carrier.”
Lucas smiled.
“She gave birth to the first.”
Emily touched her stomach.
“What are you saying?”
Lucas's expression became cold.
“You were born with the mutation.”
Emily whispered:
“And my baby?”
“Your baby is the second generation.”
Victoria suddenly raised a gun toward Margaret.
“Enough games.”
Lucas looked at her.
“You're too late.”
Victoria fired.
The gunshot echoed.
Margaret dropped.
May you like
Emily screamed.
Then the camera cut out.
