Chapter 11 - Emily lunged toward the screen.“No!”
She froze.
Raymond grabbed her.
“We don't know if she was hit.”
“She fell!”
“We don't know.”
Dr. Shaw stared at the blank monitor.
“She could still be alive.”
Victoria's voice returned through another speaker.
“She is alive.”
Emily spun around.
Victoria laughed.
“I wanted you to see what happens when people refuse to cooperate.”
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
“Where is she?”
“Somewhere you can't reach.”
“Tell me.”
“Bring the original birth certificate.”
Emily frowned.
“Why?”
“Because it contains a secret.”
“What secret?”
“Your biological father's name.”
Emily froze.
Victoria continued.
“Not Richard Hayes.”
“Not Lucas Black.”
Emily's face went pale.
“There was another man.”
Raymond looked at her.
Emily whispered:
“Who?”
Victoria smiled.
“The man who signed your mother's death certificate.”
The line went dead.
Raymond immediately ordered:
“Find the birth record.”
The security team moved.
Dr. Shaw looked at Emily.
“Your birth certificate was sealed.”
“By whom?”
“Your mother.”
“Why?”
“She wanted your father's identity erased.”
“Then how do we find it?”
Dr. Shaw hesitated.
“There's a copy.”
“Where?”
“The Hayes family vault.”
They left the hospital.
The vault was beneath an old private bank.
The security team forced the door.
Inside were dozens of boxes.
Emily searched through records.
Then she found one with her name.
Her hands shook.
She opened it.
The original birth certificate was inside.
She unfolded it.
Her mother's name.
Emily Carter.
Date of birth.
July 18.
Father:
Blank.
But the signature of the attending physician was visible.
Dr. Adrian Shaw.
Emily stared.
“Doctor…”
Dr. Shaw stepped closer.
“What?”
“You signed my birth certificate.”
He looked at it.
Then his face changed.
“I remember.”
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“Who was my father?”
Dr. Shaw stared at the blank field.
“I don't know.”
Emily turned the paper over.
A hidden stamp appeared under ultraviolet light.
Raymond brought over the lamp.
The ink became visible.
One line emerged.
FATHER: UNKNOWN SUBJECT 001
Emily stared.
“What is Subject 001?”
Dr. Shaw whispered:
“The first Black Rose patient.”
Raymond looked horrified.
“That's impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because Subject 001 wasn't human.”
Emily's eyes widened.
“What?”
Dr. Shaw corrected himself.
“Not originally.”
He pointed to another document.
A scientific report.
Subject 001 had been genetically modified decades ago.
The treatment had failed.
The subject became unstable.
And then disappeared.
Emily stared.
“Who was Subject 001?”
Dr. Shaw whispered:
“Your father.”
Raymond shook his head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
Emily felt dizzy.
“My father isn't human?”
Dr. Shaw looked frightened.
“He was once.”
The vault lights suddenly went out.
Someone entered.
A voice echoed through the darkness.
“You really shouldn't have opened that box.”
Emily recognized it.
Lucas.
“Dad?”
His footsteps approached.
Raymond raised his weapon.
“Stay back.”
Lucas stepped into the light.
Emily saw his face clearly for the first time.
Older.
Scarred.
But alive.
He looked at her.
And smiled.
“You finally found out.”
Emily's voice trembled.
“What am I?”
Lucas answered:
“Human.”
She exhaled.
“Thank God.”
“But your blood isn't.”
Emily stopped.
He continued:
“Your mother altered your genetic sequence before you were born.”
“Why?”
“To make you survive.”
“Survive what?”
Lucas looked at Raymond.
“The disease that killed everyone in the Black Rose program.”
Emily whispered:
“What disease?”
May you like
Lucas answered:
“Me.”
