Chapter 14 - Nora stopped screaming.She opened her eyes.
The room went silent.
Everyone stared.
The baby's gaze moved slowly from face to face.
Then she looked directly at Adrian.
He stepped backward.
“No.”
Nora smiled.
Not the innocent smile of an infant.
Something colder.
Recognition.
Lucia whispered:
“She remembers.”
“Babies can't remember this.”
“They can.”
“What is she?”
Lucia's voice shook.
“The final subject.”
I looked at Nora.
She was eight months old.
Small.
Fragile.
Completely helpless.
Yet everyone in the room was afraid of her.
Adrian took another step backward.
“She was supposed to be terminated.”
Lucia stared at him.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because she was protected.”
“By whom?”
“Your wife.”
I looked at Lucia.
“You knew Nora was the control subject?”
She shook her head.
“I suspected.”
“Why did you hide it?”
“Because if they knew, they would take her.”
I looked at the other children.
Theo was sleeping.
Miles was sleeping.
Sophie was watching us.
Nora stared at the wall.
Then she lifted one tiny hand.
Pointing.
At a door.
A door that wasn't there.
The wall behind it shifted.
A hidden passage opened.
We followed.
The corridor led underground.
Deeper than anything we had seen.
At the end was a chamber.
Inside were three glass cradles.
Exactly the same size as the triplets' cribs.
One cradle contained an empty blanket.
Another contained blood stains.
The third held a small monitor.
On the wall was a message.
SUBJECT N IS THE ORIGINAL.
Nora.
I stared.
“How old is this?”
Lucia looked at the equipment.
“Thirty-two years.”
I felt cold.
“Nora wasn't created eight months ago.”
“No.”
“She was recreated.”
Lucia nodded.
The truth was almost impossible to speak.
The original control subject had existed decades earlier.
The project had preserved her genetic information.
Then recreated compatible descendants.
Nora carried the exact sequence.
She wasn't the first.
She was the latest.
My father had spent decades waiting for her.
I looked at Lucia.
“Why did you marry me?”
She started crying.
“To protect you.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“I was assigned to observe you.”
“You were working for them.”
“Yes.”
“Then why love me?”
She smiled sadly.
“Because they didn't plan for love.”
Silence.
She explained that the project expected her to manipulate me.
Instead, she fell in love.
When she discovered the truth about the children, she tried to destroy the program.
My father responded by arranging her disappearance.
She faked her death.
Caleb helped her.
Elena helped Caleb.
Sophie was hidden.
Everything was connected.
I looked toward Adrian.
“And you?”
He lowered his head.
“I was supposed to kill you.”
The words were quiet.
“When?”
“The night of your wedding.”
I stared.
“But you didn't.”
“No.”
“Why?”
He looked at me.
“You smiled at me.”
I didn't understand.
“You thanked me.”
“For what?”
“For protecting Lucia.”
He swallowed.
“I couldn't kill you after that.”
I lowered my gun.
For the first time, I saw my brother not as an enemy.
But as another victim.
Then the chamber shook.
A deep rumble.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Marco entered.
“Boss!”
“What?”
“They're here.”
“Who?”
He pointed toward the tunnel.
“Everyone.”
We heard footsteps.
Hundreds.
The army of Project Mercy had found us.
Lucia grabbed my arm.
“There's one way out.”
“Where?”
“The lake.”
“What?”
“The tunnel ends beneath the water.”
We gathered the children.
Caleb carried Sophie.
Elena carried Miles.
Marco carried Theo.
I carried Nora.
Adrian stayed behind.
I stopped.
“What are you doing?”
“Buying you time.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
He smiled.
For the first time, he looked like my brother.
“Go.”
Gunfire echoed in the tunnel.
Adrian turned toward it.
Then he looked at me.
“Adrien.”
“What?”
“You were always supposed to be the replacement.”
I stared.
He smiled.
“But you became something better.”
He turned away.
The tunnel door closed.
We ran.
Behind us came a deafening explosion.
The passage filled with smoke.
I carried Nora toward the lake.
The cold water was visible ahead.
Then I heard a familiar voice behind me.
“Adrien.”
I turned.
My father.
He stood at the end of the tunnel.
Older.
Alive.
Holding a gun.
He smiled.
And this time, he was not a recording.
“Come home.”
I aimed my weapon.
“You died twelve years ago.”
He smiled.
“No.”
He looked at Nora.
“I was waiting for her.”
Then he raised his gun.
I raised mine.
And before either of us could fire, Nora reached toward him.
The entire tunnel lights turned green.
My father froze.
His expression changed.
Fear.
For the first time in my life, I saw fear in his eyes.
Nora whispered one word.
“Stop.”
May you like
My father dropped his gun.
And every armed man behind him dropped theirs too.
