Chapter 5 - There are sounds a man never forgets.A child crying is one of them.
Especially when you know the child should not exist.
The crying came from behind the filing cabinets.
Soft.
Weak.
Alive.
Marco and I moved together.
We shoved the cabinet aside.
Behind it was another wall.
No door.
No opening.
Just concrete.
I touched it.
Warm.
“There's something behind this.”
Marco pulled out a breaching charge.
“Too dangerous with the babies upstairs.”
“We don't have time.”
He nodded.
Three minutes later, we broke through.
Behind the wall was a narrow corridor.
The baby was at the end.
We found her inside a small glass enclosure.
She couldn't have been more than a few months old.
Blonde hair.
Blue eyes.
A tiny silver bracelet around her wrist.
I stared through the glass.
Then I saw the name engraved on it.
LUCIA.
My hands began shaking.
Marco whispered:
“Boss…”
The baby looked directly at me.
Then she stopped crying.
I felt something break inside me.
“How old?”
Marco checked the medical equipment.
“Six months.”
That made no sense.
I had never heard about her.
We opened the enclosure.
The baby immediately reached toward me.
I picked her up.
She was warm.
Alive.
And she had Lucia's eyes.
A door slammed somewhere in the corridor.
Marco turned.
Caleb appeared.
His face was exactly as it had looked on the security camera.
Burned.
Scarred.
But unmistakably him.
He raised his hands.
“Don't shoot.”
Marco pointed the gun at him.
“You were dead.”
“They wanted everyone to think that.”
“Who?”
Caleb looked at me.
“Your father.”
My blood turned cold.
“My father has been dead twelve years.”
“Exactly.”
I stared at him.
Caleb stepped closer.
“The Moretti family didn't build an empire, Adrien.”
“They built a laboratory.”
I said nothing.
He continued.
“Your father was part of Project Mercy.”
“What was the project?”
“Children.”
My grip tightened around the infant.
“They were trying to create heirs who could survive the syndicate.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It will.”
Caleb looked toward Sophie.
“She was one of them.”
Sophie stepped behind me.
“No.”
Caleb crouched.
“Sophie, look at me.”
She did.
“You remember.”
The girl shook her head.
“I don't.”
“You do.”
She clutched her doll.
Caleb's face softened.
“Your mother was one of the scientists.”
Elena suddenly appeared at the corridor entrance.
She screamed.
“Caleb!”
He turned.
Elena ran to him.
For a second, neither moved.
Then she slapped him.
“You let me bury you.”
“I had no choice.”
“You left me alone.”
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
She broke down.
Caleb pulled her into his arms.
I watched them.
Something about the scene felt wrong.
I turned back toward the baby.
The infant stared at me.
Then at Sophie.
Sophie stared back.
She whispered:
“She's the one.”
“Who?”
“My sister.”
Elena stepped forward.
“What did you say?”
Sophie pointed to the baby.
“She's my sister.”
Caleb closed his eyes.
I looked at Elena.
Her face had gone white.
“This child is yours?”
Elena nodded.
“She was supposed to die.”
“Why?”
“Because she wasn't part of the project.”
“What project?”
Elena couldn't answer.
Caleb did.
“They were breeding children for specific traits.”
I stared at him.
“Stop speaking in riddles.”
He stepped closer.
“Your father wanted children who would inherit money, intelligence, physical endurance, and obedience.”
“That is insane.”
“He funded scientists.”
“For what?”
“To build a perfect successor.”
I looked down at the baby.
“And my children?”
Caleb didn't answer.
I understood.
“No.”
“They weren't naturally conceived,” he said.
The room seemed to tilt.
I shook my head.
“Don't.”
“Lucia was carrying them, but they were genetically selected.”
“Don't.”
“Your wife knew.”
“Shut up.”
“She tried to stop it.”
I grabbed him by the collar.
“WHERE IS LUCIA?”
Caleb didn't flinch.
“She's alive.”
The words hit me harder than any bullet.
My hands loosened.
“What?”
“She survived the birth.”
“Then who did I bury?”
Caleb looked directly into my eyes.
“A woman your father chose.”
Silence.
My wife was alive.
Somewhere.
And my entire life had been built on a lie.
Then a phone rang.
Mine.
Unknown number.
I answered.
No one spoke.
Then a woman's voice whispered:
“Adrien.”
My knees nearly failed.
Lucia.
It was her.
“Where are you?”
A pause.
Then:
“Don't trust Caleb.”
I looked at him.
He heard her through the phone.
His face changed.
Lucia continued.
“They know you found the room.”
“Who?”
A sharp breath.
Then she whispered:
“The children were never the experiment.”
The line went dead.
I stared at the phone.
“What was?”
Before anyone could answer, every alarm in the estate began screaming.
Caleb looked toward the ceiling.
“They found us.”
“Who?”
He pulled his gun.
“The people who built your family.”
May you like
Then the lights went out.
And somewhere upstairs, one of my triplets began laughing.
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