Chapter 12 - The Room Beneath the ChurchThey followed Daniel's instructions to an abandoned church outside Blackridge.
Adrian hated every step.
The place was empty except for candles burning along the aisle.
Victoria stayed behind with Evelyn.
Lucas entered beside Adrian.
“There.”
A trapdoor.
They opened it.
A staircase descended into darkness.
Below was a concrete room.
No Clara.
No Mia.
Instead, dozens of files covered a long table.
Adrian picked one up.
Each contained photographs of children.
Seven in total.
The seven subjects.
But some photographs had been crossed out.
Lucas studied them.
“These children were never dead.”
“What?”
Lucas pointed.
“They were moved.”
Adrian looked through the papers.
Addresses.
Schools.
Hospitals.
Adoption records.
The seven children had been scattered across different countries.
Some had new names.
One lived in Canada.
One in Italy.
One in Argentina.
Another in South Africa.
Adrian's chest tightened.
Daniel hadn't created heirs.
He had created leverage.
Seven children connected to powerful families.
Seven people whose identities could expose the clinic.
Then Adrian found another file.
SUBJECT 8.
His hands froze.
Inside was a photograph of a newborn girl.
She had the same gray-green eyes.
The same birthmark.
“That's impossible.”
Lucas looked at it.
“Who's that?”
Adrian read the name.
Mia Vale.
He stared.
“She's not a clone.”
Lucas flipped the page.
“Her DNA doesn't match the others.”
Adrian's heart pounded.
Mia wasn't simply Adrian's daughter.
She was evidence.
Evidence of something that happened after the clinic was supposed to close.
A voice echoed from the darkness.
“Very good.”
Daniel stepped into the light.
He wasn't alone.
Two guards stood behind him.
Clara was beside him.
Mia was in a carrier.
Adrian stepped forward.
“Let them go.”
Daniel smiled.
“You found your brother.”
Lucas stared.
“You stole me.”
Daniel laughed.
“I raised you.”
“You lied to me.”
“I gave you a life.”
“You gave me a prison.”
Daniel's smile disappeared.
“You have no idea what your mother did.”
Lucas moved toward him.
Adrian stopped him.
“Don't.”
Daniel looked at Adrian.
“You still believe Evelyn.”
“I know she lied.”
“Then you know nothing.”
He tossed a folder at Adrian.
Adrian opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Evelyn.
Daniel.
And a baby.
But the baby was not Lucas.
The date was twenty-one years ago.
Adrian's stomach twisted.
“Who is that?”
Daniel said:
“Mia.”
Adrian looked at the child standing beside him.
Impossible.
Mia was less than a year old.
“How?”
Daniel smiled.
“Because the baby you're carrying was not born when you think.”
Adrian froze.
“What did you do?”
Daniel leaned closer.
“You should have asked Evelyn what happened the night she disappeared.”
Adrian turned toward Evelyn.
She was standing at the entrance.
Crying.
Daniel continued:
“She didn't run from me.”
“She ran from the law.”
Adrian's voice became cold.
“What did she do?”
Evelyn whispered:
“I switched the babies.”
Silence.
Adrian felt the world collapse.
“What?”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“I saved Mia.”
“From what?”
“From your father.”
Adrian looked at the photograph again.
Then at his daughter.
Daniel smiled.
“Mia isn't your daughter.”
May you like
Adrian's eyes widened.
“She is your sister.”
