CHAPTER 9 — THE LETTER FROM HER MOTHER
CHAPTER 9 — THE LETTER FROM HER MOTHER
Three knocks.
Then silence.
Three more.
The sound came from beneath the floor.
Not the walls.
Not the corridor.
Beneath us.
Someone was trapped down there.
Someone was alive.
I stared at Vanessa.
“My father?”
She nodded, tears running down her face.
“Yes.”
“Who is he?”
“I don't know his name.”
“You just told me he's under this mansion.”
“I said your father is here.”
“Then you know who he is.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“Not completely.”
I stepped toward her.
“You've been lying to me all night.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“No.”
My voice broke.
“You were trying to protect yourself.”
She looked away.
I turned toward the floor.
The knocking came again.
Three slow knocks.
Then three more.
Daniel immediately pulled out his flashlight.
“We need to find the access point.”
Michael grabbed his arm.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because if that's who I think it is, opening that door could get everyone killed.”
I stared at him.
“Who do you think it is?”
Michael didn't answer.
“Michael.”
He looked at me.
“Your mother told me never to open that room.”
“Why?”
“Because she said the man inside was more dangerous than Edward.”
My blood ran cold.
“More dangerous than Edward?”
“Yes.”
“Then why is he my father?”
Michael looked at me.
“That's what we need to find out.”
We searched the vault.
The knocking continued.
Every few minutes.
Always three knocks.
Never four.
Never two.
Someone was using a signal.
Michael finally noticed a narrow metal plate beneath one of the shelves.
He knelt.
“This wasn't here before.”
Daniel crouched beside him.
“Can you open it?”
Michael shook his head.
“No.”
I looked at it.
There was no lock.
Only a small indentation shaped like a triangle.
I touched it.
The panel immediately opened.
Everyone froze.
Inside was a narrow key.
Attached to it was a folded piece of paper.
My name was written on the front.
EMILY.
My hands began to shake.
I knew the handwriting.
My mother.
I opened it.
Only one sentence appeared.
If you are reading this, they failed to stop you.
I couldn't breathe.
There was another line beneath it.
Do not trust the man beneath the house.
I looked at Vanessa.
Then Michael.
Then Lucas.
Another line appeared.
He will tell you he is your father.
My heart stopped.
He is lying.
The room went silent.
Lucas looked at me.
“What does it say?”
I handed him the letter.
He read it.
His expression changed.
Michael took it next.
Then Vanessa.
She began crying before she reached the final line.
I took the letter back.
At the bottom was a final sentence.
The truth is in the second envelope. Find it before Alexander does.
I looked at Alexander.
He was gone.
“What second envelope?”
Nobody answered.
Daniel searched the shelves.
“Maybe she hid it here.”
We searched every box.
Every drawer.
Every cabinet.
Nothing.
Then I noticed the old photograph of my mother.
It had been moved.
Behind it was a small compartment.
Inside was a black envelope.
My name was written on it.
EMILY — OPEN ONLY WHEN YOU KNOW YOU ARE BEING WATCHED.
I stared at it.
“We're being watched.”
Daniel immediately checked the cameras.
Every monitor was black.
Except one.
A tiny red light blinked in the corner.
Someone was recording us.
Again.
I opened the envelope.
The letter inside was longer.
My mother's handwriting covered several pages.
The first sentence made my chest tighten.
My dearest Emily,
I stopped.
I'd never seen those words written to me.
My mother had disappeared before I could remember her.
I had spent my entire life imagining her voice.
Now I could hear it in every sentence.
I continued reading.
If you have found this letter, then you have already discovered the truth about the trust.
You know that the fortune was never Edward's.
You know that the mansion was built over the original Marlowe vault.
And you know that someone has spent decades trying to make you believe your family is dead.
I swallowed.
The next sentence was underlined.
But you still do not know why.
I kept reading.
The money was never the reason they were afraid of you.
Your blood was.
My hands went cold.
When you were born, your father gave me something.
Not money.
Not property.
A name.
I frowned.
A name?
My mother's letter continued.
A name that could destroy the people controlling the Hale family.
I looked at Michael.
He was staring at me.
“What name?”
I kept reading.
The man you have been told is your father is not your father.
The man who claims to know your father is also lying.
And the man beneath the mansion is not there because he was imprisoned.
My heart stopped.
He is there because he chose to stay.
I looked up.
The knocking came again.
Three times.
I stared at the floor.
The man beneath us had heard everything.
Daniel read the next page over my shoulder.
It contained a list.
Names.
Dates.
Locations.
Bank accounts.
Hospitals.
Companies.
Then one name appeared repeatedly.
Marlowe Biological Research Foundation.
I frowned.
“What is this?”
Michael's face changed.
“That company doesn't exist.”
“It did.”
“When?”
“Twenty-seven years ago.”
“What did it do?”
He looked at me.
“Genetic research.”
I stared at the page.
My mother had circled one line.
PROJECT ECHO.
“What is Project Echo?”
Nobody answered.
Vanessa whispered:
“I've heard that name.”
I turned.
“Where?”
“From Edward.”
“What did he say?”
“That it was the reason your mother had to disappear.”
I looked at the letter.
My mother had written:
Project Echo was created to identify inherited traits within specific bloodlines.
I read the next line.
Your father was one of the researchers.
My heart pounded.
“What?”
Michael took the letter.
He read silently.
Then looked at me.
“Emily…”
“What?”
He hesitated.
“Your father wasn't just involved in Project Echo.”
“Then what was he?”
Michael's voice dropped.
“He created it.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“My father was a scientist?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Michael looked toward Lucas.
Lucas shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Michael pointed to the letter.
“Your mother never wrote his name.”
“Why?”
“Because she was afraid the letter would be intercepted.”
I looked down.
Another page.
This one contained a photograph.
A young man stood beside Claire.
I had never seen him before.
He was wearing a white laboratory coat.
In his hand was a folder.
On the folder:
ECHO — SUBJECT 001.
I turned the photograph over.
My mother's handwriting said:
Your father was Subject Zero.
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
Michael looked frightened.
“Subject Zero was the original donor.”
“Donor of what?”
“Genetic material.”
I felt sick.
“What kind?”
He didn't answer.
“What kind?”
Michael finally whispered:
“Your blood.”
Nobody spoke.
My mother's letter continued.
Emily, if they tell you your blood is valuable because of the inheritance, do not believe them.
The inheritance is only the cover.
Your father discovered something in his own DNA.
Something Edward wanted.
Something that could be replicated.
My hands trembled.
You were born with it.
I looked at Lucas.
He was pale.
“What's in my blood?”
He didn't answer.
I looked at Michael.
Nothing.
Then Vanessa.
She stepped backward.
“I don't know.”
I stared at her.
“You do.”
She shook her head.
“I swear.”
I held up the letter.
“Then why did my mother write that I should never trust you?”
Vanessa froze.
“I didn't know she wrote that.”
“Why shouldn't I trust you?”
She started crying.
“Because I betrayed her.”
“That isn't the whole truth.”
“No.”
“What did you do?”
Vanessa looked at Michael.
Then at Lucas.
Finally, she looked at me.
“I gave Edward your blood.”
The room went silent.
My stomach dropped.
“When?”
“When you were five.”
“Why?”
“I thought it was for a medical test.”
“You knew what Project Echo was?”
“No.”
“You gave him my blood.”
“I didn't know what he wanted.”
“Did you sign anything?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“A consent form.”
“You were seventeen.”
“I know.”
“And my mother?”
“She found out.”
“What happened?”
Vanessa covered her face.
“She never forgave me.”
I stared at her.
“That's why she disappeared?”
“No.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“She disappeared because the test results came back.”
“What did they show?”
Vanessa whispered:
“That you weren't genetically related to anyone in the Hale family.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“Nothing matched.”
Lucas stepped forward.
“That can't be true.”
Vanessa looked at him.
“That's what the report said.”
Michael's face went pale.
“Then who is she?”
Vanessa looked at me.
“That was the question Edward spent twenty-seven years trying to answer.”
The knocking stopped.
Completely.
Everyone froze.
Daniel whispered:
“Why did it stop?”
Michael stared at the floor.
“Because he heard the truth.”
Then we heard something else.
A key turning.
The hidden door beneath us unlocked.
A section of the floor moved.
A staircase descended into darkness.
Cold air rose from below.
I stared.
Daniel raised his weapon.
“Stay behind me.”
I stepped forward.
“No.”
“Emily—”
“If that man knows who I am, I'm going down.”
Lucas grabbed my wrist.
“Don't.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because your mother warned you.”
I pulled my hand away.
“My mother also spent twenty-seven years trying to reach me.”
I descended.
The staircase ended in a small room.
A man sat against the wall.
His hands were free.
His clothes were clean.
He had food.
Water.
Books.
He wasn't a prisoner.
He looked like someone who had chosen to live underground.
He raised his head.
And I saw his face.
He was older.
Perhaps in his sixties.
His eyes were dark.
His hair was silver.
But something about him felt familiar.
He looked at me.
And smiled.
“Claire's daughter.”
I froze.
“You know my mother.”
“Yes.”
“Who are you?”
He stood.
“My name is Adrian Marlowe.”
Michael gasped.
“No.”
Lucas stared.
“Adrian?”
The man smiled.
“You remember me.”
I looked at Lucas.
“Who is he?”
Lucas couldn't answer.
Michael whispered:
“He's the founder of the Marlowe Foundation.”
I stared at Adrian.
“The scientist?”
“Yes.”
“The man behind Project Echo?”
Adrian nodded.
“Yes.”
I stepped closer.
“Are you my father?”
He looked directly into my eyes.
“No.”
I exhaled.
Then he continued.
“But I knew your father.”
My heart raced.
“Who?”
Adrian's expression became serious.
“Your father was my greatest discovery.”
“What does that mean?”
“He wasn't born naturally.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
Adrian continued.
“Your father was created.”
Silence.
“Created?”
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
Adrian looked at the ceiling.
“By me.”
My body went cold.
“You're saying my father was…”
“An experiment.”
I couldn't breathe.
Adrian stepped closer.
“Project Echo wasn't created to study inherited traits.”
“Then what was it for?”
“To create a human being capable of carrying a genetic sequence that had disappeared from the world.”
“What sequence?”
Adrian looked at me.
“Your sequence.”
I stepped backward.
“No.”
He nodded.
“Your father carried it.”
“And I inherited it.”
“No.”
His eyes hardened.
“You didn't inherit it.”
He pointed toward the door.
“Your mother gave it to you.”
I stared.
“How?”
Adrian answered:
“She used the original genetic material to create you.”
My heart stopped.
I looked at Michael.
Then Lucas.
Then Vanessa.
No one spoke.
Adrian continued.
“You were not an accident.”
“You were not a natural child.”
“You were the final stage of Project Echo.”
I shook my head.
“My mother wouldn't do that.”
“She did.”
“Why?”
“Because your father was dying.”
I swallowed.
“Who was he?”
Adrian finally said the name.
“Elias Marlowe.”
The room went silent.
Marlowe.
The name that appeared on every old document.
The name my mother had never written.
The name beneath the entire empire.
Adrian looked at me.
“Your biological father was the original heir to the Marlowe bloodline.”
I couldn't speak.
Then he added:
“And he is still alive.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
Adrian looked toward the ceiling.
“Above us.”
I frowned.
“What?”
He smiled.
“The man you think is your enemy…”
He paused.
“…is the man who has been protecting you.”
The lights suddenly came on.
A figure stood at the top of the stairs.
Edward Hale.
But this time he wasn't smiling.
He looked terrified.
And behind him stood my mother.
Claire.
Alive.
She looked at me.
Tears filled her eyes.
“Emily.”
I couldn't move.
My mother slowly descended the stairs.
She reached the bottom.
Then stopped in front of me.
For twenty-seven years, I had dreamed of this moment.
I had imagined anger.
Questions.
An embrace.
Instead, the first thing she said was:
“I am sorry.”
I started crying.
She touched my face.
“You were never supposed to find out like this.”
I whispered:
“Who is my father?”
My mother closed her eyes.
Then looked toward Edward.
“Ask him.”
Edward shook his head.
“No.”
My mother stepped closer to me.
“He knows.”
Edward's face hardened.
“Claire.”
She ignored him.
Then whispered:
“Your father is the reason Edward has spent his entire life trying to destroy the Marlowe bloodline.”
I stared.
“Who?”
My mother looked directly into my eyes.
And finally said the name she had hidden from me for twenty-seven years.
“Your father is Elias Marlowe.”
The room went silent.
Then Edward spoke.
“That is impossible.”
My mother smiled sadly.
“No.”
She pointed toward Adrian.
“He is.”
I turned.
Adrian's expression had changed.
He looked toward the doorway.
A man was standing there.
Alive.
Older.
Scarred.
His eyes were fixed on me.
My mother whispered:
“Emily…”
May you like
The man stepped into the light.
“…meet your father.”
