CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 12
WHAT ANNA REALLY DID
The name on the final page burned into Ethan's mind.
ANNA.
He read it again.
Then again.
His hands began to shake.
"No."
There was no one in the hallway.
No mother.
No Celeste.
No Richard.
Only Ethan.
And the second ledger lying open on the floor.
ONE OF THEM IS STILL LYING.
ANNA.
He slowly crouched down.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
His father's.
Or at least—
it looked like his father's.
Ethan touched the page.
A memory exploded inside his head.
Anna.
Standing in the Carter house.
Holding the second ledger.
Crying.
"You don't understand, Ethan."
"You can't do this."
"I have to."
"Why?"
"Because if I don't, they'll kill Sophie."
Then another voice.
Celeste.
"Give me the book."
Anna shook her head.
"No."
Celeste raised a gun.
Anna didn't move.
"You'll never get it."
Celeste smiled.
"I already have."
The memory vanished.
Ethan gasped.
He was back on the floor.
He pressed both hands against his temples.
"Anna..."
A voice came from behind him.
"You finally remember her."
Ethan turned.
His mother stood at the end of the hallway.
Her face was wet with tears.
"Mom."
She walked toward him.
"Don't hate her."
Ethan stared.
"What did she do?"
His mother didn't answer.
"Tell me."
"She saved you."
"Everyone says that."
"Because it's true."
"Then why is her name on the final page?"
His mother looked at the ledger.
"Because Anna wasn't innocent."
Ethan felt his stomach tighten.
"What did she do?"
His mother sat down.
"You need to hear everything."
Twenty years earlier, Anna arrived in Lisbon under another name.
Lucia Moretti.
She was twenty-three.
Beautiful.
Intelligent.
And terrified.
Her father had been murdered.
Her brother had disappeared.
And she had discovered that both deaths were connected to the Carter family.
She wanted revenge.
Instead—
she found Ethan.
At first, she approached him because of his father.
She wanted information.
She wanted access.
She wanted the ledger.
But Ethan was different from the man she had imagined.
He hated his father's business.
He hated the corruption.
He hated the secrets.
And he wanted to destroy the network.
Anna saw an opportunity.
She helped him.
Together they found the first ledger.
But they also discovered something worse.
The second ledger.
It contained the names of people who weren't simply involved in the network.
They were trapped inside it.
Some had been blackmailed.
Some had been threatened.
Some had been forced to commit crimes.
And some had been forced to kill.
Ethan wanted to expose everything.
Anna wanted to destroy everything.
They argued.
For weeks.
Then months.
Finally, Ethan made a decision.
He would release the names.
Anna refused.
"People will die."
"People are already dying."
"Not everyone deserves to."
"Then let them defend themselves."
Anna shook her head.
"You don't understand."
"Then explain it."
"They'll come after Sophie."
Ethan froze.
"Sophie isn't even born."
"She will be."
Ethan stared at her.
"What?"
Anna touched her stomach.
"I'm pregnant."
That was the moment everything changed.
Years later, Sophie was born.
Anna became terrified.
Not of Ethan.
Not of the police.
Not of the network.
Of Celeste.
Celeste had discovered the pregnancy.
She knew Sophie was Ethan's child.
And she knew the child could become the one person capable of destroying the network.
Because Ethan had taught Sophie something when she was very young.
How to remember.
How to listen.
How to recognize voices.
How to notice details.
Anna began hiding messages around the house.
Photographs.
Numbers.
Names.
Passwords.
She taught Sophie to remember them.
Not because she wanted a spy.
Because she knew one day she might disappear.
And she did.
Ethan looked at his mother.
"You knew?"
She nodded.
"Anna told me."
"About Sophie?"
"About everything."
"Then why didn't you help her?"
"I tried."
"How?"
"I hid her."
"Where?"
"Lisbon."
Ethan frowned.
"She lived here?"
"For almost two years."
"And I didn't know?"
"Because you weren't supposed to."
Ethan stared.
"Why?"
"Because you were being watched."
"By Celeste?"
"By everyone."
His mother looked down.
"Anna believed someone inside your security team was feeding information to the network."
Ethan remembered.
Jonathan.
But his mother shook her head.
"Not Jonathan."
"Then who?"
She hesitated.
"Your driver."
Ethan froze.
"Thomas?"
"Yes."
"He died."
"Because Anna found out."
Ethan's stomach turned.
"How?"
"He tried to kill her."
"Did he?"
"No."
"Then who?"
His mother looked at him.
"Anna."
Ethan stopped.
"She killed him?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because he came after Sophie."
Ethan closed his eyes.
He remembered the newspaper.
Thomas Carter.
Dead in a car accident.
Except—
there had been no accident.
Anna had staged it.
She had made it look like a crash.
Ethan whispered:
"She killed him."
"To save Sophie."
"That's still murder."
"Yes."
Ethan looked at the ledger.
"And that's why her name is there."
His mother shook her head.
"No."
"Then why?"
"Because the ledger records everyone who broke the rules."
"What rules?"
"Your father's."
Ethan frowned.
"What rules?"
His mother answered:
"Never kill someone without permission."
Ethan stared.
"So Anna was marked."
"Yes."
"By whom?"
"Celeste."
Ethan's face hardened.
"She wanted Anna dead."
"Yes."
"And she finally succeeded."
"Not at first."
Ethan looked at her.
"What do you mean?"
His mother took a breath.
"Anna survived the crash."
"I know."
"She survived the hospital."
"I know."
"She survived the poison."
Ethan froze.
"What?"
His mother nodded.
"Celeste poisoned her."
"Anna survived."
"Yes."
"Then how did she die?"
His mother looked away.
"She didn't."
Ethan stopped breathing.
"What?"
"Anna is alive."
The world seemed to stop.
Ethan stared at his mother.
"No."
"Yes."
"You told me she died."
"I told you what you needed to believe."
Ethan's voice cracked.
"Where is she?"
"I don't know."
"Mom."
"I don't."
"You're lying."
"I swear."
"Then why did everyone say she was dead?"
"Because Anna wanted them to."
"Why?"
"To protect Sophie."
Ethan shook his head.
"That doesn't make sense."
"It will."
His mother stood.
"Anna discovered that someone had infiltrated the network."
"Who?"
"Someone with access to every account."
"Celeste?"
"No."
"Richard?"
"No."
"Jonathan?"
"No."
"Then who?"
His mother looked at him.
"You."
Ethan stared.
"What?"
"You."
"No."
"You had access."
"I was fighting them."
"You were."
"Then why?"
"Because someone was using your identity."
Ethan's face changed.
"Someone pretending to be me."
His mother nodded.
"That's why you have memories of things you never did."
"The other Ethan."
"Yes."
Ethan thought of the phone call.
My name is Ethan Carter.
"But who is he?"
His mother didn't answer.
"He was created."
"Created?"
"Not literally."
"Then?"
"An identity."
"Someone who looked like me."
"Someone who had your fingerprints."
"Your passwords."
"Your voice."
Ethan stared.
"How?"
His mother whispered:
"Your twin."
Ethan's breathing stopped.
"You said I had a twin."
"I did."
"Then you said he was dead."
"He was."
"Then who is alive?"
His mother closed her eyes.
"The man on the phone."
Ethan's blood ran cold.
"Who is he?"
She whispered:
"Gabriel."
Ethan stared.
"Celeste's brother?"
"No."
"Then who?"
His mother looked directly at him.
"Your father's illegitimate son."
Silence.
Ethan couldn't speak.
"My brother..."
"Half-brother."
"Gabriel Carter."
His mother nodded.
"He was born in Lisbon."
"Why does he look like me?"
"Because your father had him genetically altered."
Ethan stared.
"That's impossible."
"Not altered."
She corrected herself.
"Trained."
"He was raised to imitate you."
"Why?"
"Because your father always needed a replacement."
Ethan's stomach turned.
"Replacement for what?"
His mother whispered:
"For the day Ethan Carter had to disappear."
Ethan suddenly remembered.
A laboratory.
A mirror.
Another boy.
Same face.
Same eyes.
He was standing across from Ethan.
They were teenagers.
His father watched them.
"Again."
The other boy repeated Ethan's signature.
Perfectly.
His father smiled.
"Good."
Ethan remembered screaming.
"He's not me!"
His father slapped him.
"One day, he will be."
The memory vanished.
Ethan staggered backward.
"My father created him."
"Yes."
"Celeste used him."
"Yes."
"Anna knew."
"Yes."
"Why didn't she tell me?"
"Because she couldn't."
"Why?"
His mother looked at the second ledger.
"Because Anna made a deal."
"What deal?"
"She agreed to disappear."
"In exchange for what?"
"Sophie's life."
Ethan's face hardened.
"With Celeste?"
"No."
"Then who?"
His mother whispered:
"With Gabriel."
Ethan stared at her.
"Gabriel had Sophie?"
"Not exactly."
"Then what?"
"Gabriel knew where Celeste kept the children."
Ethan froze.
"Children?"
His mother nodded.
"Children?"
"The network used children."
"For what?"
"Identities."
Ethan's expression darkened.
"Explain."
"They took children who had no families."
"They gave them new names."
"New documents."
"New histories."
"They trained them."
"For what?"
"To replace people."
Ethan remembered the phone.
The voice.
His face.
His name.
"My father created people like me."
"Yes."
"And Gabriel was one of them."
"No."
His mother shook her head.
"Gabriel was the first."
Ethan stared.
"Then what was I?"
"His template."
Silence.
Ethan felt sick.
"Anna discovered this."
"Yes."
"That's why she went after the ledger."
"Yes."
"And that's why Celeste wanted her dead."
"Yes."
Ethan looked at the photograph from the camera.
Anna.
Celeste.
Jonathan.
The syringe.
Everything suddenly made sense.
But one question remained.
"Why did Anna leave the camera?"
His mother looked at him.
"Because she knew you would eventually remember."
"And if I remembered?"
"Then you would find her."
"Where?"
His mother reached into her coat.
She removed a small envelope.
Ethan recognized it.
Anna's handwriting.
He opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
A woman standing beside the ocean.
Older.
But unmistakable.
Anna.
Alive.
On the back were six words.
COME TO THE LIGHTHOUSE. ALONE.
Ethan stared.
"Where is this?"
His mother pointed toward the window.
"Outside Lisbon."
"How long has she been there?"
"Three years."
Ethan's heart pounded.
"Three years?"
"Waiting."
"For me?"
"For you."
Ethan looked at the clock.
6:10 A.M.
"Then I'm going."
His mother grabbed his arm.
"No."
He turned.
"Why?"
"Because Anna isn't alone."
"Who is with her?"
His mother whispered:
"Gabriel."
Ethan froze.
The phone rang.
He answered.
A man's voice spoke.
"Hello, brother."
Ethan closed his eyes.
"Gabriel."
"Finally."
"Where is Anna?"
A pause.
"Safe."
"Where?"
"Come to the lighthouse."
"Why?"
"Because she wants to see you."
"Is Sophie safe?"
"Yes."
"Celeste?"
"She is coming too."
Ethan's blood ran cold.
"Why?"
"Because tonight, everything ends."
The call ended.
Ethan looked at his mother.
"She knew this would happen."
His mother nodded.
"Anna planned it."
"She planned the entire thing?"
"Yes."
"Even my memory loss?"
"No."
Ethan frowned.
"Then who erased my memory?"
His mother looked toward the doorway.
Jonathan stood there.
Blood covered his shirt.
He was holding a gun.
Ethan raised his weapon.
Jonathan spoke quietly.
"I did."
Ethan froze.
"Why?"
Jonathan looked at him.
"Because Anna asked me to."
Ethan's eyes widened.
"She asked you to erase my memory?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Jonathan's face crumpled.
"Because you were about to kill Sophie."
Ethan stopped breathing.
"No."
"You had found out she wasn't your biological daughter."
"She is my daughter."
"Yes."
"But you believed otherwise."
Ethan's hands trembled.
"What was I going to do?"
Jonathan whispered:
"You were going to hand her to the network."
Ethan stared.
"Why?"
"Because they convinced you she was dangerous."
"Who convinced me?"
Jonathan looked toward the window.
"Anna."
Ethan froze.
"What?"
Jonathan nodded.
"Anna was the one who betrayed you."
The room became silent.
Jonathan lowered the gun.
"She wasn't protecting Sophie from Celeste."
"She was protecting Sophie from you."
Ethan couldn't breathe.
Jonathan walked toward the door.
"That's what she really did."
He stopped.
"And when you meet Anna at the lighthouse..."
He looked back.
"Ask her why she tried to kill her own daughter."
The door closed.
Ethan stood motionless.
Anna was alive.
Celeste was coming.
Gabriel was waiting.
May you like
And the woman he had spent years believing was his greatest protector—
might have been the person who betrayed him first.
