Chapter 12 — Daniel’s Greatest Lie
Chapter 12 — Daniel’s Greatest Lie
The woman in the locked room looked at me as if she had been waiting years for this exact moment.
Not minutes.
Not days.
Years.
Her face was older than my mother's, but the resemblance was unmistakable.
The same dark eyes.
The same narrow jaw.
The same small scar beneath the chin.
My face.
My mother's face.
Only older.
Much older.
I couldn't speak.
Behind me, my mother was crying.
My father stood completely still.
Luka had lowered his weapon.
Even Mercer looked as though he had forgotten how to breathe.
The woman smiled.
“Hannah.”
I stepped closer.
“Who are you?”
She looked at my mother.
Then at my father.
Then back at me.
“Your grandmother.”
My heart stopped.
I stared at my mother.
She nodded once.
“My mother.”
The woman smiled again.
“Your mother's mother.”
I swallowed.
“You're supposed to be dead.”
“I was.”
“For how long?”
“Twenty-nine years.”
“Then how are you here?”
She glanced at the machines surrounding her.
“Because M-17 never allowed me to die.”
The room was painfully cold.
Machines hummed beside the bed.
An intravenous line ran into her arm.
A thin oxygen tube rested beneath her nose.
She looked fragile.
But her eyes were sharp.
Too sharp.
“What is your name?”
She smiled.
“Eleanor.”
I froze.
That name was familiar.
It had appeared in the oldest files.
ELEANOR REED — SUBJECT ZERO.
I looked at my father.
“You knew.”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
“You knew she was alive.”
“Yes.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
My voice shook.
“How many times?”
His eyes filled with tears.
“Too many.”
I turned toward Eleanor.
“Why did everyone think you died?”
She answered quietly.
“Because my death was necessary.”
“For what?”
“To create you.”
I stared.
“What?”
She looked at me.
“Your mother couldn't have a child.”
My mother closed her eyes.
“That's not true.”
“It is.”
“Mom—”
Eleanor continued.
“Your mother had been sterilized by M-17.”
My stomach turned.
“Why?”
“Because they didn't want another uncontrolled bloodline.”
My mother whispered:
“They told me I was infertile.”
“You were lied to.”
“Then how did I have Hannah?”
Eleanor looked at me.
“Because I gave you my cells.”
Silence.
I felt cold.
“My cells?”
“Your genetic material was derived from mine.”
I shook my head.
“So I'm not…”
“You are your mother's daughter.”
She smiled.
“But you also carry my original sequence.”
I understood.
M-17 wasn't merely a criminal organization.
It was a bloodline experiment.
And I had been created from the first subject.
A sharp beep came from the monitor.
Eleanor's heart rate increased.
My father stepped forward.
“She needs rest.”
“No.”
Eleanor grabbed his wrist.
“You owe her the truth.”
He froze.
“I know.”
“Then tell her.”
My father looked at me.
I could barely stand.
“What truth?”
He hesitated.
“Daniel.”
My heart stopped.
“What about Daniel?”
My father looked away.
“He was never your protector.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“What are you talking about?”
My mother stepped forward.
“James.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“She deserves to know.”
I looked at him.
“Know what?”
He finally met my eyes.
“Daniel was assigned to you.”
“Assigned?”
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
“M-17.”
I laughed.
It came out broken.
“No.”
“He was supposed to monitor you.”
“That's impossible.”
“He was there when you were sixteen.”
I remembered.
Daniel.
Always nearby.
Always watching.
Always appearing whenever something went wrong.
I had believed it was coincidence.
It wasn't.
“He knew about Emma.”
“Yes.”
“He knew about Amelia.”
“Yes.”
“He knew about the archive.”
“Yes.”
“He knew about my memories.”
“Yes.”
My voice dropped.
“What else did he know?”
My father said nothing.
I whispered:
“What else?”
“He knew who took Emma.”
My heart stopped.
I turned toward the door.
“Where is Daniel?”
Nobody answered.
“Where is Daniel?”
Luka looked toward the corridor.
“He disappeared.”
“When?”
“During the broadcast.”
I felt something inside me break.
“Find him.”
Luka nodded.
“I will.”
We found Daniel's phone in the hallway.
No Daniel.
No blood.
No struggle.
Just his phone.
The screen was still lit.
One message remained open.
From an unknown number.
THEY KNOW ABOUT THE SECOND CHILD.
I stared at it.
My hands went cold.
“What second child?”
Luka looked at me.
“Hannah…”
“What second child?”
He didn't answer.
I turned toward my father.
He looked devastated.
“Dad.”
He closed his eyes.
“There was another pregnancy.”
My heart stopped.
“When?”
“Sixteen years ago.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“You were pregnant twice.”
I stared.
“That's impossible.”
“You lost the first child.”
I felt dizzy.
“No.”
My mother stepped forward.
“You were sixteen.”
“I remember being sick.”
“Yes.”
“I remember the hospital.”
“Yes.”
“I remember waking up alone.”
“Yes.”
“But I only remember one baby.”
My father nodded.
“That was the problem.”
“What problem?”
“The first baby survived.”
Silence.
I couldn't breathe.
“Where?”
My father looked at the locked room.
Eleanor spoke.
“Not here.”
“Where is my first child?”
Nobody answered.
I screamed:
“WHERE?”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“Daniel knows.”
The lie suddenly made sense.
Every disappearance.
Every missing record.
Every time Daniel had appeared before I knew there was danger.
He wasn't protecting me.
He was protecting the secret.
My first child.
My child I had never known existed.
A child M-17 had hidden for sixteen years.
A child whose existence could destroy everything.
I looked at Luka.
“We find Daniel.”
He nodded.
“And when we do…”
I looked toward the door.
“…he tells me everything.”
We traced Daniel's phone to an abandoned medical center twenty miles outside the city.
The building had been closed for years.
No electricity.
No staff.
No patients.
But the basement had power.
And security.
Luka entered first.
Mercer followed.
I stayed between them.
The corridor smelled like disinfectant.
The same smell as M-17.
My heart began racing.
“I've been here.”
Luka turned.
“When?”
“I don't know.”
“You remember it?”
“No.”
My hand touched the wall.
A flash hit me.
A teenage girl.
A hospital bed.
A newborn crying.
Daniel standing beside her.
I gasped.
“Daniel was here.”
Luka grabbed my shoulder.
“What did you see?”
“A baby.”
“Whose?”
“Mine.”
We reached the final room.
The door was locked.
A keypad waited beside it.
Luka looked at me.
“Can you open it?”
“I don't know.”
I placed my hand against the panel.
The lock immediately opened.
Inside was Daniel.
He sat in a chair.
His hands were tied.
Blood ran from his forehead.
A man stood behind him.
I recognized him.
Victor Hale.
The man who had been financing M-17.
Daniel looked at me.
“Hannah…”
Victor smiled.
“You finally came.”
I stepped forward.
“Where is my child?”
Victor laughed.
“You mean your first child?”
“Yes.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Victor looked at him.
“Tell her.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Don't.”
Victor pulled a gun.
“Tell her.”
Daniel whispered:
“She's alive.”
My knees almost gave out.
“Where?”
Daniel looked at me.
“She grew up believing you were dead.”
My heart shattered.
“Who has her?”
Daniel swallowed.
“I do.”
I froze.
“What?”
Victor smiled.
“Daniel has been raising your daughter for sixteen years.”
I couldn't breathe.
“No.”
Daniel started crying.
“I didn't have a choice.”
I walked toward him.
“You always say that.”
“I was ordered.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me grieve.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me believe my child was dead.”
“Yes.”
“And you raised her.”
“Yes.”
I slapped him.
He didn't move.
“Where is she?”
Daniel whispered:
“Upstairs.”
I ran.
The second floor was dark.
Doors lined both sides.
I opened the first.
Empty.
Second.
Empty.
Third.
Nothing.
Then I heard music.
A piano.
A child's fingers playing something simple.
I followed the sound.
The final door was slightly open.
I pushed it.
A teenage girl sat at the piano.
Sixteen years old.
Dark hair.
Green eyes.
She stopped playing.
Slowly turned.
I couldn't breathe.
She looked at me.
Then at Luka.
Then back at me.
“Who are you?”
My lips trembled.
I couldn't answer.
She frowned.
“Why are you crying?”
I took one step forward.
“My name is Hannah.”
Her expression changed.
“I know.”
I froze.
“What?”
She stood.
“Daniel told me about you.”
My heart shattered.
“What did he tell you?”
“That my mother died when I was born.”
I began crying.
“I didn't die.”
She stared at me.
“You're my mother?”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
She stepped backward.
“No.”
“I am.”
“No.”
“Your name…”
She whispered it.
“Lily.”
My knees weakened.
“Lily.”
She stared at me.
Then suddenly she ran.
Not away.
Toward me.
She crashed into my arms.
I held her.
Sixteen years.
Sixteen years I had never known existed.
She cried against my shoulder.
“I thought you were dead.”
“So did I.”
“I wanted to meet you.”
“I wanted to find you.”
“Why didn't you?”
“Because they lied to both of us.”
She pulled away.
“Daniel lied?”
“Yes.”
She looked toward the hallway.
“I hate him.”
I shook my head.
“He was protecting you.”
“He stole you from me.”
I looked at her.
“He stole sixteen years from both of us.”
Daniel eventually came upstairs.
Lily refused to look at him.
He stopped several feet away.
“Hannah.”
I turned.
“You have one chance.”
He nodded.
“Ask.”
“Why?”
He looked at Lily.
“Because I loved her.”
“That doesn't explain anything.”
“Your father ordered me to take her.”
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because M-17 wanted to use her.”
“For what?”
“Her bloodline.”
I felt sick.
“She carried the original sequence.”
“Yes.”
“Like me.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't they take her?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Because I stole her.”
Silence.
“I took her before M-17 could get her.”
“You kidnapped my daughter.”
“I saved her.”
“You lied to me.”
“I had to.”
“You could have told me.”
“They would have killed you.”
“Who?”
“Everyone connected to the program.”
I stared at him.
“Why didn't you tell me after?”
Daniel's eyes filled with tears.
“Because by then, I had become her father.”
Lily looked away.
“You didn't have to lie forever.”
Daniel whispered:
“I know.”
Victor suddenly appeared at the doorway.
“You've wasted enough time.”
Luka raised his weapon.
Victor smiled.
“You think this ends here?”
He pointed toward Lily.
“She is the bloodline.”
I stepped in front of her.
“No.”
“She carries the original Moretti sequence.”
“She carries my blood.”
“Yes.”
“And that makes her mine.”
Victor laughed.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“That makes her valuable.”
I felt something inside me snap.
“She isn't property.”
“No.”
Victor smiled.
“She is leverage.”
He pulled out his phone.
A video appeared.
My mother.
Bound.
My father.
Bound.
Eleanor.
Bound.
And Amelia.
Held by someone in a black mask.
My heart stopped.
Victor whispered:
“You have ten minutes.”
“To do what?”
“Give me the archive.”
I stared.
“You mean the baby.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“I mean the original memory.”
My blood ran cold.
“You want me.”
“Yes.”
“And if I refuse?”
He looked at Lily.
Then Amelia.
“Two daughters die.”
Silence.
Lily grabbed my hand.
“Mom.”
I squeezed it.
“Don't be afraid.”
Victor smiled.
“You should be.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
I picked up the phone.
“Because you've made one mistake.”
“What?”
“You think I'm still the girl you controlled.”
Victor frowned.
I smiled.
“I remember everything now.”
I turned toward Daniel.
“Do you?”
He nodded.
“Then help me.”
Victor raised his weapon.
Daniel moved first.
He tackled Victor.
Luka fired.
The room exploded into chaos.
I grabbed Lily's hand.
“Run.”
“Where?”
“Home.”
We made it outside.
Police vehicles were already arriving.
The broadcast had done its work.
M-17 was collapsing.
But my phone vibrated.
One message.
From the locked room.
THE ORIGINAL BLOODLINE HAS BEEN LOCATED.
Another message appeared.
SUBJECT ZERO IS NOT ELEANOR.
I stopped walking.
Lily looked at me.
“What?”
I stared at the screen.
The final message appeared.
SUBJECT ZERO IS LUKA MORETTI.
I looked at Luka.
He had stopped too.
His face had gone completely white.
“What does that mean?”
He looked at me.
“I don't know.”
But Eleanor's voice came through the phone.
She had sent one final message.
Ask Luka what happened the night your father found him.
I looked at Luka.
He couldn't meet my eyes.
“Luka?”
Silence.
“Tell me.”
He swallowed.
Then finally whispered:
“I was there.”
“Where?”
“The night your father took you.”
My heart stopped.
“You knew me?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
He looked at Lily.
Then at me.
“I was the first child M-17 ever tried to save.”
I stared.
He continued:
“And the first child they ever tried to kill.”
I couldn't speak.
Then he said the words that changed everything.
“Your father didn't find me.”
“He created me.”
And suddenly the Moretti bloodline wasn't a family history.
May you like
It was the beginning of M-17.
And Daniel's greatest lie had only opened the door to the truth that would destroy all of us.
