Chapter 7 — Luka’s First Betrayal
Chapter 7 — Luka’s First Betrayal
I didn't sleep.
Neither did Luka.
For most of the night, we sat on opposite sides of the room while Hope slept between us.
I couldn't stop looking at him.
My son.
The word still felt impossible.
Luka Moretti.
The tattooed stranger who had signed the father line on my daughter's birth certificate.
The man who had saved me.
The man I had trusted.
My son.
Twenty-six years old.
Older than the child I remembered being told had never existed.
I kept searching his face for something familiar.
A smile.
A gesture.
A look.
Anything.
And then I saw it.
When Hope stirred, Luka reached for her exactly the way I did.
One hand beneath her head.
One hand beneath her back.
Gentle.
Protective.
Automatic.
I remembered my father doing the same thing with me.
My throat tightened.
"You knew."
Luka looked at me.
"About what?"
"That you were my son."
His silence was enough.
"How long?"
He looked down.
"Since I was nineteen."
I stared at him.
"Seven years."
"Yes."
"You knew for seven years."
"Yes."
"And you watched me."
"Yes."
"Why?"
He swallowed.
"Because I wanted to know what you looked like when you weren't afraid."
I didn't understand.
"What?"
"Your father kept photographs of you."
He looked at me.
"But none of them showed the real you."
"How would you know?"
"Because I remembered."
My heart stopped.
"You remember me?"
"Pieces."
"What pieces?"
He hesitated.
"Your voice."
I waited.
"The smell of your hair."
My eyes filled.
"How?"
"You sang."
I covered my mouth.
"You used to sing to me."
I couldn't speak.
"What song?"
He smiled faintly.
"You don't remember."
"Tell me."
"An old lullaby."
"What was it?"
He hummed three notes.
I froze.
I knew them.
My mother used to sing the same melody.
I had thought it was something I'd invented.
I began crying.
"You were real."
Luka's eyes filled with tears.
"Yes."
At dawn, Gabriel came for us.
He didn't knock.
He simply entered.
Two guards followed.
"Breakfast."
I looked at him.
"Where's my mother?"
"With Selene."
"Where's my sister?"
"Safe."
"And Ethan?"
Gabriel smiled.
"Still alive."
"Victoria?"
"Also alive."
I hated the casual way he said it.
As though lives were inventory.
"You said you'd tell me about the missing years."
"I will."
"Now."
He sat.
"Your father stole you from yourself."
I stared.
"Explain."
"When you were eighteen, you discovered M-17."
"No."
"You discovered the laboratory."
"I was eighteen."
"Yes."
"What did I see?"
"Everything."
He leaned back.
"You found the records. The experiments. The children."
I looked at Luka.
"Was he one of them?"
"Yes."
"Did I know?"
"Yes."
I felt dizzy.
"Then why don't I remember?"
"Because your father erased the memories."
"How?"
"Drugs. Hypnosis. Trauma conditioning."
I stared at him.
"You're telling me my father erased my memories."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Gabriel's expression became cold.
"Because you threatened to expose him."
I shook my head.
"My father was trying to stop M-17."
"Eventually."
"Eventually?"
"He started it."
"No."
Gabriel smiled.
"Ask yourself why the first M-17 laboratory was built in your father's house."
I couldn't answer.
Because I'd seen it.
The hidden basement.
The equipment.
The files.
He had been involved.
But maybe not willingly.
"Your father created the program," Gabriel continued.
"He discovered the genetic sequence in your mother."
"Then what did you do?"
"I funded it."
"Why?"
"Because I wanted to cure disease."
I laughed.
"You wanted power."
"Both."
He looked at Luka.
"Your father wanted to stop."
"Why?"
"Because you were his daughter."
He looked at me.
"And Luka was his grandson."
My heart tightened.
"He changed his mind when he realized what M-17 could do."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning he decided to protect his family instead of humanity."
I shook my head.
"That's not evil."
"No."
Gabriel smiled.
"That's what makes it dangerous."
He took us downstairs.
The laboratory was enormous.
Much larger than the hidden room in my father's house.
Rows of computers.
Medical equipment.
Refrigerated storage.
Photographs.
Names.
Numbers.
Children.
I stopped walking.
"How many?"
Gabriel didn't answer.
"How many children?"
"Forty-three."
My stomach turned.
"Forty-three?"
"Only eleven survived."
I stared at him.
"And Luka?"
"One of them."
Luka's hands curled into fists.
Gabriel looked at him.
"Subject Zero."
Luka shook his head.
"No."
"You know it's true."
"No."
"You've spent years believing the lie your father gave you."
Luka looked at me.
"Tell her."
Gabriel smiled.
"Tell her what?"
Luka's voice was quiet.
"I wasn't created from Elena."
Gabriel nodded.
"Correct."
"Then what was I created from?"
Gabriel looked at me.
"Your mother."
I felt a chill.
"Then why did you tell me he was my son?"
Gabriel looked almost amused.
"Because he is."
I stared.
"How?"
"Because your father used your mother's genetic material to create him."
I looked at Luka.
He looked confused.
Gabriel continued.
"But he also used your DNA."
"What?"
"Your cells were added later."
"Why?"
"To stabilize the sequence."
Luka's face hardened.
"So I'm genetically related to her."
"Yes."
"But she's still my mother."
"Biologically."
I looked at him.
Everything had become impossible.
"Then why did my father erase my memory?"
Gabriel's expression changed.
"Because you remembered what happened."
"What?"
"You tried to kill him."
The room went silent.
I stared.
"I would never."
"You did."
"Why?"
"Because he was going to take Luka."
I looked at Luka.
"Take him where?"
"To the final phase."
"What final phase?"
Gabriel smiled.
"The womb."
I froze.
"The womb?"
"Your father wanted to see whether an M-17 subject could reproduce naturally."
My blood went cold.
"You mean..."
"Yes."
Gabriel looked at Hope.
"That's why your daughter matters."
Luka stepped forward.
"You used her mother."
"No."
Gabriel shook his head.
"Your father did."
I suddenly remembered something.
A smell.
Antiseptic.
A white room.
A baby crying.
My father's voice.
"Don't let her see him."
I grabbed my head.
Pain exploded behind my eyes.
Luka caught me.
"Elena."
"I remember."
"What?"
"The hospital."
Gabriel watched me carefully.
I saw it.
A younger me.
Eighteen years old.
Bleeding.
Crying.
Holding a baby.
Luka.
Someone was taking him.
My father stood there.
He said:
"She'll forget."
I screamed.
"Don't take my son!"
Then a needle.
A bright light.
Nothing.
I collapsed against Luka.
He held me.
"I'm sorry."
I cried.
"My father took you."
"Yes."
"Why didn't you come back?"
"I tried."
"How?"
"At nineteen."
He looked at me.
"I found you."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you didn't recognize me."
My heart broke.
"You were there?"
"Across the street."
"Why?"
"Your father threatened to kill you."
I closed my eyes.
"Then what did you do?"
"I disappeared."
"Why did you become Luka Moretti?"
He looked at Gabriel.
"Because Gabriel found me first."
The laboratory alarms suddenly sounded.
Red lights flashed.
Gabriel turned.
"What happened?"
One of the guards ran in.
"Security breach."
"Where?"
"The west wing."
Gabriel's face changed.
"Who?"
The guard hesitated.
"Mrs. Carter."
My mother.
Gabriel ran.
Luka grabbed my hand.
"We're going."
We followed.
When we reached the west wing, the room was empty.
The guards were unconscious.
The door stood open.
My mother was gone.
So was Selene.
And so was my sister.
I turned toward Gabriel.
"Where are they?"
He looked genuinely shocked.
"I don't know."
For the first time, Gabriel looked afraid.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
A woman's voice came through.
Selene.
"You should have listened."
Gabriel's face went pale.
"Where are you?"
"Somewhere you can't reach."
"What do you want?"
"Her."
Silence.
Selene continued:
"Give me Elena."
I stepped backward.
Gabriel looked at me.
"No."
Selene laughed.
"You still don't understand."
"Understand what?"
"Your daughter isn't the prize."
My blood ran cold.
"Then what is?"
Selene's voice softened.
"Luka."
The call ended.
Luka stared at Gabriel.
"What does she want with me?"
Gabriel didn't answer.
I stepped between them.
"What did you do to my son?"
Gabriel looked at me.
And for the first time, I saw something like guilt in his eyes.
"Nothing."
"You're lying."
He shook his head.
"I didn't create Luka."
"Then who did?"
Gabriel's voice dropped.
"Your father."
I stared.
"What?"
"Charles created the final subject."
He looked toward the empty corridor.
"And he never told me."
"Why?"
"Because he knew what Luka was capable of."
I looked at Luka.
"What are you capable of?"
Gabriel didn't answer.
Luka did.
"Nothing."
But his face said otherwise.
Then the lights went out.
A gunshot echoed through the laboratory.
Gabriel fell.
I screamed.
Luka pushed me behind him.
Another shot.
Silence.
Then a woman's voice came from the darkness.
"Hello, Elena."
I knew it.
Selene.
She stepped into the emergency light.
She held a gun.
And beside her stood my mother.
My sister was nowhere to be seen.
Selene looked at Luka.
Then smiled.
"You want to know why your father hid you?"
She raised the gun.
"Because you were never meant to survive."
Luka stared at her.
"Who am I?"
Selene's expression became almost gentle.
"You're the only successful human experiment your father ever completed."
I held my breath.
She lowered the weapon.
"And that's why everyone is terrified of you."
She looked at me.
"Especially your daughter."
My heart stopped.
"What did you do to Hope?"
Selene smiled.
"Nothing."
Then she whispered:
"Not yet."
And behind her, a door slammed shut.
The last thing I heard was my mother's scream.
May you like
"Run, Elena!"
Then the laboratory exploded into darkness.
