CHAPTER 7 — THE SECRET INSIDE BEACON CREST
CHAPTER 7 — THE SECRET INSIDE BEACON CREST
I stared at the last sentence until the words blurred.
THE TWINS ARE THE INHERITANCE.
For nine months, I had thought I was carrying two babies.
My children.
My Noah and Elise.
Now, standing inside a hidden room owned by the husband who had tried to destroy me, I was being told that everyone around me had been hunting them before they had even taken their first breath.
I looked at Margaret.
“What did you do to my children?”
Her expression barely changed.
“Nothing.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I haven't touched them.”
“Yet.”
She smiled faintly.
“You're learning.”
Vanessa stepped between us.
“Where is Grant?”
Margaret's eyes moved toward her.
“You still care about him?”
“I care about getting out of here alive.”
“You should have thought about that before betraying us.”
I grabbed Vanessa's arm.
“What does she mean?”
Vanessa looked at me.
“I don't know.”
Margaret laughed softly.
“Of course you don't.”
She walked toward the desk.
“Grant was never important.”
“He was my husband.”
“He was a tool.”
The words hit me harder than I expected.
A tool.
Three years of marriage.
Three years of lies.
Three years of believing that the man sleeping beside me loved me.
And to Margaret, he had simply been a disposable instrument.
“Then why did he marry me?”
“Because he was ambitious.”
“Why did you choose him?”
“Because ambitious men are easy to control.”
I felt my hands tighten.
“And Vanessa?”
“Another tool.”
Vanessa's face hardened.
“You promised my family protection.”
Margaret looked at her.
“And your family received it.”
“You killed my father.”
“I removed a liability.”
Vanessa went silent.
I stared at Margaret.
“You destroyed everyone who got too close.”
“No.”
She smiled.
“I simply made sure they stopped interfering.”
My phone vibrated.
One message.
From the hospital.
NICU SECURITY BREACH.
My blood turned cold.
I called immediately.
A nurse answered.
“Emma?”
“What happened?”
“We had an attempted entry into the neonatal unit.”
“Are my children safe?”
“Yes.”
“Where are they?”
“Still inside the protected chamber.”
I exhaled.
Then she added:
“But there's something you need to know.”
“What?”
“Your grandfather ordered the twins transferred.”
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
“Where?”
Silence.
“Where?”
“To a restricted research facility.”
My heart stopped.
“Which facility?”
The nurse whispered:
“Beacon Crest Underground.”
I looked at Margaret.
She smiled.
She knew.
“You've been keeping something under the hospital.”
Margaret didn't answer.
I turned toward Vanessa.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“Don't lie to me.”
“I didn't know.”
Margaret walked toward the door.
“Now you understand why the hospital matters.”
I followed her.
“You're taking me there.”
“No.”
“Then I'll find my own way.”
She stopped.
“You won't need to.”
The doors opened.
Two men entered.
One carried a phone.
He handed it to Margaret.
She pressed play.
My grandfather appeared on the screen.
His face was bruised.
He sat in a chair.
A man stood behind him.
My father.
Daniel.
I stopped breathing.
Daniel looked directly into the camera.
“Emma.”
I couldn't move.
“If you want your grandfather alive…”
He paused.
“…come to Beacon Crest.”
The video ended.
Margaret smiled.
“Now you understand.”
We were taken to Beacon Crest before noon.
The hospital looked exactly as it always had.
Patients entering.
Families waiting.
Doctors walking through corridors.
Nobody looking twice at us.
But beneath the polished surface was another hospital.
One nobody knew existed.
Margaret led us through a private elevator.
The doors closed.
The elevator descended.
Ten floors.
Twenty.
Thirty.
The number display disappeared.
We kept going.
Finally, the doors opened.
The corridor beyond was white.
Too white.
No windows.
No signs.
No clocks.
I felt a chill.
“This is Beacon Crest?”
Margaret nodded.
“Below it.”
We passed several security doors.
Each required a different identification method.
Fingerprint.
Retinal scan.
Voice recognition.
DNA.
At the final door, Margaret placed her hand against a scanner.
A voice spoke.
“Welcome, Director Vance.”
The door opened.
I stepped inside.
And stopped.
There were dozens of glass rooms.
Medical equipment.
Computer systems.
Cryogenic chambers.
Research stations.
People in white coats moving silently behind glass.
And at the center stood two incubators.
Noah.
Elise.
My knees nearly gave out.
“Why are my children here?”
Margaret looked at them.
“Because they're the first successful carriers.”
“Carriers of what?”
She didn't answer.
A doctor approached.
He was perhaps sixty.
His expression was nervous.
“Mrs. Whitmore.”
I looked at him.
“You know me?”
“Everyone here knows you.”
“What are you doing to my children?”
“Nothing harmful.”
“That wasn't my question.”
He looked at Margaret.
She nodded.
He finally answered.
“They possess a genetic sequence that was thought to have disappeared.”
“What sequence?”
“The Vance marker.”
I frowned.
“What does it do?”
He hesitated.
“It allows the body to metabolize certain compounds without toxicity.”
“So they're resistant to poison.”
“Among other things.”
I looked at my babies.
“Why does that matter?”
The doctor lowered his voice.
“Because the same mechanism can be used to make medicines that currently don't exist.”
That wasn't what Margaret wanted.
I could see it.
“So why are they valuable to you?”
Margaret answered.
“Because whoever controls the research controls the future of medicine.”
I stared at her.
“You want to own my children's DNA.”
“No.”
She smiled.
“I want to own what their DNA can create.”
My grandfather was brought into the room.
His hands were bound.
I ran toward him.
“Grandfather!”
He shook his head.
“Don't come closer.”
“Are you hurt?”
“I'll survive.”
I looked at Daniel.
He stood behind him.
My father.
The man I had spent my entire life believing was dead.
“You.”
Daniel stared at me.
His expression was strangely gentle.
“I know this is difficult.”
“You kidnapped my grandfather.”
“I rescued him.”
“You threatened my children.”
“I protected them.”
“You destroyed my mother.”
His face changed.
“I never killed your mother.”
“Then where is she?”
He looked away.
“She's alive.”
The room went silent.
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“I haven't seen her in twenty-seven years.”
“Why did she disappear?”
“Because Margaret found her.”
I turned toward my grandmother.
Margaret didn't react.
Daniel continued.
“She knew what Margaret intended to do with the research.”
“What?”
“Create a private genetic monopoly.”
My grandfather spoke.
“She wanted to control every hospital.”
Margaret laughed.
“Control?”
She looked around.
“I built this network.”
“You stole it.”
“I improved it.”
“You murdered people.”
“I made sacrifices.”
I stared at her.
“How many?”
She smiled.
“Enough.”
Suddenly, an alarm sounded.
The lights turned red.
A voice announced:
“Unauthorized access detected.”
Margaret's expression changed.
“What happened?”
A security officer ran toward her.
“Someone breached the east wing.”
“Who?”
“We don't know.”
Then the screens went black.
A face appeared.
Grant.
My husband.
He looked exhausted.
Blood covered his shirt.
“Emma.”
I stepped toward the screen.
“Where are you?”
“Above you.”
“What?”
“I found the entrance.”
Margaret shouted:
“Cut the signal!”
The screen remained active.
Grant continued.
“I was wrong about everything.”
I stared at him.
“You're alive.”
“Barely.”
“Where's Vanessa?”
“Safe.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“You shouldn't.”
He took a breath.
“But listen.”
His voice dropped.
“Your grandmother isn't the real threat.”
I looked at Margaret.
She smiled.
“Then who is?”
Grant looked directly into the camera.
“Daniel.”
My father stepped forward.
Grant continued.
“He's been using Margaret.”
Daniel's expression became cold.
“Grant.”
“I know what you did.”
“What did he do?”
Grant swallowed.
“He created the entire plan.”
I looked at Daniel.
“You created my marriage?”
Daniel said nothing.
“Answer me.”
“Yes.”
My heart shattered.
“You sent Grant.”
“Yes.”
“You sent Vanessa.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted my trust.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted my children.”
Daniel looked at the incubators.
“I wanted my bloodline.”
I felt sick.
“You're insane.”
“No.”
His voice was calm.
“I'm your father.”
He stepped closer.
“And everything I did was to make sure you survived long enough to give me what I lost.”
“What did you lose?”
He looked at Margaret.
Then at my grandfather.
“My family.”
I stared.
“What family?”
Daniel's expression broke.
“Your mother.”
He looked at me.
“And your sister.”
I turned toward Elena.
She stood behind the glass.
Alive.
Watching us.
Daniel whispered:
“Both of them were taken from me.”
I shook my head.
“By Margaret?”
“No.”
He looked at my grandfather.
“By him.”
The room went silent.
I turned.
My grandfather's face had gone white.
“Is that true?”
He closed his eyes.
“Emma…”
“Is it true?”
He whispered:
“Yes.”
I stepped backward.
“No.”
He couldn't look at me.
“I betrayed Daniel.”
“Why?”
“Because I believed your mother was in danger.”
“And Elena?”
“I took her.”
Daniel shouted:
“You stole my daughter!”
My grandfather lowered his head.
“I saved her.”
“From what?”
“From you.”
Daniel's face became terrifyingly calm.
“You still don't understand.”
He looked at me.
“I wasn't trying to hurt Elena.”
“Then what?”
“I was trying to stop Margaret.”
I looked between them.
Three generations of lies.
Three versions of the truth.
And somewhere beneath all of it were my children.
I walked toward the incubators.
Noah moved his tiny hand.
Elise opened her eyes.
I touched the glass.
“I don't care about your empire.”
Nobody spoke.
“I don't care about your money.”
My voice grew stronger.
“I don't care about your research.”
I turned around.
“I want my children.”
Margaret smiled.
“You can't have them.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because they belong to the Vance legacy.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“You are a Vance.”
“I am their mother.”
“You don't understand what they are.”
“I understand exactly what they are.”
I looked at my children.
“They're human beings.”
Margaret's smile disappeared.
“And that,” she said quietly, “is why you are the greatest threat to this family.”
The lights suddenly went out.
A gunshot echoed through the underground facility.
Someone screamed.
Glass shattered.
The emergency doors slammed shut.
Then a voice came through the darkness.
Not Margaret.
Not Daniel.
Not Grant.
A woman's voice.
My mother's voice.
“Emma.”
I froze.
“Run.”
Another gunshot.
Then:
“Your children are not safe here.”
The emergency lights flickered back on.
The incubators were empty.
Noah and Elise were gone.
May you like
And on the glass where they had been, someone had written four words in red:
THEY WERE NEVER THE TARGET.
