CHAPTER 9 — THE TWINS' FILE
CHAPTER 9 — THE TWINS' FILE
The elevator descended before anyone could stop it.
Arthur had disappeared behind steel doors.
My children were somewhere beneath us.
And every instinct in my body screamed that I was walking directly into a trap.
I didn't care.
I would have walked into fire for Noah and Elise.
I looked at Elena.
“You said they were below us.”
“Yes.”
“Then take me to them.”
She shook her head.
“Not yet.”
I stared at her.
“What do you mean, not yet?”
“You need to understand what you're walking into.”
“My children are down there.”
“And that's exactly why Arthur knows you'll do anything.”
“I don't care.”
“I know.”
She looked at me with tears in her eyes.
“That's what he's counting on.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Arthur won't hurt the twins.”
I turned on him.
“You don't know that.”
“I know my brother.”
“You knew him before I was born.”
“Yes.”
“And you still let him build this place.”
Daniel's expression collapsed.
“I tried to stop him.”
“Too late.”
“I know.”
My grandfather lowered his head.
For once, none of the men who had controlled my life had an answer.
Only Elena remained standing.
She looked at me.
“There's a file.”
“What file?”
“The twins' file.”
“Where?”
“Below.”
“What does it say?”
She hesitated.
“Everything.”
We reached the lower laboratory.
The doors opened automatically.
A corridor stretched ahead.
No guards.
No scientists.
No alarms.
Just silence.
At the end stood a single metal table.
On it was a black folder.
My name was written across the cover.
EMMA VANCE-WHITMORE
Underneath:
CHILDREN: NOAH & ELISE
I walked toward it.
My grandfather grabbed my wrist.
“Don't.”
I pulled away.
“You've told me not to do things my entire life.”
“Because some truths destroy people.”
“I've already been destroyed.”
I opened the folder.
The first page was a birth record.
Noah Whitmore.
Elise Whitmore.
Born twenty-nine weeks.
Emergency C-section.
Placental abruption.
Severe prematurity.
Then I saw something that made my blood freeze.
GENETIC ACTIVATION EVENT: CONFIRMED.
I turned the page.
There were laboratory reports.
Blood analysis.
Cellular response.
DNA mapping.
The next line was highlighted.
PATTERN IDENTICAL TO SUBJECT E.V.
I looked at Elena.
“What does E.V. mean?”
She swallowed.
“Me.”
I turned the page.
Another note.
SUBJECT E.V. FAILED TO COMPLETE ACTIVATION.
Then:
SUBJECT E.W. — SUCCESSFUL.
My initials.
I stared at the page.
“Why am I listed as a subject?”
No one answered.
I looked at my grandfather.
“Why?”
He finally spoke.
“Because your mother enrolled you.”
My heart stopped.
“My mother?”
“She knew what was happening.”
“Then she gave me to them?”
“No.”
“That's what this says.”
“She was trying to protect you.”
“How?”
“She believed the only way to prevent Arthur from using you was to make him believe you were genetically ordinary.”
I stared at the file.
“So my entire life was a lie.”
“Yes.”
I turned another page.
There was a photograph.
My mother.
Pregnant.
Beside her stood Daniel.
But there was something strange.
A hospital bracelet was visible around my mother's wrist.
The date was thirty years earlier.
The hospital was Beacon Crest.
I looked at Daniel.
“You were here.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The day you were born.”
“Then why did everyone tell me you died?”
“Because Arthur was looking for me.”
“You disappeared.”
“I was forced to.”
“By whom?”
“Your grandfather.”
I turned toward him.
He nodded.
“I separated Daniel from your mother.”
“Why?”
“Because Arthur was coming.”
“And you thought separating them would save us.”
“Yes.”
“Did it?”
“No.”
He closed his eyes.
“Your mother disappeared three days later.”
I felt tears burn my eyes.
“What happened to her?”
“We don't know.”
Elena spoke quietly.
“I do.”
Everyone turned toward her.
She looked at me.
“She was taken.”
“By Arthur?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Elena hesitated.
“By the woman who raised you.”
I froze.
“My mother?”
“No.”
“The woman who raised me was Margaret.”
Elena shook her head.
“Margaret was your grandmother.”
“I know.”
“You were raised by someone else.”
I stared.
“Who?”
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
“Your mother.”
I couldn't breathe.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does.”
“How?”
“Because your mother never died.”
I stepped backward.
“You're saying my mother raised me?”
“From a distance.”
“What does that mean?”
“She watched you.”
“Where?”
“Everywhere.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“She changed identities.”
“Who was she?”
Elena looked at the door.
“Someone you've already met.”
The door opened.
A woman entered.
Gray hair.
Simple clothes.
No makeup.
She looked like an ordinary hospital employee.
She carried a tray of medical supplies.
She looked at me.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Emma.”
I knew that voice.
I had heard it in my dreams.
The voice that had whispered to me when I was sick as a child.
The voice I had thought belonged to my imagination.
I couldn't speak.
The woman dropped the tray.
Metal instruments scattered across the floor.
She covered her mouth.
“My baby.”
I stared.
“Mom?”
She nodded.
I couldn't move.
Then I ran.
She caught me.
For the first time in my life, I felt my mother's arms around me.
I broke.
I cried like a child.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“You left me.”
“I was trying to save you.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
She held me tighter.
“I chose the one that kept you alive.”
I pulled away.
“Where were you?”
“Here.”
“In the hospital?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Twenty-seven years.”
I stared at her.
“You watched me?”
“Every day I could.”
“Why didn't you come home?”
“Because Arthur had people everywhere.”
“You knew about the research.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about me.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about Elena.”
She looked at my sister.
Tears filled her eyes.
“I lost her once.”
Then she whispered:
“I refused to lose you twice.”
My mother sat beside the table.
She opened the twins' file.
“There is something you need to know.”
I sat opposite her.
“What?”
“Your babies were not created in a laboratory.”
“I know.”
“They weren't genetically engineered.”
I looked at the reports.
“Then why does it say activation?”
“Because the marker was dormant.”
“And what activated it?”
“Pregnancy.”
“Mine?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She looked at Daniel.
“Because Daniel carries the paternal sequence.”
Then at me.
“And I carry the maternal sequence.”
I looked between them.
“So Noah and Elise inherited both.”
“Yes.”
“What happens when both sequences combine?”
My mother hesitated.
“The body develops extraordinary resistance.”
“To toxins.”
“To certain diseases.”
“To cellular damage.”
I stared.
“Could they live longer?”
“In theory.”
“How long?”
“We don't know.”
“And Arthur wants that.”
“He wants control of it.”
“How?”
“By creating a treatment.”
I frowned.
“A treatment?”
My mother nodded.
“The sequence could potentially be used to repair damaged cells.”
My heart raced.
Cancer.
Organ failure.
Neurodegenerative diseases.
Millions of lives.
“You could save people.”
“Yes.”
“Then why hide it?”
“Because Arthur didn't want to save people.”
“What did he want?”
My mother's expression darkened.
“He wanted ownership.”
A monitor suddenly turned on.
Arthur appeared.
“Beautiful reunion.”
My mother froze.
Arthur smiled.
“You always did make things more dramatic than necessary, Isabella.”
My mother's face went pale.
“Leave my daughter alone.”
“Your daughter?”
He laughed.
“You mean my granddaughter.”
He turned toward me.
“Do you know why I let your mother survive?”
I said nothing.
“Because she was useful.”
My mother stepped forward.
“You're a monster.”
“No.”
Arthur's voice remained calm.
“I'm a visionary.”
“You murdered children.”
“I studied them.”
“You kidnapped Elena.”
“I preserved her.”
“You destroyed families.”
“I built an empire.”
I stared at the screen.
“You stole my babies.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“I borrowed them.”
“They're not yours.”
“Not yet.”
I felt rage rise through me.
“What do you want?”
Arthur looked directly at me.
“You.”
I froze.
“Not your money.”
He shook his head.
“Not your hospital.”
“Then what?”
“Your blood.”
The room became silent.
“You're the only person whose body can activate the complete sequence without external intervention.”
I looked at my mother.
She closed her eyes.
Arthur continued.
“Your children inherited it.”
“But you don't need them.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“I need you.”
My blood ran cold.
“Why?”
“Because the treatment only works if the mother remains alive.”
I stared.
“What treatment?”
Arthur's smile disappeared.
“The treatment that will make me impossible to kill.”
The screen went black.
A siren sounded.
My mother grabbed my hand.
“We have to go.”
“Where?”
“Nowhere.”
She looked toward the ceiling.
“He sealed the exits.”
Daniel stepped toward the door.
“I'll get us out.”
“No.”
My mother shook her head.
“That's what he wants.”
I looked at her.
“What happens next?”
She whispered:
“He'll force you to choose.”
“Between what?”
“Your children…”
She looked toward the monitor.
“…and everyone else.”
I didn't understand.
Then a second screen turned on.
It showed Noah and Elise.
Alive.
Sleeping.
Their tiny chests rising.
Beside them stood Arthur.
He placed one hand on Noah's incubator.
Then he looked into the camera.
“Emma.”
His voice was almost gentle.
“You have one hour.”
A countdown appeared.
59:59
59:58
59:57
My mother grabbed my hand.
“What is he asking for?”
I stared at the screen.
Arthur answered for himself.
“One blood transfusion.”
I frowned.
“That's all?”
“No.”
He smiled.
“Your complete genetic sequence.”
The countdown continued.
59:41
59:40
“And if I refuse?”
Arthur's expression became cold.
“Then I activate the failsafe.”
My heart stopped.
“What failsafe?”
He looked at my children.
“The one implanted in their incubators.”
My mother screamed:
“No!”
Arthur smiled.
“And then, Emma…”
He paused.
“You'll discover whether your children inherited your resistance to death.”
The screen went black.
I stared at the timer.
59:12
My mother was crying.
Elena stood frozen.
Daniel looked broken.
My grandfather lowered his head.
And I finally understood the true purpose of the twins' file.
It wasn't a medical record.
It was a blueprint.
A blueprint for turning my children into leverage.
I wiped my tears.
Then I closed the file.
“We're not giving him anything.”
My mother stared at me.
“Emma…”
“No.”
I looked at everyone in the room.
“He wants my blood.”
I stood.
“Then we'll give him something else.”
“What?”
I looked at the surveillance camera.
“His own secrets.”
Then I pointed toward the control room.
“Find me every file Arthur has.”
Daniel looked at me.
“What are you planning?”
I stared at the countdown.
58:31
“I'm going to destroy the man who thinks my children are his property.”
The timer continued.
And somewhere beneath Beacon Crest, Arthur was waiting for me to surrender.
He had made one mistake.
May you like
He had mistaken a mother's love for weakness.
He was about to learn what it could become when there was nothing left to lose.
