CHAPTER 13 — THE BOSS'S SON
CHAPTER 13 — THE BOSS'S SON
The darkness lasted three seconds.
But to Lily, it felt like a lifetime.
Her own voice still echoed in her mind.
Do not let Victor leave Eden.
Michael stood beside her.
Serena was frozen.
And behind the glass—
Victor was smiling.
Not the smile of a frightened prisoner.
Not the smile of someone who had just been rescued.
A knowing smile.
A dangerous one.
Lily took a step backward.
"Who are you?"
Victor looked at her.
"You already know."
"No."
"You heard my voice."
"I heard a recording."
Victor shook his head.
"No."
He placed his palm against the glass.
"You heard yourself."
Michael stepped between Lily and the chamber.
"Stop."
Victor looked at him.
"You're still protecting her."
Michael raised his gun.
"Who are you?"
Victor's expression softened.
"Your brother."
Michael's jaw tightened.
"You said that."
"And it's still true."
"Then tell me the truth."
Victor looked at Lily.
"The truth is that none of you understand what Eden was created for."
Lily whispered:
"Memory."
Victor shook his head.
"Not memory."
"Identity."
The glass chamber unlocked.
The door slowly opened.
Victor stepped outside.
He was taller than Lily remembered.
Older.
His face carried scars along his jaw and neck.
But his eyes—
his eyes were exactly as she remembered them.
The boy from the white house.
The boy who had once promised to protect her.
Michael stared at him.
"You were really there."
Victor looked at him.
"Yes."
"That night."
"Yes."
"You were alive."
"Yes."
Michael's hand tightened around his gun.
"Why didn't you come back?"
Victor's expression changed.
"Because I couldn't."
"Why?"
"Because Marcus wouldn't let me."
Michael took another step.
"You're lying."
Victor smiled.
"You've been lied to your entire life."
"So have you."
Victor's smile disappeared.
"Yes."
Lily stepped forward.
"Then tell us the truth."
Victor looked at her.
"The truth is simple."
He pointed toward Michael.
"He is Subject 11."
Then toward Lily.
"You're Subject 07."
Finally—
he pointed at himself.
"And I am Subject 00."
Silence.
Serena's face went pale.
"No."
Victor looked at her.
"You remember."
Serena shook her head.
"No."
"You were there."
"I wasn't."
"You were."
Victor stepped closer.
"You held my hand."
Serena's eyes filled with tears.
Then the memory came.
A little boy.
A white room.
A frightened girl.
A needle.
Serena whispering:
"Don't be scared."
Victor looked at her.
"You promised me."
Serena covered her mouth.
"I thought you died."
"I did."
"What?"
Victor smiled sadly.
"The boy you knew died."
Lily stared.
"Then who are you?"
Victor looked at her.
"Whatever was left."
Michael lowered his gun.
"What does that mean?"
Victor walked toward him.
"When my body died, they extracted my memories."
"Marcus transferred them."
"Into another body."
Michael stared.
"Whose?"
Victor looked at him.
"Yours."
Michael went still.
Lily whispered:
"No."
Victor nodded.
"That's why you dreamed of things you couldn't remember."
"That's why you knew places you'd never been."
"That's why you always felt like someone was missing."
Michael looked at his hands.
"Victor's memories were inside me."
"Yes."
"Then what are you?"
Victor smiled.
"The original memory."
Michael looked up.
"You mean you're not a person."
Victor's expression hardened.
"I am a person."
"But you were created from memory."
"So were you."
Michael had no answer.
Victor continued.
"Eden wasn't built to create copies."
"It was built to create a perfect continuation."
"The body dies."
"The memories survive."
"The person continues."
Lily shook her head.
"That's not living."
Victor looked at her.
"Tell that to the people who spent fifteen years trying to bring me back."
A loud alarm suddenly sounded.
Serena looked toward the ceiling.
"Someone's coming."
Michael raised his gun.
"Marcus?"
Victor shook his head.
"No."
"Who?"
Victor's expression became cold.
"My father."
Lily's heart dropped.
"Victor Blackwood Sr.?"
Victor nodded.
"He has been waiting for me."
"Why?"
"Because I'm his son."
Michael frowned.
"You said you were Subject 00."
"I am."
"Then why does he want you?"
Victor looked at Lily.
"Because he believes I belong to him."
The doors at the end of the corridor opened.
Men in black suits entered.
Their weapons were raised.
Behind them—
Victor Blackwood Sr.
He walked slowly.
Calm.
Confident.
Alive.
Lily stared.
"You."
Victor Sr. smiled.
"Hello, Lily."
Michael stepped in front of her.
"You won't take her."
Victor Sr. looked at Michael.
"You still don't understand."
Michael raised his weapon.
"I understand enough."
Victor Sr. smiled.
"You're holding the identity of my son."
Michael froze.
Victor Sr. looked at Victor.
"And my son is standing behind you."
Victor stepped forward.
"Father."
The old man smiled.
"My boy."
Lily stared at Victor.
Victor's expression remained cold.
"You should have stayed dead."
Victor Sr. laughed.
"I tried."
"You failed."
"Because your mother couldn't let you go."
Victor's eyes hardened.
"Don't talk about her."
"Why?"
"Because she loved you."
"She betrayed you."
Victor shook his head.
"No."
He stepped closer.
"She betrayed herself."
Victor Sr. smiled.
"You always were sentimental."
Michael looked at Lily.
"What is happening?"
She whispered:
"I don't know."
Victor turned toward them.
"You need to leave."
Michael frowned.
"Why?"
"Because he didn't come for me."
He looked at Victor Sr.
"He came for Lily."
Victor Sr. smiled.
"Correct."
Lily's heart sank.
"Why?"
"Because you're the final component."
"Of what?"
"Eden."
Victor Sr. raised his hand.
A screen appeared behind him.
On it was an old photograph.
Elena.
Marcus.
Victor.
Lily.
Michael.
And a fifth person.
A woman Lily didn't recognize.
Victor Sr. pointed at her.
"Her."
Lily stared.
"Who is that?"
Victor looked away.
Victor Sr. answered:
"Your grandmother."
Lily froze.
"My grandmother?"
"Yes."
"She created the first version of Eden."
"And your mother improved it."
"Marcus weaponized it."
Victor Sr. smiled.
"And you perfected it."
Lily shook her head.
"I was a child."
"You were the prototype."
"Then what am I?"
Victor Sr. looked directly at her.
"The only human being capable of holding multiple complete identities without losing herself."
Lily's heart pounded.
"Why?"
"Because you were born with the ability."
"Born?"
Victor Sr. nodded.
"Your mother didn't create your ability."
"She discovered it."
Lily stared.
"And Serena?"
"She was an attempt to reproduce it."
Serena stepped forward.
"An attempt?"
Victor Sr. nodded.
"You were never supposed to survive."
Serena's face went pale.
"Then why did I?"
"Because Lily saved you."
Lily looked at Serena.
"I don't remember."
"You weren't supposed to."
Victor Sr. looked at Michael.
"And you..."
Michael stared back.
"You were never the replacement."
"What?"
"You were the container."
Michael's face changed.
Victor Sr. continued:
"Victor's memories were transferred into you."
"But his consciousness remained incomplete."
"That's why two identities formed."
Michael whispered:
"Victor and Michael."
"Yes."
"Then who controls this body?"
Victor Sr. smiled.
"That's what Eden was designed to determine."
Michael looked at Victor.
Victor stared back.
"You."
Michael frowned.
"What?"
Victor stepped closer.
"That's why I was kept alive."
"To see whether you would eventually become me."
Michael's face hardened.
"I won't."
Victor smiled.
"You already did."
Lily stepped between them.
"Enough."
Everyone looked at her.
She pointed toward Victor Sr.
"You've been manipulating everyone."
Victor Sr. smiled.
"Yes."
"You manipulated Marcus."
"Yes."
"You manipulated my mother."
"Yes."
"You manipulated Michael."
"Yes."
"You manipulated Victor."
He nodded.
"Yes."
"And Serena."
"Yes."
Lily's voice became stronger.
"Then why are you afraid of me?"
Victor Sr. stopped smiling.
Silence.
Lily took another step.
"You've controlled everyone."
"You've rewritten memories."
"You've destroyed families."
"But you can't control me."
Victor Sr.'s eyes narrowed.
"You don't understand what you are."
"I understand enough."
"No."
He shook his head.
"You are the only thing I have never been able to control."
Lily smiled.
"Then you should be afraid."
Suddenly—
a gunshot.
One of Victor Sr.'s men fell.
Everyone turned.
Serena was holding a weapon.
"Run!"
Chaos erupted.
Michael grabbed Lily.
Victor pulled Serena toward the corridor.
Victor Sr. shouted:
"Stop them!"
They ran.
Bullets struck the walls.
Glass shattered.
Emergency lights flashed.
Michael and Lily reached a steel door.
Victor slammed it shut.
"Keep moving!"
They ran down a narrow corridor.
Serena followed.
Victor came last.
Michael looked back.
"Where are we going?"
Victor answered:
"The old chapel."
Lily frowned.
"There's a chapel underground?"
"Not a chapel."
"What then?"
"An escape route."
They reached a large wooden door.
Victor opened it.
Inside was a room filled with old photographs.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Children.
Adults.
Scientists.
Lily stared.
"What is this?"
Victor looked around.
"The dead."
Serena whispered:
"Memorial archive."
Victor nodded.
"Every person used by Project Mirror."
Michael saw a familiar face.
His father.
His mother.
Lily's mother.
Then—
Serena's parents.
She froze.
"They're here."
Victor looked at her.
"Yes."
Serena stepped closer to the photograph.
Her hands trembled.
"They lied."
Victor shook his head.
"They didn't."
"What?"
"They were killed because they tried to expose Eden."
Serena's eyes filled with tears.
"Who killed them?"
Victor looked toward the doorway.
"Marcus."
Serena's expression hardened.
"Then why did Marcus tell me they betrayed him?"
"Because he needed you to hate them."
Serena closed her eyes.
She finally understood.
Her entire life had been built on a lie.
She had spent years hating the wrong people.
And protecting the man who destroyed her family.
Lily noticed something strange.
One photograph had been turned upside down.
She reached for it.
Victor stopped her.
"Don't."
"Why?"
"Because that's mine."
Lily looked at him.
"What?"
He slowly turned the photograph around.
It showed Victor Sr.
Standing beside a young woman.
Lily's grandmother.
And between them—
a little girl.
Lily.
Victor Sr. looked directly at the camera.
The date was twenty-one years earlier.
Lily stared.
"I wasn't born yet."
Victor nodded.
"Exactly."
Michael stepped closer.
"What is this?"
Victor's voice was quiet.
"Proof."
"Of what?"
"That Lily existed before she was born."
Silence.
Lily stared at the photograph.
"That's impossible."
Victor pointed to the girl.
"That's you."
"But I'm an adult now."
"Yes."
"And that girl..."
"Was the first version."
Lily's heart stopped.
"The first version?"
Victor nodded.
"They created you."
"Then destroyed the body."
"And recreated you."
Lily stepped backward.
"How many times?"
Victor looked at her.
"Seven."
Lily's face went pale.
"Seven?"
"Seven versions."
Michael whispered:
"And this is the seventh."
Victor nodded.
"The final one."
Lily suddenly remembered.
Seven rooms.
Seven beds.
Seven birthdays.
Seven different mothers.
Seven different names.
She had thought they were dreams.
They weren't.
They were lives.
She looked at Victor.
"You remember all of them."
"Yes."
"How?"
"Because I was there."
"Watching?"
"Living."
Lily's breathing became shallow.
"So when I said my voice was in the system..."
Victor nodded.
"It was your previous version."
"How did she know what would happen?"
"Because she already lived it."
Lily's blood ran cold.
"Then she knew Marcus would betray us."
"Yes."
"She knew Elena would betray us."
"Yes."
"She knew you would be here."
"Yes."
Lily whispered:
"Then why did she tell me not to let you leave Eden?"
Victor's expression changed.
"Because she knew what happens if I leave."
Michael stared at him.
"What?"
Victor looked at Lily.
"Everyone dies."
The door behind them exploded.
Victor Sr.'s men entered.
Victor raised his gun.
"Get behind me."
Michael shook his head.
"No."
He stepped beside Victor.
"We fight together."
Victor looked at him.
For a moment, the two brothers stood side by side.
One the original.
One the replacement.
Both carrying the same memories.
The same blood.
The same pain.
Lily stood between them.
Serena raised her weapon.
Victor Sr. appeared behind the guards.
"Enough."
Everyone froze.
He looked at Victor.
"Come home."
Victor shook his head.
"I already am."
Victor Sr. looked at Lily.
"Then I'll take her."
Michael raised his gun.
"Try."
Victor Sr. smiled.
"You still don't understand."
He pressed a button.
Lily screamed.
A sharp pain exploded inside her skull.
She fell.
Michael caught her.
"Lily!"
Victor stared at his father.
"What did you do?"
Victor Sr. smiled.
"I activated the seventh memory."
Lily's eyes opened.
They were no longer frightened.
They were empty.
She looked at Michael.
Then Victor.
Then Serena.
Her voice was different.
Calm.
Cold.
Almost mechanical.
"Subject Seven has awakened."
Michael froze.
"Lily?"
She stood.
Her expression was blank.
Victor stared at her.
"No."
Victor Sr. smiled.
"Yes."
Lily looked toward him.
"Father."
Everyone froze.
Michael whispered:
"She called him Father."
Victor Sr. smiled.
"Welcome back."
Lily turned toward Michael.
Her eyes contained no recognition.
"Identify yourself."
Michael's heart broke.
"Lily."
She tilted her head.
"Incorrect."
Victor stepped forward.
"She knows you."
Lily looked at him.
"Victor Blackwood."
Victor's face went pale.
"Yes."
Lily smiled.
"Target confirmed."
Michael raised his gun.
"What did you do to her?"
Victor Sr. answered:
"Nothing."
He smiled.
"She finally remembered who she was."
Lily lifted her hand.
The lights across the facility came alive.
Every screen displayed the same message.
EDEN PROTOCOL: ACTIVE.
Then another line appeared.
SUBJECT 07 — COMMAND AUTHORITY.
Victor stared.
"No."
Lily looked at him.
And spoke with a voice that was unmistakably her own—
but colder than anything he had ever heard.
"Begin final phase."
The facility doors locked.
Every weapon system activated.
And somewhere deep underground, a thousand sleeping machines began to wake.
Michael looked at Victor.
"What did she just do?"
Victor whispered:
"She didn't become the weapon."
He stared at Lily.
"She became the one controlling it."
And Lily smiled.
A smile none of them had ever seen before.
Because the boss's son had finally returned.
May you like
But the real danger—
was the girl he had spent fifteen years trying to save.
