Chapter 11 — The Little Girl Who Saw Everything
Chapter 11 — The Little Girl Who Saw Everything
Dominic couldn't breathe.
The photograph remained in his hand.
Mia.
A newborn.
A date twenty-seven years earlier.
His name beneath it.
DOMINIC MORETTI.
And Richard's voice still echoed through the vault.
"Because Mia isn't Harper's mother."
Richard raised his gun.
"She's yours."
Dominic slowly turned.
"No."
Richard smiled.
"You've spent your entire life believing the wrong story."
Mia's voice came through the speaker behind them.
"Dominic..."
He looked toward the security monitor.
Mia was still tied to the chair.
Harper was beside her.
Both were watching.
Mia's face had gone completely white.
Richard continued.
"Ask her."
Dominic stared at the screen.
"Mia."
She couldn't speak.
"Tell me he's lying."
Silence.
"Mia."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I didn't know."
Dominic's heart tightened.
"What didn't you know?"
"That they had used the records."
"Records?"
"The photograph."
Mia shook her head.
"That's not what it looks like."
Richard laughed.
"Of course."
Dominic looked at him.
"You've lied to me my entire life."
"I protected you."
"You stole my identity."
"I gave you one."
"You murdered people."
"I built an empire."
"You imprisoned Mia."
Richard's expression hardened.
"She was never imprisoned."
Dominic stared.
"What?"
"She stayed because she was afraid."
Mia shouted from the screen.
"That's a lie!"
Richard looked toward the monitor.
"You always were emotional."
Dominic raised his gun.
"Enough."
Richard smiled.
"You want the truth?"
"Yes."
"Then look around."
Dominic did.
Thousands of files.
Medical records.
Birth certificates.
Photographs.
Contracts.
The entire history of Project 17.
Richard spread his arms.
"This is the truth."
Dominic's eyes moved across the shelves.
Then he saw something.
A child's drawing.
Crayon on faded paper.
A house.
Three figures.
A woman.
A little boy.
And a little girl.
Written at the bottom in childish handwriting:
MOMMY, DOMINIC, MIA.
Dominic stared.
"Who drew this?"
Richard didn't answer.
Dominic stepped toward it.
The paper was dated twenty-three years ago.
Dominic frowned.
"I was four."
Richard remained silent.
"Who is the girl?"
No answer.
Dominic turned.
"Who is she?"
Richard finally said:
"Someone you were never supposed to remember."
The vault door slammed shut.
Adrian stood between Dominic and the exit.
"You wanted answers."
He pointed toward the files.
"Take them."
Dominic didn't move.
"Where is Harper?"
Adrian smiled.
"Safe."
"Where?"
"Upstairs."
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"No."
Adrian's expression changed.
"I expect you to understand."
"Understand what?"
"That every person you've trusted has been manipulating you."
Dominic looked at him.
"Not Mia."
Adrian laughed.
"Especially Mia."
"No."
"Why are you so certain?"
"Because she had nothing to gain."
Adrian's smile faded.
"Everyone has something to gain."
Dominic shook his head.
"Not a mother."
Adrian's eyes hardened.
"She isn't Harper's mother."
Dominic stared.
"You said that already."
"And I meant it."
"Then who is?"
Adrian stepped closer.
"You've been asking the wrong question."
"What question should I ask?"
"Why was Harper born?"
Dominic went still.
Adrian pointed toward the final file.
"Open it."
Dominic approached.
The label read:
M-17 / H-CARTER / FINAL SUBJECT
He opened it.
Inside was a photograph of Harper.
Four years old.
Another at three.
Another at two.
Another as a newborn.
Then a document.
Dominic read the first sentence.
SUBJECT H-17 DISPLAYS MEMORY RETENTION INCONSISTENT WITH AGE.
He frowned.
"What does this mean?"
Adrian looked at him.
"Ask the little girl."
Upstairs, Harper sat quietly beside Mia.
She wasn't crying anymore.
That frightened Mia more than tears would have.
"Sweetheart," Mia whispered.
Harper didn't answer.
"Look at me."
The little girl slowly raised her eyes.
"Mommy?"
"Yes?"
"Mr. Dominic is downstairs."
"I know."
"He's in danger."
Mia's heart stopped.
"How do you know?"
Harper looked toward the basement door.
"I saw him."
Mia frowned.
"You saw him downstairs?"
Harper nodded.
"Before."
"Before what?"
"Before he went down."
Mia stared.
"Harper, you were with me."
"No."
Harper shook her head.
"I was here."
"But you said you saw him."
"I did."
"When?"
Harper looked at her mother.
"Last night."
Mia's blood ran cold.
"What did you see?"
Harper whispered:
"Grandpa."
Mia froze.
"Which grandpa?"
"The one who isn't dead."
Harper had been awake the night before.
She had heard voices.
She had left her room.
She had followed them.
Nobody knew.
Not the guards.
Not Daniel.
Not Mia.
Not Dominic.
She had watched Claire enter the hallway.
She had watched Nathan speak to someone.
She had seen a man in a black coat standing near the old staircase.
She had seen Richard.
And she had seen something else.
Something nobody else had noticed.
A second man.
Standing behind Richard.
Harper had watched him put something inside the wall.
Then he had turned.
And looked directly at her.
He had smiled.
Harper had run.
But before she disappeared around the corner, she had heard him whisper:
"Don't worry."
"Your mother knows."
Mia stared at Harper.
"What man?"
Harper shook her head.
"I don't know."
"Was he young?"
"Yes."
"Old?"
"No."
"Did he have a scar?"
Harper nodded.
"Here."
She touched beneath her eyebrow.
Mia's face went white.
"Adrian."
Harper shook her head.
"No."
"Alexander?"
"No."
"Dominic?"
"No."
"Then who?"
Harper whispered:
"He looked like Mr. Dominic."
Mia stopped breathing.
In the vault, Dominic opened another file.
Inside was a DNA report.
His.
Alexander's.
Adrian's.
Harper's.
And one unidentified sample.
The result beside Dominic's sample read:
PATERNITY: CONFIRMED.
Dominic stared.
Then he read the name.
ALEXANDER MORETTI.
He looked at Adrian.
"You said you were my brother."
"I am."
"Then why does this say Alexander?"
Adrian smiled.
"Because you're still using the wrong name."
Dominic looked at him.
"Who are you?"
Adrian's expression changed.
"My name isn't Adrian."
He removed a small device from his pocket.
His face appeared on the screen.
Then another face.
Identical.
Dominic stared.
The image showed two newborn boys.
One marked:
ALEXANDER.
The other:
ADRIAN.
Dominic's eyes widened.
"There were twins."
Adrian nodded.
"Alexander and I."
"Then where is Alexander?"
A voice answered from behind Dominic.
"Right here."
Dominic turned.
The man standing in the doorway looked exactly like Adrian.
But his expression was different.
Colder.
Older.
Dominic raised his weapon.
The man smiled.
"I suppose we finally meet."
Adrian's face changed.
"Alexander."
The two brothers stared at each other.
Dominic slowly lowered his gun.
"Which one of you is which?"
Alexander smiled.
"That's the problem."
He looked at Adrian.
"We stopped keeping track."
The monitors flickered.
Mia appeared again.
But she was no longer alone.
Claire stood behind her.
A gun pressed against Claire's back.
Harper watched.
Dominic immediately stepped toward the screen.
"Mia."
She looked at him.
"Dominic."
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Harper?"
"She's here."
Dominic exhaled.
Then Harper suddenly stood.
She looked directly at the camera.
"Mr. Dominic."
"I'm here."
"Don't trust the man behind you."
Dominic froze.
Everyone turned.
There was nobody behind him.
Richard frowned.
"What?"
Harper continued.
"The other one."
Dominic looked toward the shadows.
Nothing.
Then the lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
A small figure appeared on one of the security screens.
A child.
A little boy.
He was standing in the hallway upstairs.
Dominic stared.
The boy looked four years old.
He was wearing an old-fashioned white shirt.
His face was almost identical to Dominic's.
Richard went pale.
"No."
Dominic looked at him.
"Who is that?"
Richard stepped backward.
"No."
"Who?"
Richard shook his head.
"He's not supposed to be alive."
The boy on the screen turned.
And smiled directly at the camera.
Then he raised one hand.
He was holding a photograph.
Dominic recognized it.
The photograph of the woman holding the newborn.
The one Richard had claimed was proof that Mia was his surrogate.
The boy turned the photograph around.
Written on the back were four words:
I REMEMBER EVERYTHING, DAD.
Richard's face collapsed.
Dominic stared.
"Who is he?"
Richard whispered:
"My first son."
Dominic looked at Adrian.
Then Alexander.
Then the screen.
"That's impossible."
Alexander shook his head.
"No."
He stared at the child.
"He's not your brother."
Dominic looked at him.
"Then who?"
Alexander's voice trembled.
"He's mine."
Silence.
Dominic stared at the screen.
The child smiled.
Then the camera went black.
A gunshot exploded upstairs.
Mia screamed.
Dominic ran.
The vault door opened behind him.
Daniel's voice shouted through the radio.
"Sir!"
Dominic sprinted up the stairs.
"What happened?"
"We lost contact with the west wing."
"Where's Harper?"
"I don't know."
Dominic's heart stopped.
He reached the hallway.
The guards were unconscious.
Claire was gone.
Mia was gone.
Harper was gone.
Only one thing remained.
A small yellow nightgown lay on the floor.
Dominic picked it up.
His hands trembled.
"No."
Daniel ran toward him.
"Sir."
Dominic looked at him.
"Lock the estate."
"Already done."
"No."
His voice became deadly.
"Lock the entire county."
Daniel stared.
"We can't."
"Then call everyone."
"Who?"
Dominic looked toward the dark hallway.
"Every person who owes me."
He picked up the nightgown.
"They took my family."
Three miles away, a black SUV moved through the forest.
Mia sat in the back.
Harper was beside her.
Claire sat across from them.
Her wrists were tied.
A man drove.
Another sat in the passenger seat.
Mia looked at Harper.
"Are you hurt?"
Harper shook her head.
"No."
"Where are we going?"
Harper looked out the window.
"To the house."
Mia frowned.
"What house?"
"The house under the house."
Mia's blood ran cold.
"What did you say?"
Harper looked at her.
"Mommy."
"Yes?"
"Grandpa said you promised."
Mia couldn't breathe.
"What promise?"
Harper smiled sadly.
"That you would never tell Mr. Dominic who his real mother is."
Mia's face went white.
"How do you know that?"
Harper looked toward the front seat.
The driver turned his head.
It was Richard.
Alive.
And beside him sat a young man who looked exactly like Dominic.
Richard smiled.
"Because she remembers."
Mia stared at Harper.
"She remembers what?"
Richard answered:
"Everything."
Dominic reached the end of the forest.
His convoy stopped.
Daniel approached.
"We found the vehicle."
"Where?"
"Abandoned."
Dominic looked around.
"Any sign of them?"
Daniel shook his head.
"Only this."
He handed Dominic a small object.
A silver bird pendant.
Mia's.
Dominic closed his fist around it.
Then he noticed something engraved on the back.
A date.
1999.
And beneath it:
MIA CARTER — MOTHER OF DOMINIC MORETTI.
Dominic stared.
His entire world tilted.
Mia hadn't known.
Or had she?
He didn't know anymore.
But there was one person who did.
Richard.
Dominic turned toward the estate.
"Bring me every file on Mia Carter."
Daniel nodded.
"Yes, sir."
"And find the house under the house."
Daniel frowned.
"What house?"
Dominic looked at the pendant.
"The one my family has been hiding for twenty-seven years."
Hours later, beneath a forgotten chapel on the edge of the Moretti property, a little girl sat beside a locked iron door.
Harper was calm.
Too calm.
Richard stood nearby.
Mia was tied to a chair.
The young man watched silently.
Then Harper looked at him.
"You lied."
He frowned.
"About what?"
"You told Mr. Dominic you were his brother."
The man smiled.
"I am."
"No."
Harper shook her head.
"You are his father."
The man's smile disappeared.
Mia stared.
Richard went completely still.
The child continued.
"I saw the photograph."
"What photograph?" Mia whispered.
Harper pointed toward the locked door.
"The one behind it."
She smiled.
"And I know why everyone is afraid of Mr. Dominic."
Richard stepped forward.
"Harper."
The little girl looked at him.
"You said I wasn't supposed to remember."
Richard's face went pale.
"But I do."
She placed her tiny hand against the iron door.
"It started when I was born."
The lock clicked.
Once.
Then twice.
The door began to open.
And from the darkness beyond it came a woman's voice.
A voice Mia had not heard in four years.
A voice she had believed belonged to someone who was dead.
"Hello, sweetheart."
Mia's blood froze.
Harper smiled.
"Grandma."
The door opened wider.
And the woman stepped into the light.
She looked at Mia.
Then Harper.
Then the man standing behind them.
Finally, she whispered:
"Dominic has finally learned the wrong secret."
She smiled.
"Now we can tell him the right one."
Outside, Dominic's phone rang.
He answered.
A woman's voice whispered four words:
May you like
"Your mother is alive."
Then the line went dead.
