Chapter 7: What They Made Her
1174 Words
Smoke still hung in the air.
The sharp scent of burning glass and metal filled Isabella’s lungs as she struggled to steady her breathing. Her ears rang faintly, the aftermath of the explosion leaving everything feeling distant and unreal.
Her hands trembled.
Her whole body trembled.
“They’re escalating,” Alexander had said.
And now, standing in the wreckage of what used to be his living room, Isabella finally understood something terrifying—
This wasn’t just a warning.
It was a message.
And she was the target.
“Are you hurt?”
Alexander’s voice broke through the haze.
She blinked, looking up at him. He was crouched in front of her, his hands lightly gripping her shoulders, scanning her face for any sign of injury.
“I… I don’t think so,” she said, though her voice shook.
Sophia rushed toward them from the hallway.
“Oh my God—are you both okay?” she asked, panic clear in her voice.
“I’m fine,” Isabella said quickly.
Sophia nodded, though she didn’t look convinced. Her eyes moved to the destroyed living room, then back to Alexander.
“That wasn’t random,” she said.
“No,” he replied coldly. “It wasn’t.”
Isabella pushed herself to stand, her legs unsteady.
“They were looking for me,” she said.
Neither of them denied it.
That silence said everything.
Minutes later, the penthouse was no longer quiet.
Security flooded the space.
Men in dark suits moved quickly, checking every corner, speaking into radios, sealing off the area.
Isabella stood near the hallway, arms wrapped tightly around herself, trying to process everything.
One thought kept repeating in her mind—
The people who created you.
Her chest tightened again.
She turned to Alexander, who was speaking with one of the security men.
“Alexander,” she said.
His attention shifted to her immediately.
“Tell me now,” she demanded. “No more half-truths.”
The security team stepped away, sensing the shift in tone.
Alexander walked toward her slowly.
Sophia stayed nearby, silent but watching closely.
“What do you want to know?” he asked.
“Everything,” Isabella said.
Her voice didn’t shake this time.
It was steady.
Determined.
“Start with this,” she added. “What did you mean when you said they created me?”
Alexander studied her for a long moment.
Then he spoke.
“There was a project,” he said. “Highly classified. Funded through multiple private channels—including my father’s company.”
Isabella swallowed.
“A project to do what?”
He didn’t hesitate this time.
“To enhance human ability.”
The words felt unreal.
“Enhance?” she repeated.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Genetics. Neurological development. Cognitive acceleration.”
Her head spun.
“You’re saying… they experimented on people?”
“Yes.”
Her stomach twisted.
“And I was one of them?”
Alexander’s gaze didn’t waver.
“You were the only successful one.”
Silence crashed over the room.
Isabella stared at him.
Waiting for it to sound less insane.
It didn’t.
“No,” she whispered. “That’s not possible.”
“It is.”
“I’m normal,” she said quickly. “I don’t have powers or anything like that. I’m just—”
“Are you?” he interrupted.
She froze.
“What does that mean?”
Alexander stepped closer.
“Think about it,” he said quietly. “Your memory. Your instincts. The way you notice details others don’t.”
Her breath caught.
“No,” she said again. “That’s just… that’s just who I am.”
“Or,” he said, “it’s who they made you.”
Her heart pounded harder.
Pieces of her life—small, strange moments—began to surface.
The way she always remembered things others forgot.
The way she could read people so easily.
The way she reacted quickly without thinking.
She had always dismissed it.
But now…
“Stop,” she whispered, backing away slightly.
“This isn’t real.”
“I know it’s a lot,” Sophia said gently.
Isabella shook her head.
“No—you don’t get it. This means my entire life—everything—I wasn’t just lucky or observant or—”
“Special?” Alexander finished.
She looked at him.
Tears finally slipped down her cheeks.
“I don’t want to be special,” she said.
Her voice broke.
“I just wanted a normal life.”
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then Alexander did something unexpected.
He stepped closer.
And gently—
He wiped the tear from her cheek.
The touch was soft.
Careful.
“None of this changes who you are,” he said quietly.
She let out a shaky laugh.
“It changes everything.”
“Not to me.”
The words hung between them.
Heavy.
Real.
Isabella looked up at him.
For the first time since all of this began—
She didn’t just see the billionaire.
The strategist.
The man with secrets.
She saw someone who was trying to protect her.
Even if he didn’t know how.
“Why are you helping me?” she asked softly.
Alexander didn’t answer right away.
His hand lingered near her face.
Then slowly dropped.
“Because I was part of it,” he admitted.
Her heart skipped.
“What?”
“My family funded the project,” he said. “I didn’t know everything at the time—but I knew enough.”
Pain flickered in his eyes.
“And when I found out what they did…”
His jaw tightened.
“I started looking for you.”
The truth hit her all at once.
“You weren’t just protecting me,” she said.
“You were looking for me because of guilt.”
He didn’t deny it.
At least not completely.
“That was how it started,” he said.
Her chest tightened.
“And now?”
Silence.
Tension.
Something unspoken building between them.
Before he could answer—
Sophia’s phone buzzed sharply.
She glanced at it.
And froze.
“Alex…”
Something in her tone made both of them turn.
“What is it?” he asked.
Sophia looked up slowly.
Her face pale.
“There’s been a leak,” she said.
Isabella’s stomach dropped.
“A leak?”
Sophia nodded.
“Someone released information about the project.”
Alexander’s expression darkened instantly.
“How much?”
Sophia swallowed.
“Enough.”
She turned the phone toward them.
A news article filled the screen.
A headline in bold letters:
“SECRET HUMAN EXPERIMENTATION PROJECT EXPOSED – SURVIVING SUBJECT STILL MISSING”
Isabella felt the world stop.
Her eyes scanned the screen.
And then—
She saw it.
A photo.
Blurry.
Old.
But recognizable.
Her.
Her younger self.
Attached to the article.
Her breath caught in her throat.
“No…” she whispered.
But it got worse.
Because underneath the image—
Were the words:
“If found, report immediately.”
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