Episode 15 — The Third Child
1673 Words
The archive door slowly opened.
I couldn’t breathe.
Cassian stepped in front of me, his weapon raised.
“Stay behind me.”
The door moved another inch.
Then—
A familiar face appeared.
Elias.
My heart dropped.
“You.”
He stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
His eyes immediately went to the file in my hands.
“You found it.”
Cassian raised his weapon.
“Don’t move.”
Elias smiled.
“If you wanted me dead, Cassian, you would’ve pulled the trigger already.”
Cassian’s jaw tightened.
“Give me one reason not to.”
“Because you don’t understand what you’re holding.”
I looked down at the photograph.
Three babies.
Three children.
Three secrets.
“Who is Baby C?”
Elias’s expression changed.
He didn’t answer.
“Elias!”
His eyes met mine.
“You shouldn’t have opened that file.”
I stepped closer.
“Who is the third child?”
He looked at Cassian.
Then back at me.
“The third child was the reason your parents were killed.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
Elias walked toward the table.
“The project wasn’t about creating twins.”
“Then what was it about?”
“Control.”
He pointed at the photograph.
“Your parents discovered that the organization was studying identical genetic markers in children born from selected families.”
I stared at him.
“Selected?”
“Families with specific genetic traits.”
Cassian’s expression darkened.
“And the Rowes funded it.”
Elias nodded.
“Your grandfather funded it.”
I turned toward Cassian.
He looked away.
I felt something crack inside me.
“Your family did this.”
Cassian didn’t defend them.
“Yes.”
His honesty hurt more than an excuse.
“But I had nothing to do with it.”
“I know.”
I looked at him.
“But you still carry their name.”
He stepped closer.
“And I’ll spend the rest of my life proving I’m not them.”
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then Elias pointed at the photograph.
“Baby C was different.”
“How?”
“Baby C wasn’t genetically identical to you and Selene.”
I frowned.
“Then why was the baby included?”
“Because Baby C was the one they wanted.”
My stomach turned.
“Why?”
Elias’s face became grim.
“Because Baby C carried a genetic marker they believed could make the project successful.”
I stared at the photograph.
“Where is the baby now?”
Elias didn’t answer.
“Where?”
“Alive.”
My breath caught.
Cassian looked at him.
“You’re sure?”
“I saw the records.”
“Where?”
Elias looked toward the archive door.
“Right here.”
He walked to a cabinet.
He pulled out a folder.
Dust covered its surface.
He opened it.
Inside was a single document.
BABY C — TRANSFERRED
Then a name.
I stared at it.
My heart stopped.
“That’s impossible.”
Cassian looked over my shoulder.
“What?”
I pointed.
The name was unmistakable.
ELENA VOSS.
I stepped backward.
“The woman from the photograph.”
Elias nodded.
“She’s Baby C.”
Silence.
The woman who had appeared at the hospital.
The woman who looked strangely familiar.
The woman who had been searching for my father.
She wasn’t just connected to us.
She was part of us.
“She isn’t our sister,” I whispered.
“No.”
Elias shook his head.
“She was born before you.”
I looked at Cassian.
“Then why does she look like me?”
“Because the project was successful.”
My stomach twisted.
“Successful?”
Elias looked at the three photographs.
“They weren’t trying to create one family.”
He lowered his voice.
“They were trying to create generations.”
⸻
A loud bang came from outside the archive.
Everyone froze.
Cassian turned toward the door.
“They’re coming.”
“Who?”
“Whoever fired those shots.”
Elias grabbed the folder.
“We need to leave.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“Selene is still out there.”
Cassian looked at me.
“We’ll find her.”
“I won’t leave without her.”
He took my hand.
“We won’t.”
We rushed out of the archive.
The hallway was dark.
Smoke filled the air.
“Selene!” I shouted.
No answer.
We reached the place where we’d left her.
Empty.
Only blood remained on the floor.
My heart dropped.
“She was here.”
Cassian crouched down.
He touched the blood.
“Still warm.”
“She could still be alive.”
Elias pointed toward the stairwell.
“Someone took her.”
“Who?”
Elias’s face was pale.
“The same people who took her twenty-four years ago.”
I clenched my fists.
“Then we’re getting her back.”
Suddenly, my phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A video.
I pressed play.
Selene was sitting in a dark room.
Her hands were tied.
A man stood behind her.
I couldn’t see his face.
“Seren,” Selene whispered.
I stepped closer to the screen.
“Selene!”
The man leaned toward the camera.
“Your sister belongs to us.”
Cassian’s expression became murderous.
“Who are you?”
The man laughed.
“You still haven’t figured it out, Cassian?”
Cassian went completely still.
The man continued.
“You’ve spent eight years protecting the wrong girl.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“What does that mean?”
The man looked directly into the camera.
“Ask Cassian who his mother really was.”
The video ended.
I slowly turned toward Cassian.
His face was pale.
“Cassian?”
He didn’t answer.
“Who was your mother?”
He looked at me.
“My mother died when I was ten.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
His silence told me everything.
Elias stepped forward.
“Cassian’s mother knew about the project.”
I looked at him.
“How?”
“She was one of the researchers.”
Cassian’s eyes hardened.
“Enough.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You don’t get to shut me out anymore.”
Cassian looked at me.
“My mother tried to expose them.”
“Did she?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“She disappeared.”
My heart sank.
“Like everyone else.”
Cassian nodded.
“But before she disappeared, she left something for me.”
“What?”
He reached into his jacket.
A small silver key.
I recognized it.
It was identical to the key my father had used at Marina’s grave.
My breathing stopped.
“Where did you get that?”
“My mother gave it to me.”
“When?”
“The night before she disappeared.”
I stared at the key.
“What does it open?”
Cassian looked at me.
“The door beneath Rowe & Co.”
I felt a chill run down my spine.
“The seventh floor?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
“Then where?”
His eyes darkened.
“Below it.”
⸻
We returned to Rowe & Co. before dawn.
The building was almost empty.
Cassian led me through a private corridor I’d never seen before.
We stopped in front of an old steel door.
There was no sign.
No handle.
Only a small keyhole.
Cassian inserted the silver key.
Click.
The door opened.
A staircase descended into darkness.
I looked at him.
“How far down?”
“Three floors.”
My heart pounded.
We went down.
One floor.
Two.
Three.
At the bottom was another corridor.
And at the end—
a room.
Cassian opened the door.
Inside were rows of old files.
But there was something else.
A wall covered with photographs.
My father.
Liana.
Marina.
Selene.
Me.
Cassian.
And Elena.
I stepped closer.
There was one photograph I had never seen.
Cassian as a child.
Standing beside his mother.
And beside them—
a little girl.
I stared at her.
Something about her face felt familiar.
Too familiar.
I picked up the photograph.
“Cassian…”
He looked at it.
His face turned completely white.
“That isn’t possible.”
“Who is she?”
He didn’t answer.
I turned the photograph over.
There was writing on the back.
THE FIRST CHILD.
Underneath it:
SUBJECT ZERO.
And beneath that was a name.
SEREN VALE.
My heart stopped.
I looked at Cassian.
“Why is there a photograph of me with your mother…”
My voice trembled.
“…when I was a baby?”
Cassian stared at the photograph.
Then whispered:
“Because I’ve known you since before you could remember me.”
The room fell silent.
And suddenly—
the lights came on.
A voice came through the hidden speakers.
“Welcome back, Cassian.”
Cassian froze.
The voice continued.
“You finally brought her home.”
I looked around.
“Who is that?”
Cassian grabbed my hand.
“Don’t answer.”
The voice laughed.
“Still protecting her.”
A screen on the wall flickered to life.
A woman’s face appeared.
Older.
Cold.
Familiar.
I stared at the screen.
It was Elena.
But she wasn’t alone.
Standing beside her was Selene.
And behind them—
a man I recognized from the photograph at the fire.
The man who had been hunting us.
Elena smiled.
“Seren.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“Your sister isn’t the only secret your father kept.”
She leaned closer to the camera.
“You were the first child.”
My heart pounded.
“And Cassian…”
She smiled.
“…was there when you were taken.”
I turned toward him.
His face was filled with guilt.
I whispered:
“Cassian…”
He closed his eyes.
And Elena said the words that shattered everything.
“He was the one who handed you to us.”
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