CHAPTER EIGHT-THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTOGRAPH
1297 Words
Amelia stared at Eve.
Then she looked at Damian.
Then back at Eve.
“Why are you pointing at him?”
Eve's eyes were filled with tears.
“He knows.”
Damian stepped forward. “Eve, stop.”
“Stop?” Her voice cracked. “After all these years, you want me to stop?”
Amelia's heart hammered.
Victor stood behind Eve, watching them with an almost amused expression.
“You see, Amelia?” he said. “Your husband has been keeping secrets.”
Damian raised his gun.
“Let Eve go.”
Victor smiled.
“You're still giving orders?”
“Let her go.”
“Or what?”
Damian's finger tightened around the trigger.
Amelia grabbed his arm.
“Don't.”
He looked at her.
“Stay behind me.”
“No. I need answers.”
Victor laughed.
“Finally.”
Amelia faced him.
“You said Damian was there when my mother disappeared. What happened?”
Victor's smile faded.
“Ask him.”
She turned to Damian.
“Tell me.”
Damian looked at Eve.
Then Victor.
Then Amelia.
“I was sixteen.”
Amelia's chest tightened.
“I followed my father into the laboratory.”
“What did you see?”
“You.”
She froze.
“Me?”
“You and Eve.”
Victor interrupted.
“He wasn't supposed to remember.”
Damian continued as if he hadn't heard him.
“You were babies. You were inside glass chambers.”
Amelia felt sick.
“I tried to get you out.”
“What happened?”
“My father caught me.”
“Then?”
“He made me watch.”
Amelia's voice trembled.
“Watch what?”
Damian swallowed.
“Your mother came for you.”
Victor's face hardened.
“She betrayed me.”
“She tried to save us,” Eve whispered.
Victor turned toward her.
“You were always ungrateful.”
Eve flinched.
Amelia stepped between them.
“Don't talk to her like that.”
Victor laughed.
“You still protect her without knowing her.”
“She is my sister.”
“She is also the reason your mother died.”
Amelia went still.
“What?”
Eve shook her head.
“That's not true.”
Victor looked at Amelia.
“Your mother tried to destroy the laboratory. She failed.”
Damian's voice was cold.
“She didn't die that night.”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
Amelia looked at him.
“You said she did.”
“I said she disappeared.”
Damian stared at Victor.
“Where did she go?”
Victor smiled.
“That is the question.”
A gunshot suddenly exploded.
Everyone ducked.
The warehouse windows shattered.
Victor's men rushed inside.
Damian grabbed Amelia and pulled her behind a concrete pillar.
“Stay down!”
Eve disappeared into the smoke.
“Eve!” Amelia shouted.
Damian fired toward the entrance.
“Don't move!”
Amelia ignored him.
She crawled toward where she'd last seen her sister.
“Eve!”
A hand suddenly grabbed her.
Amelia screamed.
It was Eve.
“Come with me.”
They ran through a side door.
Damian followed.
Victor's voice echoed behind them.
“You can't hide forever!”
They reached a narrow hallway.
Eve pushed open a metal door.
“Inside.”
Amelia entered.
Damian followed and locked it.
The room was tiny.
There was a desk, several computers, and stacks of old files.
Eve leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.
Amelia looked at her.
“Are you okay?”
Eve nodded.
Then she looked at Damian.
“You shouldn't have come.”
Damian frowned.
“Why?”
“Because he wants you here.”
“Victor?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Eve pointed toward the computer.
“Because everything is already prepared.”
Damian walked over.
The screen showed a countdown.
00:19:43.
Amelia's heart dropped.
“What is that?”
Eve whispered, “The transfer.”
“What transfer?”
“The baby's genetic data.”
Amelia's hand flew to her stomach.
“How?”
Eve pointed to another screen.
“Your medical records were uploaded when you went to the hospital.”
Damian's face hardened.
“Who authorized it?”
Eve looked at him.
“You did.”
His eyes widened.
“I didn't.”
“You may not remember.”
Amelia stared at him.
“Why wouldn't you remember?”
Eve walked closer.
“Because Victor altered your memories too.”
Damian went silent.
She continued.
“When you were sixteen, he erased parts of your memory.”
“Why?”
“Because you discovered what he planned.”
“What did he plan?”
Eve looked at Amelia.
“To use you.”
“For what?”
“To create a child with both bloodlines.”
Damian's face went pale.
“You're saying my father planned our child before we met?”
“Yes.”
Amelia shook her head.
“That makes no sense.”
“It does if Victor controlled everything.”
“Even our meeting?”
Eve hesitated.
Amelia's heart sank.
“Did he?”
Eve looked away.
“Answer me.”
“Yes.”
The word destroyed her.
“Our meeting was arranged?”
“Yes.”
Damian stepped backward.
“No.”
Eve nodded.
“The gala wasn't random.”
Amelia felt tears burn her eyes.
“My life has been planned.”
“Not everything.”
“What wasn't?”
Eve looked at Damian.
“The part where you fell in love with her.”
Damian's eyes met Amelia's.
For a moment, the room disappeared.
Then an alarm screamed.
The computer flashed red.
TRANSFER COMPLETE.
Amelia stared at the screen.
“No.”
Damian moved toward it.
“Can you stop it?”
Eve shook her head.
“It's already done.”
“Then what did he get?”
Eve looked terrified.
“Your baby's genetic blueprint.”
Silence.
A loud bang hit the door.
Someone was trying to break in.
Damian raised his weapon.
“Get behind me.”
Amelia moved beside him instead.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“If we're doing this, we're doing it together.”
Something softened in his eyes.
“I was hoping you'd say that.”
The door shook again.
Eve hurried to the computer.
“There may be one way to destroy the data.”
“How?”
“There's a master server beneath the old laboratory.”
Damian nodded.
“Then we go there.”
Eve stared at him.
“You don't understand. The server is protected.”
“By what?”
“Victor.”
Another bang.
The door began cracking.
Amelia reached for Damian's hand.
“Let's finish this.”
They rushed through a hidden passage behind the computer.
The passage led downward.
With every step, the air became colder.
Then Amelia saw something scratched into the wall.
Her mother's handwriting.
IF YOU FOUND THIS, RUN.
Amelia stopped.
“Mom was here.”
Eve touched the words.
“She left that for us.”
Damian looked ahead.
“There's more.”
A faint light appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
They descended slowly.
At the end stood a steel door.
Damian entered the code Eve gave him.
The door opened.
Inside was a room filled with monitors.
Every screen displayed Amelia's face.
Pregnant.
Sleeping.
Walking.
Living.
Damian's expression turned murderous.
“They've been watching you.”
Amelia couldn't speak.
Then one monitor changed.
A live image appeared.
It showed Amelia's mother.
She was sitting in a chair.
Alive.
Her eyes lifted toward the camera.
“Amelia,” she whispered.
“Don't trust Damian.”
Amelia stared at the screen.
Damian went completely still.
Then the image changed.
Victor appeared.
He smiled.
“Now you know the truth.”
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