Chapter 9: The Second Child
I stared at the photograph until the edges blurred.
“My twin?””
Evelyn nodded.
“You were born minutes apart.””
Dorian looked at her.
“Why have I never heard this?””
“Because she was taken.””
I felt my knees weaken.
“Where?””
Evelyn's gaze shifted toward the laboratory.
“Here.””
My stomach turned.
“You kept my sister?””
“She wasn't your sister.””
I frowned.
“She was genetically identical.””
“Genetically,” Evelyn said, “yes.””
She opened another file.
Inside were medical photographs.
Two newborn babies.
Two blood samples.
Two sets of genetic markers.
One was labeled *ALINA CROSS*.
The other:
*SUBJECT A-2.*
I whispered,
“What does A-2 mean?””
Evelyn looked at me.
“The second attempt.””
Dorian stepped forward.
“Attempt at what?””
“Creating a viable carrier.””
Lucas shook his head.
“No.””
Evelyn ignored him.
“Alina was naturally born with the marker. Your twin wasn't.””
I stared at her.
“So you created her?””
“No.””
“You said she was my twin.””
“She was.””
“Then what?””
Evelyn closed the file.
“She was altered after birth.””
The room seemed to shrink.
Dorian's voice became deadly.
“What did you do to them?””
“To you?””
Evelyn looked at him.
“Nothing.””
“To her?””
“Everything necessary.””
I stepped backward.
“You experimented on a newborn.””
Evelyn didn't deny it.
“We needed to understand why Alina's genetic sequence remained stable.””
“And my twin?””
“She became unstable.””
Lucas whispered,
“They killed her.””
Evelyn looked at him.
“No.””
She walked to the far wall.
Pressed her hand against a scanner.
A hidden door opened.
Behind it was another room.
Dark.
Cold.
A single bed.
And a woman sitting beside it.
My breath caught.
She turned.
Same eyes.
Same jaw.
Same mouth.
Older.
Scarred.
Alive.
I couldn't speak.
Dorian whispered,
“Who is she?””
Evelyn answered.
“Your sister.””
The woman looked directly at me.
“Alina.””
I gripped the table.
“No.””
She smiled sadly.
“Yes.””
Mara began crying.
Lucas stepped into the doorway.
“You're alive.””
The woman looked at him.
“Barely.””
I couldn't stop staring.
“What is your name?””
She looked toward Evelyn.
Then back at me.
“Anna.””
“Anna Cross?””
She shook her head.
“They never gave me a last name.””
My chest hurt.
“Why didn't you find me?””
Anna laughed softly.
“I tried.””
“Where were you?””
“Here.””
I looked around the laboratory.
“All these years?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
She lifted her sleeve.
Scars covered her arm.
“Because they needed to keep testing me.””
Dorian looked at Evelyn.
“You did this.””
Evelyn didn't answer.
Anna continued.
“Your mother wanted to stop them.””
“My mother?””
“She helped me escape once.””
“What happened?””
“She failed.””
I swallowed.
“Did she die?””
Anna looked at me.
“No.””
My heart stopped.
“She escaped too.””
I stared.
“Where is she?””
Anna's eyes shifted toward Evelyn.
“Ask her.””
Dorian turned.
“Mother.””
Evelyn sighed.
“Evelyn is alive.””
I felt something break inside me.
“Where?””
“She went underground.””
“Why?””
“Because she knew the program would come back.””
“Then why didn't she come for me?””
Evelyn's face softened.
“Because she believed staying away was the only way to keep you alive.””
I shook my head.
“That isn't protection.””
“No.””
Evelyn looked down.
“It was fear.””
For the first time, she seemed human.
Not a mastermind.
Not a monster.
Just an old woman carrying consequences she could no longer hide.
Dorian stared at her.
“Who is funding this now?””
Evelyn hesitated.
“Not Mercer.””
“Then who?””
“The board.””
“Which board?””
“The Cross Foundation.””
Dorian's eyes narrowed.
“But the foundation was dissolved.””
“On paper.””
He turned toward me.
I understood immediately.
“The trust.””
Evelyn nodded.
“Your trust funded everything.””
My stomach dropped.
“For twenty years?””
“Yes.””
“Using my name?””
“Yes.””
I stared at the documents.
“So I was funding experiments on myself.””
Evelyn's voice was quiet.
“Indirectly.””
I laughed.
It sounded broken.
“That is insane.””
Anna spoke from behind us.
“There's more.””
Everyone turned.
She held a small envelope.
“This was hidden in my room.””
She gave it to me.
My name was written on it.
Not by Evelyn.
Not by Mercer.
By my mother.
I opened it.
Inside was a single letter.
Alina,
If you're reading this, they failed to keep you away from the truth.
I need you to understand one thing.
You were never chosen because you were useful.
You were chosen because you survived.
My eyes filled with tears.
The letter continued.
Your father believed your body could be replicated.
He was wrong.
Your genetic sequence cannot be copied.
It can only be inherited.
I stopped.
Dorian read over my shoulder.
“Then the baby…”
Anna whispered,
“Is the first naturally inherited carrier in twenty years.””
My hand moved to my stomach.
The baby wasn't just a child.
It was proof.
Proof the program could work without laboratories.
Without drugs.
Without consent.
Without them.
Dorian looked at Evelyn.
“That's why you wanted the baby.””
“Yes.””
“And Mercer?””
“She wanted the data.””
“Who wanted the child?””
Evelyn hesitated.
“The person above the foundation.””
“Who?””
Evelyn looked toward the glass wall.
A man stood on the other side.
I recognized him instantly.
My divorce attorney.
Graham Holt.
He smiled.
Dorian turned toward him.
“You.””
Graham entered the room.
“I'm afraid this has gone far enough.””
Dorian stepped forward.
“You forged the divorce papers.””
“Yes.””
“You altered her medical records.””
“Yes.””
“You murdered Adrian.””
Graham's smile disappeared.
“Adrian became a liability.””
Mara lunged at him.
Lucas caught her.
“You killed my brother.””
Graham looked at Lucas.
“Your brother was already dead.””
Lucas's eyes filled with fury.
“I am his brother.””
“No.””
Graham smiled.
“You're the reason this project almost failed.””
Dorian's voice dropped.
“Project?””
Graham looked at me.
“The child.””
He pointed toward my stomach.
“That is the project.””
I felt the baby move.
For the first time.
A tiny flutter beneath my palm.
I froze.
Dorian saw my face.
“What?””
I looked down.
“I felt something.””
His expression changed.
Graham smiled.
“Good.””
Then the lights went out.
A red emergency light flashed.
Doors slammed shut throughout the laboratory.
Dorian grabbed my hand.
“Stay with me.””
Graham stepped backward.
“There's one final thing you need to understand.””
The room filled with the sound of locking mechanisms.
He looked directly at me.
“The pregnancy was never the experiment.””
He smiled.
“The experiment begins when the baby is born.””
Then the laboratory doors sealed.
May you like
And somewhere behind the walls, a countdown began.
*03:00:00.*
