Chapter 8: The Woman Who Came to Collect Her Daughter
The footsteps stopped at the bottom of the staircase.
A silhouette appeared beneath the emergency light.
A woman stood there wearing a long black coat.
Her hair was dark, her face pale, and her eyes were almost identical to Elena's.
She was carrying a small photograph.
Behind her stood a security guard holding a little girl by the hand.
Elena took one step forward.
“Emma?””
The woman smiled.
“Hello, Mother.””
Elena began shaking.
I had never seen my wife look so frightened.
“Emma, sweetheart…”
“Don't call me that.””
The woman's voice was calm, almost polite.
“You don't get to use affectionate names after abandoning me.””
“I didn't abandon you. I was told you died.””
Emma laughed.
“That's what everyone says when they want to avoid responsibility.””
She walked into the corridor.
The security guard released the little girl's hand.
The child looked around nervously.
She was about five years old.
And she looked exactly like Lily.
Same dark eyes.
Same dimples.
Same small scar beneath the hairline.
I stared at the two children.
Lily was seven.
This little girl was younger.
Yet they could have been photographs of the same person taken at different ages.
Emma noticed me staring.
“That's my daughter.””
I looked at Richard.
“Which daughter?””
Emma smiled.
“Both.””
Elena gasped.
Emma continued.
“Lily and Sophie are twins. They were created from the same embryo and separated before birth. One was carried by a surrogate. The other was implanted into a different woman.””
I looked at Lily.
Then at Sophie.
My mind struggled to process the information.
“But why were they separated?””
Emma looked at Richard.
“Ask him.””
Richard stepped forward.
“Emma, you shouldn't be here.””
She laughed.
“You told me the facility was secure. You told me nobody could find it.””
“You were supposed to remain at St. Catherine's.””
“I was there for eighteen years. I think I've earned the right to leave.””
I looked at the little girl.
“What's her name?””
“Sophie.””
The child looked at me.
“Are you my daddy?””
I couldn't answer.
Emma crouched beside her.
“This is Daniel. He took care of your sister.””
Sophie looked at Lily.
“Are you my sister?””
Lily slowly nodded.
Sophie smiled.
Then she ran toward her.
The two girls embraced.
For a moment, the corridor became strangely quiet.
Two children who had been separated by adults who treated them like property had finally found each other.
Elena covered her mouth.
“My babies…”
Emma stood.
“Don't.””
Elena turned toward her.
“Please, let me explain.””
“You had eighteen years.””
“I didn't know.””
“You didn't search.””
“I did!””
Emma's expression hardened.
“Not hard enough.””
She pulled a folded letter from her coat.
It was addressed to Elena.
The handwriting was familiar.
Elena took it with trembling hands.
“My mother's handwriting.””
Emma nodded.
“Your mother knew I was alive. She sent Richard money every year to keep me hidden. When she died, the payments stopped. That's when he moved me into the medical facility.””
Elena unfolded the letter.
Her eyes moved across the page.
Then she began crying.
“What does it say?”” I asked.
She handed it to me.
The letter was short.
It explained that Elena's mother had been pressured into surrendering Emma because of a medical condition discovered during pregnancy.
The family had feared public scandal.
Richard had offered to arrange a private adoption.
But the final paragraph was what made my blood run cold.
*If Emma ever discovers the truth, do not allow her to meet the other children. She carries the same inherited condition that killed her father.*
I looked at Richard.
“What condition?””
He answered quietly.
“A rare neurological disorder. It can remain dormant for years before causing severe memory loss and seizures.””
Elena looked at Emma.
“Is that why you were in the hospital?””
Emma smiled.
“Partly.””
She removed a small device from her pocket.
A medical monitor.
“I've been having episodes. Richard knew. He used my condition to keep me sedated and isolated.””
I felt sick.
“Why would he do that?””
“Because he wanted to study the genetic markers in my daughters.””
Vanessa stepped forward.
“That's why he kept Lily's records. He wasn't trying to replace Elena. He was trying to protect the research.””
Emma turned toward her.
“Protect?””
Vanessa lowered her eyes.
“You knew what he was doing.””
“I was a child when he started.””
“You helped him.””
Vanessa didn't answer.
Emma looked at Richard.
“You used my DNA to create children, then used those children to continue your experiments.””
Richard's expression hardened.
“Your mother signed the original agreement.””
“She was eighteen!””
“She was legally an adult.””
Elena lunged toward him.
“You told me Emma died!””
Richard stepped backward.
“And you believed it because you wanted to.””
Elena slapped him again.
This time, he grabbed her wrist.
I rushed forward and knocked his hand away.
“Don't touch my wife.””
Richard stumbled into the table.
His briefcase fell open.
A thick stack of medical records spilled across the floor.
Emma picked one up.
She read it.
Then her face changed.
“Richard?””
He looked at her.
“Put that down.””
She turned the page.
“Why does this say Sophie has already been scheduled for treatment?””
Richard reached for the document.
Emma stepped back.
“WHAT TREATMENT?””
He looked toward the ceiling camera.
Then he pressed something on his watch.
A mechanical hum began beneath the floor.
The corridor lights flickered.
I grabbed Lily and pulled her close.
“What did you activate?””
Richard smiled.
“The emergency containment system.””
A series of heavy doors began closing.
Emma ran toward Sophie.
Elena grabbed Lily.
Vanessa shouted something I couldn't hear over the alarm.
Then a voice came through the speakers.
*CONTAINMENT PROTOCOL INITIATED.*
I looked at Richard.
“What happens now?””
He adjusted his tie.
“Now nobody leaves until the children are secured.””
Emma rushed toward him.
He pulled a small syringe from his jacket.
Vanessa screamed.
“RICHARD, NO!””
He grabbed Emma's arm.
The syringe glinted beneath the red emergency light.
I lunged.
But Richard was faster.
He injected Emma.
She screamed and fell against the wall.
Sophie began crying.
Elena pulled both children toward her.
And as Richard backed away, he looked directly at me.
“Daniel, I have one final piece of information for you.””
He pressed his watch again.
A screen appeared on the wall.
It showed a live video feed from our house.
My house.
My swimming pool.
And standing beside the open concrete entrance was a man I recognized.
My older brother, Michael.
The man who had helped me identify Elena's wedding ring fourteen months earlier.
The man who had delivered flowers to her grave.
The man who had hugged me at the funeral.
Richard smiled.
“Your brother has been waiting upstairs.””
I stared at the screen.
Michael looked directly into the camera.
Then he held up a photograph.
It showed Elena, Richard, Vanessa, and himself standing together outside a hospital.
The date was fourteen months earlier.
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Beneath it, someone had written:
*THE NIGHT WE KILLED ELENA MERCER.*
