Chapter 8 - THE HOUSE UNDER THE HOUSE
We returned to the Mercer estate before dawn.
Not because I wanted to.
Because Adrian told me we had no choice.
If the laboratory contained the evidence we needed, we had to find it before Ethan's father did.
The mansion looked exactly as I remembered.
Massive.
Cold.
Perfect.
The home where I'd spent five years pretending I was loved.
Now every hallway looked like a crime scene.
Adrian stood beside me.
“You don't have to do this.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Claire.”
“My babies are being hunted.”
I looked at the mansion.
“I need to know why.”
He nodded.
“Stay behind me.”
We entered through the side door.
The security system recognized Adrian immediately.
The lights came on.
I stared at the marble floor.
Memories attacked me.
Our wedding photographs.
Christmas dinners.
Ethan carrying me upstairs when I was sick.
All those moments I had believed were real.
Then I remembered him signing my eviction papers.
I realized something.
Maybe the cruelest part wasn't discovering that Ethan had lied.
It was realizing how badly I had wanted his lies to be true.
We reached the library.
Ethan had told us the laboratory was beneath the house.
I looked around.
“Where?”
Adrian found a hidden panel behind the fireplace.
A keypad appeared.
“What's the code?”
I took out the key.
It fit into a slot.
I turned it.
The entire bookshelf moved.
A staircase appeared.
Dark.
Cold.
Descending into the ground.
I swallowed.
“Let's go.”
The laboratory was enormous.
Not a room.
An entire underground facility.
Glass walls.
Computer systems.
Medical equipment.
Three empty incubators.
My knees nearly gave out.
Adrian caught me.
“Claire.”
I stared.
“Those were for babies.”
“Yes.”
“Triplets.”
He nodded.
My father's notebook suddenly made sense.
Project Three wasn't theoretical.
It had been running for decades.
We walked deeper.
On one wall were photographs.
Children.
Newborns.
Medical charts.
I covered my mouth.
“Stop.”
Adrian immediately moved in front of me.
“You don't need to look.”
“Yes, I do.”
I forced myself forward.
Then I saw it.
A photograph of a woman.
My mother.
Holding me as a newborn.
Beside her stood my father.
And behind them was Thomas Mercer.
I froze.
“Why was he there?”
Adrian took the photograph.
“Because your father trusted him.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“My father wouldn't.”
“He did.”
I turned.
“Then why did he die?”
Adrian's face hardened.
“We need to find out.”
A computer screen suddenly turned on.
A file appeared.
SUBJECT C-03
My heart stopped.
I clicked it.
A video began.
My father's face appeared.
He looked younger.
Tired.
Afraid.
“If you're watching this,” he said, “then they found the archive.”
I couldn't breathe.
“My daughter was never supposed to be part of this project.”
I began crying.
“She was born because your mother and I wanted a child.”
He paused.
“But the Mercer family believed she was genetically compatible with the system.”
The video continued.
“They will try to convince you that this is about medicine.”
He looked directly into the camera.
“It isn't.”
The screen flickered.
“They want control.”
The video ended.
I stared at the black screen.
Adrian placed a hand on my shoulder.
“What did he mean by control?”
I didn't answer.
A second file appeared.
This one was labeled:
ETHAN MERCER — SUBJECT PROTECTOR
I clicked it.
Ethan appeared on the screen.
He was younger.
Maybe twenty-five.
He was speaking to my father.
“I don't want to do this.”
My father's voice came from behind the camera.
“Then don't.”
“They'll kill her.”
“Who?”
“My father.”
The video ended.
I stared.
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“Ethan knew your father.”
I nodded.
Another file opened automatically.
This one was dated six years ago.
One year before Ethan and I married.
Ethan stood in the laboratory.
He was talking to Thomas.
“She's not going to agree.”
Thomas answered:
“She doesn't have to.”
Ethan shook his head.
“She'll find out.”
Thomas smiled.
“Not until she's pregnant.”
My blood turned cold.
Adrian went completely still.
The video continued.
Thomas placed a folder on the table.
“Once she gives birth, the children belong to the project.”
Ethan looked horrified.
“No.”
“You agreed.”
“I agreed to protect Claire.”
“You agreed to marry her.”
I covered my mouth.
Adrian looked at me.
“Claire…”
I couldn't hear anything else.
My entire marriage.
Every anniversary.
Every dinner.
Every kiss.
Every promise.
The pregnancy.
All of it.
Had been planned.
Or at least, that's what I thought.
Then the video continued.
Ethan stepped closer to Thomas.
“I'll marry her.”
Thomas smiled.
“But I'll never let you take the children.”
I froze.
The video ended.
I stared at Adrian.
“He protected me.”
“Yes.”
“But he still lied.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed lying was the only way to keep you alive.”
I shook my head.
“He could have told me.”
“Maybe.”
I looked around the laboratory.
Then I noticed another file.
CLAIRE BENNETT — FINAL COMPATIBILITY TEST
I clicked it.
My blood ran cold.
The document contained my medical history.
Pregnancy records.
Genetic data.
And one sentence:
Triplet pregnancy confirmed. Compatibility probability: 97.8%.
I stepped backward.
“No.”
Adrian read it.
“Claire.”
“No.”
A sound came from behind us.
A slow clap.
We turned.
Ethan stood at the top of the staircase.
His face was pale.
But he wasn't alone.
Thomas Mercer stood beside him.
Alive.
Smiling.
He looked directly at me.
“Hello, Claire.”
Adrian moved in front of me.
Thomas laughed.
“You've always been protective, Adrian.”
Adrian's expression changed.
“You know me?”
Thomas smiled.
“I know everything about you.”
Then he looked at the file on the screen.
“Unfortunately, you're too late.”
I felt my blood freeze.
“Why?”
Thomas raised his phone.
A photograph appeared.
My three babies.
Inside the NICU.
And beneath it:
TRANSFER COMPLETE.
I screamed.
“No!”
May you like
Thomas smiled.
“They're already on their way.”
