Chapter 9 - THE TRUTH ABOUT ETHAN MERCER
I don't remember running upstairs.
I only remember Adrian beside me.
Thomas disappeared.
The laboratory doors slammed shut behind us.
I was screaming my children's names.
“Where are they?”
Adrian was already calling security.
“Find the transport.”
A voice answered.
“We're tracking it.”
“Where?”
“Eastbound.”
“Which hospital?”
“Unknown.”
My heart was pounding so hard it hurt.
“Adrian.”
He looked at me.
“We'll get them.”
“What if we're too late?”
“We won't be.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I'm not asking.”
His voice was cold.
“I’m taking them back.”
Then Ethan appeared.
He stood in the driveway.
Alone.
His face was bruised.
Blood covered one side of his shirt.
I ran toward him.
“Where are my babies?”
He grabbed my arms.
“Listen to me.”
“Where are they?”
“Thomas has them.”
I screamed.
“You knew?”
“No!”
“You gave him access!”
“I didn't!”
Adrian stepped forward.
“Explain.”
Ethan looked at him.
“My father took control of the hospital network.”
“We know.”
“He has a second location.”
“Blackridge.”
Ethan nodded.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Adrian grabbed him.
“Find out.”
“I've been trying for years.”
“Then try harder.”
Ethan looked at me.
“Claire.”
I stepped closer.
“Tell me the truth.”
“I will.”
“Everything.”
“Yes.”
“No more lies.”
He nodded.
“I married you because my father ordered me to.”
The words broke something inside me.
I knew.
I'd seen the video.
But hearing him say it hurt differently.
“He wanted your father’s research.”
Ethan continued.
“He believed your DNA could activate the system.”
“And you?”
“I wanted to protect you.”
“You could have told me.”
“They would have killed you.”
“You don't know that.”
“I do.”
His voice cracked.
“My brother tried to kill you once.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Six years ago.”
“When?”
“Before we married.”
He swallowed.
“You were leaving your office late. Someone followed you.”
I remembered.
The black SUV.
The man who had chased me.
The police report.
I had assumed it was random.
“It wasn't.”
Ethan shook his head.
“It was Thomas.”
My stomach turned.
“You saved me.”
“Yes.”
“And then married me.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you become cruel?”
His eyes filled with tears.
“Because my father was watching.”
“What?”
“Every time I showed affection, he threatened you.”
I stared.
“That doesn't excuse what you did.”
“I know.”
“You abandoned me.”
“I thought if I made you hate me, you'd leave.”
“You threw me out while pregnant.”
“I thought the project would lose interest.”
“And did it?”
“No.”
He looked toward the road.
“They were waiting for the babies.”
I closed my eyes.
Then I asked the question I'd been afraid to ask.
“Did you ever love me?”
Ethan didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
His eyes told me.
“Yes.”
I turned away.
That somehow hurt more.
Because I still loved the man I thought he was.
Not the man he'd become.
Not the liar.
Not the coward.
But the man who had once held my hand under the table at our first dinner.
The man who had whispered that he would never let anyone hurt me.
Maybe that man had been real.
Maybe he had simply lost himself trying to protect me.
Adrian stood silently nearby.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
“Talk.”
His expression changed.
He looked at me.
“We found the transport.”
“Where?”
“Queens.”
My heart leaped.
“Are they alive?”
“Yes.”
I nearly collapsed.
“Where are they going?”
“An abandoned research facility.”
Adrian looked at Ethan.
“Blackridge.”
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“Blackridge isn't in Queens.”
“Then where?”
Ethan stared at him.
“There's another Blackridge.”
We reached the facility forty minutes later.
Police surrounded the building.
But Adrian didn't wait.
He entered.
I followed.
Inside was darkness.
Cold air.
Medical equipment.
Three incubators.
Empty.
My heart stopped.
“No.”
Adrian grabbed my hand.
“Keep moving.”
We found a corridor.
At the end was a locked door.
Behind it came a faint sound.
A baby's cry.
I screamed.
“Grace!”
We broke through.
Three incubators.
Lucas.
Noah.
Grace.
Alive.
My knees collapsed.
I crawled toward them.
“Mommy's here.”
The monitors beeped.
All three babies were stable.
I cried so hard I couldn't breathe.
Adrian stood behind me.
Ethan entered.
He stared at his children.
For the first time, I saw the father I had once loved.
He placed his hand against the glass.
“I'm sorry.”
I looked at him.
He whispered:
“All three of you.”
Then a gunshot exploded somewhere behind us.
Everyone froze.
Security shouted.
“Down!”
Adrian pushed me behind him.
Another shot.
Glass shattered.
Ethan grabbed a weapon from one of the guards.
“Get Claire out.”
“No.”
I refused.
“My babies stay with me.”
Adrian looked at me.
“Claire.”
“No.”
Then footsteps echoed through the corridor.
Thomas appeared.
He was holding a gun.
“Adrian.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“It's over.”
Thomas laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
He looked at the babies.
“They aren't valuable because they're triplets.”
I froze.
“Then why?”
Thomas smiled.
“Because Claire is.”
Silence.
I stared at him.
“What?”
Thomas lowered the gun.
“Your father didn't create Project Three.”
I looked at Adrian.
Thomas continued.
“Your father discovered it.”
My blood froze.
“Who created it?”
Thomas smiled.
“Your mother.”
I couldn't breathe.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Thomas laughed softly.
“Your mother was the original subject.”
I stared.
“That's impossible.”
“She survived.”
Adrian looked shocked.
Thomas continued.
“And when she had you, she passed the compatibility marker directly to you.”
I looked at my children.
Then at Thomas.
“What are you saying?”
“You aren't the daughter of Project Three.”
He smiled.
“You are Project One.”
May you like
The lights suddenly went out.
And in the darkness, I heard three tiny alarms begin screaming.
