Chapter 23 - THE BLOODLINE
Jonathan explained the Carter family had been monitored for generations.
Certain neurological traits appeared repeatedly.
Memory retention.
Pattern recognition.
Emotional recall.
Bellhaven wanted to combine those traits.
Daniel rejected the idea.
“That's impossible.”
Jonathan opened an old medical file.
Daniel recognized his mother's signature.
Then Henry's.
Then Melissa's.
The records showed Noah's pregnancy had been monitored before Daniel even knew Bellhaven existed.
Daniel turned to Henry.
“You knew?”
Henry shook his head.
“I knew they were watching us.”
“You knew about Noah?”
“I didn't know why.”
Jonathan smiled.
“Your father wasn't lying.”
Daniel looked at him.
“He simply never knew the whole truth.”
Jonathan turned toward Claire.
“Neither did you.”
Claire stared.
“What?”
Jonathan pointed toward a sealed cabinet.
“Open it.”
She did.
Inside was a birth record.
Melissa Carter.
Daniel's eyes widened.
The document listed a second identity.
Melissa had been registered under another name at birth.
“Why?”
Jonathan answered:
“Because her mother was Bellhaven's first surviving patient.”
Daniel stared at the record.
“What was her name?”
Jonathan smiled.
“Evelyn Carter.”
Daniel's blood ran cold.
The same Evelyn who had entered his life after Melissa's supposed death.
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The woman he had believed was simply connected to Margaret.
She was connected to Melissa by blood.
