Chapter 2 - The Voice in the Hall
Amelia stepped into the corridor as the answer floated up from below.
“I’m here, darling.”
It was her voice, perfectly copied.
She gripped the railing and looked down into the entrance hall.
Vanessa stood beneath the chandelier.
She wore a cream dress and held Adrian’s arm with the easy familiarity of a wife greeting her husband. When she looked up and saw Amelia, surprise crossed her face for only an instant.
“I was imitating you,” Vanessa said with a laugh. “Adrian says Noah has started copying everyone. I wanted to see whether I could do it too.”
Adrian removed Vanessa’s hand from his sleeve.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“The gala contracts need signatures.” She lifted a folder. “You stopped answering.”
Amelia descended slowly. “Perhaps he was busy answering his wife.”
Vanessa’s smile remained polished. “Of course.”
Amelia stood one step above her. “Did you go into my nursery last night?”
“No.”
“Did you delete security footage?”
Vanessa looked at Adrian. “Is she serious?”
Adrian’s jaw tightened. “Amelia, what happened?”
She wanted to show him the notes and the photograph. Instead she remembered the message: ask your husband about Project Mirror.
“Nothing,” she said. “I’m tired.”
Vanessa’s gaze sharpened. She knew Amelia had found something.
After Vanessa left, Adrian followed Amelia into the library.
“You embarrassed her.”
Amelia turned. “I embarrassed your mistress?”
“She is not my mistress.”
“Then why does she call after midnight?”
“Because the foundation is under investigation.”
The answer came too quickly, but the fear behind it was real.
“What investigation?”
Adrian locked the library door. “Someone has been moving money through charitable accounts. Millions. I found discrepancies last month. Vanessa has been helping me trace them.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because whoever did it has access to our family records. They know Noah’s school, our medical history, the villa’s codes.”
Amelia’s anger cooled into dread.
“Project Mirror,” she said.
Adrian became still.
“Where did you hear that?”
“So it exists.”
He crossed the room and closed the curtains although darkness had already fallen.
“Project Mirror was a biometric identity program funded by Hart Biotech eight years ago. Facial mapping, voice replication, behavioral prediction. It was designed to help patients who had lost speech or mobility.”
“And what did it become?”
“A weapon.”
Adrian opened a hidden compartment behind a bookshelf and removed a slim black drive.
“Someone discovered that the system could build a complete digital copy of a person from medical scans, videos, voice recordings, private messages. Not just an image. A model that could predict choices and imitate habits.”
Amelia thought of Vanessa answering in her voice.
“Who had access?”
“My father. Dr. Elias Voss. A small research team.”
“Your father died.”
“So did Voss.”
“Then why is someone threatening me?”
Adrian looked at the drive. “Because the final Mirror file was built from you.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“No.”
“You were in a car accident nine years ago. You spent six weeks at Saint Catherine’s, the hospital that hosted the project. Your neurological scans became the most complete dataset they ever collected.”
“You knew?”
“Not until after we married.”
“And you said nothing?”
“My father swore the file had been destroyed.”
Amelia slapped him.
The sound cracked through the library.
“You let me build a life inside a lie.”
Adrian did not defend himself.
Then a small voice came from the other side of the door.
“Mommy?”
Amelia opened it. Noah stood in the hallway clutching his toy astronaut.
“There’s a lady in my room,” he whispered.
Adrian moved first.
They ran upstairs. Noah’s room was empty, the windows locked. But his tablet glowed on the bed.
A video was playing.
In it, Amelia sat beside Noah while he slept. She wore the same clothes she wore now. She leaned toward the camera and smiled.
“Adrian,” the recorded Amelia said, “you should have let me drown the first time.”
The video ended.
A live message appeared beneath it.
Garden party. Saturday. Bring everyone.
Amelia felt Lily kick hard beneath her ribs.
May you like
Then Noah pointed toward the wardrobe.
“Mommy,” he whispered, “she’s still in there.”
