Chapter 6 - THE MOTHER WHO NEVER KNEW
Sophia could not answer.
Lily waited.
Her dark eyes filled with tears.
Lauren crouched beside her.
“She can hear you,” Lauren said.
Sophia forced air into her lungs.
“Lily, I did not give you away.”
The child looked uncertain.
Lauren whispered something near her ear.
Lily shook her head.
“He said you didn’t want me.”
“Who said that?”
Lauren’s smile returned.
“You know who.”
“Ethan?”
The video froze for a fraction of a second.
Enough to confirm it.
Sophia leaned closer to the camera.
“Lily, listen to me. I was told my baby died. I didn’t know you existed.”
The girl looked toward someone off screen.
Sophia continued quickly.
“I would have looked for you every day.”
Lauren straightened.
“That is enough.”
“Don’t cut the feed.”
“You resigned. Now authorize the transfer.”
“You already cloned me.”
“The clone opened the process. It cannot complete it.”
Peter whispered, “The final authorization requires a spoken phrase paired with a live facial scan.”
Lauren looked directly at Sophia.
“Say the phrase.”
“No.”
Her hand tightened on Lily’s shoulder.
The child winced.
Sophia’s voice sharpened.
“Take your hand off her.”
“Then cooperate.”
“What embryo are you moving?”
Lauren’s eyes flickered toward the storage tank.
“The last viable one.”
“For whom?”
“That is not your concern.”
“It is my genetic child.”
Lauren laughed.
“You never cared about genetics when you gave your work to the world.”
“I created a tool to identify people, not manufacture ideal children.”
“Spare me the moral speech. You built the engine. Ethan only found the buyers.”
“And your father?”
Lauren’s smile faded.
The question struck.
Sophia continued.
“Did Daniel choose you to carry the embryo, or did you volunteer because you thought it would make Ethan leave me?”
Lauren looked at the camera with open hatred.
“You think this was about stealing your marriage?”
“You told me I was his ATM.”
“You were.”
“Then why does your father need my technology?”
Lauren’s fingers curled.
“He doesn’t need you anymore.”
“Then why am I still alive?”
Silence.
Cole pointed to the lower corner of the screen.
A reflection showed part of a clock.
9:58.
The live feed was recent.
Peter compared the laboratory layout with Mercer Medical Center plans.
He whispered, “Sublevel three.”
Cole quietly sent the location to his team.
Sophia kept Lauren talking.
“You were never supposed to receive the embryo, were you?”
Lauren’s expression hardened.
“You don’t know anything.”
“Dr. Vale said you refused after learning Ethan promised it to another client.”
“Vale was a coward.”
“He was going to expose you.”
“He was going to destroy years of work.”
“So you killed him?”
Lily looked up at Lauren.
Lauren’s face changed.
Fear, not guilt.
She glanced off camera.
Someone else was listening.
“No,” Lauren said.
Too quickly.
Sophia understood.
Lauren had participated in the deception, but she was not controlling the room.
“Who is there with you?” Sophia asked.
Lauren’s eyes shifted again.
The screen went dark for one second.
When it returned, Lily was alone.
A distorted male voice spoke.
“Complete the authorization.”
Sophia recognized the rhythm.
Not Ethan.
Older.
Measured.
Daniel Mercer.
“You financed Nightingale,” she said.
“No names.”
“You took my child.”
“Your husband surrendered parental control.”
“He had no right.”
“He had every legal right under the consent documents.”
“Fraudulent documents.”
“That will be argued later.”
“You raised Lily?”
A pause.
Then Daniel answered.
“She was placed with a family.”
“Which family?”
“One capable of protecting the project.”
“From me?”
“From exposure.”
Sophia’s hands trembled beneath the desk.
“Let her go.”
“Authorize the embryo.”
“No.”
“Then the girl returns to storage.”
The meaning was not literal.
It was worse.
He would erase her identity again.
Move her.
Rename her.
Make her disappear into another controlled family.
Sophia looked at Cole.
He held up five fingers.
Five minutes until entry.
She needed time.
“What is the spoken phrase?”
Peter opened the authorization protocol.
He pointed to the line.
HOPE IS A DECISION.
Dr. Vale’s words.
Sophia understood why he had used DECISION as the password.
He had been guiding her.
Daniel spoke again.
“Say it.”
Sophia looked into the camera.
“Bring Lily closer.”
“No.”
“I need the system to see my face and verify that I’m speaking freely. If I appear coerced, the authorization may fail.”
Peter looked at her in surprise.
It was a lie.
Daniel did not know that.
After a pause, Lily returned to the screen.
Lauren stood behind her, but now Sophia saw a second reflection in the laboratory glass.
A man near the door.
Daniel.
Older, silver-haired, wearing a dark suit.
And beside him stood Ethan.
Sophia’s breath caught.
He had left the hospital.
Cole silently cursed.
Ethan stepped into view.
“Sophia.”
Lily looked at him.
There was no affection in her face.
Only fear.
Sophia’s voice became cold.
“You told her I abandoned her.”
Ethan looked exhausted.
“I told her what was necessary.”
“She is our daughter.”
“She was never supposed to become part of our lives.”
“Our lives?”
“You were falling apart.”
“I was grieving because you told me she died.”
“You couldn’t handle another loss.”
“So you made me live one.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“I made a decision for both of us.”
Sophia looked at Lily.
“Did he visit you?”
The child nodded faintly.
“What did he call himself?”
“Uncle Ethan.”
Sophia closed her eyes.
He had watched their daughter grow.
He had returned home afterward and slept beside Sophia.
Every birthday.
Every school year.
Every time Sophia cried over the children she believed were gone.
Ethan had known.
“You are not her father,” Sophia said.
His face twitched.
“Biologically, I am.”
“No. A father doesn’t turn his child into inventory.”
Daniel’s voice cut in.
“Enough. Complete the authorization.”
Cole held up one finger.
The tactical team was in position.
Sophia looked at Lily.
“Hope is a decision.”
A green light flashed inside the laboratory.
AUTHORIZATION ACCEPTED.
Lauren smiled.
Daniel turned toward the storage unit.
And then every light in Mercer Medical Center went out.
Gunfire erupted through the speakers.
Lauren screamed.
The camera fell sideways.
Sophia saw boots.
Broken glass.
Ethan pulling Lily toward a rear door.
Then the feed vanished.
Cole received a message.
The team had entered the laboratory.
Daniel and Lauren were in custody.
May you like
But Ethan had escaped.
And he had taken Lily with him.
