Chapter 8 - THE SECRET INSIDE THE EMBRYOS
Anna delivered both babies by emergency C-section.
Thirty-one weeks.
Two tiny boys.
Both alive.
Julian stood behind the NICU glass.
He had not moved for twenty minutes.
One baby belonged biologically to Gabriel.
One belonged to Julian.
DNA confirmed it.
The smaller boy was Julian’s.
“He has your chin,” I whispered.
Julian looked at me.
“He weighs three pounds.”
“He also screamed loud enough to terrify three nurses.”
His mouth twitched.
“Then maybe.”
The doctors found no obvious abnormalities.
But Charles’s warning remained.
Elise forced the fertility lab to examine archived embryo records.
Three hours later, she entered the waiting room looking pale.
“They were genetically screened.”
Julian stood.
“For disease?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Modification.”
I stared.
“What kind?”
Elise swallowed.
“Not editing. Selection.”
Charles had screened embryos for a rare inherited blood marker linked to the Mercer family.
Why?
Because Henry Mercer’s sealed trust vault used biological verification.
Fingerprints.
Blood marker.
DNA.
A child carrying the correct markers could unlock everything.
Sloane’s fake baby had never mattered biologically.
The real infants were access keys.
Julian looked toward the NICU.
“He bred children to open a vault.”
Elise nodded.
My stomach turned.
Mateo entered.
“Charles survived surgery.”
“Good.”
Julian’s voice was cold.
“I want him conscious when he loses everything.”
Sloane had escaped during the ambulance chaos.
Brynn remained missing.
Anna was stable.
Then the hospital received a package.
Addressed to me.
Julian immediately ordered it scanned.
No explosive.
Inside was a small wooden music box.
I recognized it.
It had been on Sloane’s vanity at the hotel.
A note:
YOU SHOULD HAVE KEPT MAKING BEDS.
Julian’s jaw hardened.
Mateo opened the box.
Inside was a flash drive.
Video.
Sloane appeared on screen.
“You think you won.”
She smiled.
“You saved Julian.”
“Congratulations, Tess.”
“But ask yourself why Charles knew exactly where you lived.”
My stomach dropped.
The video continued.
“Ask who gave me your schedule.”
Julian looked at Mateo.
I felt suddenly cold.
Sloane leaned closer to the camera.
“Because someone inside Aster Row has been working for us for months.”
I whispered:
“Who?”
Sloane smiled.
Then held up a hotel employee photograph.
My photograph.
Someone had written across it:
SUBJECT T-17.
Not employee.
Subject.
The video ended.
I stared at Julian.
“What does that mean?”
Elise whispered:
“They weren’t watching you because you exposed Sloane.”
“They were watching you before.”
Julian looked at me.
“How long have you worked at Aster Row?”
“Five months.”
His expression changed.
The same amount of time I had been assigned to serve him.
Mateo started pulling hotel records.
Then froze.
“Tess.”
“What?”
“Your hiring file was fast-tracked.”
“By who?”
May you like
He looked at Julian.
“Charles Mercer.”
