Chapter 7 - THE TWIN IN THE SHADOWSEthan didn't look like a stranger.
That was the worst part.
He looked like a version of me who had lived a completely different life.
Same eyes.
Same jaw.
Same small scar beneath the left eyebrow.
Even the same habit of rubbing his thumb against his palm when nervous.
I stared at him.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“Why did everyone say you died?”
“Because that's what they wanted you to believe.”
“Who?”
He looked at Margaret.
Then at Julian.
“Everyone.”
I stepped closer.
“Did Grandma know?”
“Yes.”
“Did my mother?”
“Yes.”
“My father?”
“Yes.”
I felt anger rising.
“And they all lied.”
Ethan nodded.
“They had reasons.”
“Don't defend them.”
“I'm not.”
He looked at me.
“I'm telling you the truth.”
“What truth?”
He sat down.
“Your grandmother discovered the fertility program.”
I already knew.
“She discovered they created us for the trust.”
“Yes.”
“She wanted to expose them.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“She took me.”
“You?”
“She tried to take both of us.”
“What happened to me?”
“She couldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother stopped her.”
My chest tightened.
“She chose me.”
“No.”
Ethan shook his head.
“She chose the trust.”
I stared at him.
“What happened to you?”
“My grandmother sent me away.”
“To where?”
“Europe.”
“For twenty-six years, I've been living under another name.”
“Why come back now?”
He looked at me.
“Because they killed the last person who protected me.”
“Who?”
“Grandma.”
I froze.
“What?”
“She didn't die twenty-six years ago.”
I stared.
“What are you talking about?”
“She survived the fall.”
My mother's confession suddenly sounded incomplete.
Ethan continued.
“She lived for eleven days.”
“Eleven?”
“Yes.”
“Then how did she die?”
“She was poisoned.”
I covered my mouth.
“By whom?”
Ethan looked at me.
“Your mother.”
My blood ran cold.
“But she said she pushed her.”
“She did.”
“Then poisoned her?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your grandmother refused to tell them where she had hidden the evidence.”
I stared.
“What evidence?”
“The names of everyone involved.”
I remembered the flash drive.
The documents.
The Circle.
Ethan nodded.
“You found them.”
“Yes.”
“And that's why they're after you.”
A gunshot shattered the window.
Everyone dropped.
Ethan grabbed me.
“Down!”
Another shot.
Then another.
Julian pulled Margaret behind the desk.
Ethan looked at me.
“They found us.”
“Who?”
He pulled a weapon.
“The people who built our family.”
We escaped through the basement.
Outside, black SUVs filled the street.
Police sirens approached.
But the attackers were already gone.
Only one thing remained.
A white envelope taped to my car.
Inside was a photograph.
My mother.
Harrison.
Alexander Sterling.
And a fourth man.
I recognized him.
The same man from the fertility records.
Dr. Victor Crane.
May you like
On the back:
He knows why you were created.
