Chapter 8 - THE EXCHANGE AT HAVEN HOUSE
I agreed to Conrad’s terms.
Publicly.
Northstar announced that acquisition proceedings would pause.
Celeste prepared transfer documents appearing to restore control of Ardent Vale to Adrian and assign Helix assets to Conrad.
The signatures were real.
The transfer mechanism was not.
Every document contained a delayed authorization requiring verification from Julian.
Conrad believed I was surrendering.
In reality, we needed him to expose the treatment location.
He instructed me to come to Haven House alone.
Federal agents objected.
Dr. Morgan objected.
Julian nearly destroyed the conference table.
“You are thirty-two weeks pregnant.”
“I know.”
“You could deliver.”
“I know.”
“He could kill you.”
“He already tried.”
“I’m not letting you go.”
I looked at my brother.
“You don’t get to replace Adrian’s control with yours.”
The words hurt him.
They were still necessary.
We compromised.
I would wear a concealed tracker.
Agents would remain outside the perimeter.
Vanessa insisted on coming.
Conrad specifically prohibited it.
That was why she became essential.
At midnight, I entered Haven House carrying the transfer documents.
The abandoned rehabilitation center stood above the cliffs, its windows black against the ocean.
Conrad waited inside the old therapy room.
He was elegant, calm, and seventy years old.
Nothing about him looked monstrous.
Most monsters benefit from that.
“You have Evelyn’s face,” he said.
“You murdered women.”
“I advanced medicine.”
“You stole children.”
“I created futures.”
“You altered my babies.”
“I corrected them.”
“One is sick.”
“One is dependent on me.”
The distinction revealed everything.
Conrad did not want healthy children.
He wanted indispensable power.
I placed the documents on the table.
“The treatment.”
He opened a silver case containing several vials.
“This stabilizes the mutation after birth.”
“How do I know it works?”
“Vanessa received an earlier version.”
“You experimented on your daughter.”
“I perfected her.”
A voice spoke behind him.
“No.”
Vanessa stepped from the dark hallway.
Conrad turned.
For the first time, his composure cracked.
“You were told not to come.”
“You were never entitled to tell me that.”
“She has corrupted you.”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“You built me to obey and still failed.”
Conrad reached for the silver case.
I pulled it away.
He grabbed my wrist.
A contraction tore through me.
I doubled over.
Vanessa struck him with a metal lamp.
He fell against the table.
Outside, agents moved toward the building.
Then Adrian appeared from the hallway holding a gun.
He had escaped federal transport with help from a bribed officer.
His face was bruised.
His eyes were wild.
“Give me the papers,” he said.
“Adrian,” Vanessa whispered.
“Shut up.”
He pointed the gun at my stomach.
“You ruined everything.”
“No,” I said. “You borrowed everything.”
Conrad rose behind him.
“Take the case and leave.”
Adrian looked between us.
“You promised me Northstar.”
“I promised you access if Mara died.”
The truth landed.
Adrian had believed Conrad respected him.
He was merely another tool.
“You used me,” Adrian said.
Conrad smiled.
“Of course.”
Adrian turned the gun toward him.
The shot shattered a window.
Conrad fell.
Agents stormed the room.
Vanessa pulled me behind a concrete pillar.
Adrian fired again.
Then a federal agent shot him in the shoulder.
He dropped the weapon.
My water broke.
Warm liquid spread across the floor.
Dr. Morgan’s voice came through the emergency transmitter.
“Mara, lie on your left side.”
The storm outside shook the windows.
Conrad bled beside the silver case.
Adrian screamed as agents restrained him.
Vanessa knelt beside me and held my hand.
“You are not dying here,” she said.
Another contraction seized my body.
I gripped her fingers.
“No,” I whispered.
“My sons are being born in a room where their future was priced.”
May you like
Sirens approached.
“They will leave it free.”
