Chapter 7 - THE CHOICE A FATHER MAKES
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Adrian wanted to go alone.
I refused.
“This is my daughter.”
“And my daughter.”
The words hung between us.
Neither of us corrected them.
For the first time, Adrian didn't ask permission.
He simply reached for my hand.
I let him.
We drove to the old Whitmore clinic.
The building had been abandoned for years.
Or so everyone thought.
Inside, the lights were on.
Security systems activated.
A voice came through the speakers.
Eleanor.
“Adrian.”
He stepped forward.
“Release her.”
“Bring me the boy.”
I held my son.
“No.”
“Then you lose your daughter.”
Adrian looked at me.
“I have an idea.”
He turned toward the camera.
“My mother wants the genetic data.”
Silence.
“So let her have it.”
I stared.
“Adrian…”
He continued:
“But not from the child.”
The doors opened.
Rebecca stepped inside carrying a portable sequencing machine.
“I can recreate the data.”
Eleanor laughed.
“You can't fake genetics.”
“No.”
Rebecca looked at Adrian.
“We can extract the relevant markers from your blood.”
Eleanor stopped laughing.
“You are the carrier.”
“Yes.”
“And the boy inherited it.”
“Yes.”
“So you would give me yourself?”
Adrian stepped forward.
“If you release her.”
Silence.
Then Eleanor said:
“You really think I'll keep my word?”
“No.”
Adrian looked at me.
“I think she'll choose the data over the children.”
Rebecca started the machine.
Eleanor appeared on the monitor.
“Send the sample.”
Adrian extended his arm.
Rebecca drew blood.
Seconds later, the file transferred.
Eleanor smiled.
Then the lights in the clinic turned red.
Federal agents surrounded the building.
Eleanor stared at the camera.
“What did you do?”
Adrian smiled faintly.
“You never asked what the data contained.”
Rebecca looked at me.
“We embedded the full patient archive inside the genetic sequence.”
Eleanor froze.
Every hidden trial.
Every patient.
Every payment.
Every illegal procedure.
One package.
Adrian had turned his own blood into evidence.
The doors exploded open.
Agents stormed the building.
Eleanor ran.
I heard my daughter's cry.
I followed.
We reached a nursery.
Eleanor stood beside the crib.
My baby girl was crying.
“Put her down.”
Eleanor looked at her.
“She could change medicine.”
“She is a child.”
“She is proof.”
“No.”
I stepped forward.
“She is my daughter.”
Eleanor raised the weapon.
Adrian came between us.
“Don't.”
She aimed at him.
“I gave you everything.”
“You gave me a lie.”
Then Eleanor's hand trembled.
For one second, she looked old.
Tired.
Broken.
“I did what I thought would save the family.”
Adrian shook his head.
“You destroyed it.”
Federal agents rushed in.
Eleanor dropped the weapon.
My daughter was returned to me.
I held her against my chest.
She cried.
I cried.
Adrian stood beside us.
He looked at me.
“You okay?”
I nodded.
Then I whispered:
“You said you'd save all three.”
He looked at me.
May you like
“I did.”
For the first time in six years, I believed him.
