Chapter 9 - The Daughter He Could Never FindVictor Hale stood in the doorway as though he owned the house.
He was older than the photographs.
His silver hair was neatly combed, his charcoal coat perfectly dry despite the rain outside.
Nothing about him looked hurried.
Nothing about him looked afraid.
That frightened me most.
His eyes moved from Evelyn to Daniel.
Then they settled on me.
He smiled.
“So,” he said softly. “You finally know.”
Daniel stepped in front of us.
“Get out.”
Victor laughed.
“Still protecting her.”
“You're not taking anyone.”
Victor's gaze moved to Evelyn.
“I didn't come for her.”
Evelyn's face went pale.
“No.”
Victor smiled.
“I came for the truth.”
My hands tightened around the hospital records.
“You're my father.”
He looked at me.
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“Which daughter you mean.”
I stepped around Daniel.
“I'm not playing this game.”
Victor studied me for a moment.
Then he looked at Evelyn.
“Tell her.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“You tell her.”
Victor's smile disappeared.
“You've always been brave.”
“I learned from your wife.”
Something flashed in his eyes.
Then he looked at me again.
“Your mother was very good at hiding things.”
“She was trying to protect us.”
“She was trying to punish me.”
“No,” I said. “She was trying to stop you.”
Victor took one slow step into the room.
“Do you know what happened when she stole you?”
I frowned.
“You mean me and Evelyn.”
Victor gave a small smile.
“You still believe that.”
“Believe what?”
“That there were two children.”
Evelyn's expression changed.
“Victor.”
He ignored her.
“There was one child.”
The room went silent.
I looked at Daniel.
He looked confused.
Victor continued.
“One child born with the genetic marker.”
He pointed toward Evelyn.
“Her.”
Evelyn stiffened.
“And one child created afterward.”
He pointed at me.
“Me?”
He nodded.
“You.”
My throat tightened.
“What does that mean?”
“Your mother couldn't give birth to a second child.”
I looked at the hospital records.
“Then who was born in June?”
Victor's smile returned.
“A child who was never supposed to exist.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“That's impossible.”
Victor glanced at him.
“You always were impatient.”
“Tell her the truth.”
“I am.”
Victor reached into his coat and removed a small leather folder.
He threw it onto the desk.
Documents scattered across the wood.
Birth records.
Medical reports.
Photographs.
A DNA analysis.
I picked up the first page.
PATIENT: EVELYN REED
Under genetic findings:
Marker confirmed.
I picked up the next.
PATIENT: EMMA CARTER
The same marker.
My hands shook.
Victor watched me.
“You were both compatible.”
“With what?”
He didn't answer.
Daniel did.
“The research.”
Victor smiled.
“Exactly.”
I looked at him.
“What research?”
Victor's expression became almost nostalgic.
“People think genetics is about discovering who you are.”
He walked toward the window.
“It isn't.”
He turned.
“It is about discovering what you can be made into.”
My stomach turned.
“You experimented on children.”
Victor shrugged.
“Your mother loved dramatic words.”
“She was right.”
“No.”
His voice hardened.
“She was emotional.”
I stepped closer.
“You stole children.”
“I selected subjects.”
“You stole my sister.”
“I selected Evelyn.”
Evelyn flinched.
“I was eight.”
“You were valuable.”
Daniel's hands curled into fists.
Victor noticed.
“You know exactly why.”
“I know what you did to Claire.”
For the first time, Victor's face changed.
“Claire made choices.”
“She tried to stop you.”
“She tried to destroy years of work.”
“Because you were hurting people.”
Victor looked at him.
“You always believed that.”
Daniel stared back.
“Because it was true.”
Victor smiled sadly.
“And that is why you could never be my son.”
Daniel froze.
I looked between them.
“What does that mean?”
Victor reached into the folder again.
“Daniel believed he was investigating me.”
He removed another page.
“He was actually working for me.”
Daniel's face went white.
“No.”
Victor placed the page on the desk.
A contract.
A signature.
Daniel Reed.
My heart stopped.
Daniel looked at it.
“That isn't my signature.”
Victor laughed.
“It is.”
“You forged it.”
“I didn't need to.”
Daniel stared at the document.
His breathing changed.
I looked closer.
The date was seven years earlier.
Daniel had told me he'd spent years investigating Northbridge.
But the contract stated that he had accepted payment to locate a missing child.
Subject: Evelyn Reed.
I looked at him.
“You were searching for her.”
“Yes.”
“For Victor.”
“At first.”
Victor smiled.
“And then he betrayed me.”
Daniel's jaw clenched.
“I found out what you were doing.”
“And fell in love with my daughter.”
I stared at him.
Victor pointed toward me.
“You didn't know which daughter.”
Daniel didn't answer.
Victor continued.
“You married her because you thought she was Evelyn.”
I felt as though the floor had disappeared.
“Is that true?”
Daniel looked at me.
“I didn't know.”
“You thought I was Evelyn.”
“At first.”
My chest hurt.
“And when did you realize?”
“The night before our wedding.”
I couldn't speak.
“You knew?”
“I knew you weren't the woman I'd been searching for.”
“Then why marry me?”
His eyes filled with something that looked like regret.
“Because by then, it didn't matter.”
Victor laughed.
“That's what he tells himself.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Shut up.”
“You should tell her everything.”
“I am.”
“No.”
Victor smiled.
“You still haven't told her what happened three years ago.”
I looked at Daniel.
“What happened?”
Daniel remained silent.
Victor answered for him.
“She was supposed to disappear.”
My skin prickled.
“Who?”
“You.”
Daniel said quietly, “Victor ordered me to bring you to him.”
I stared at him.
“And you didn't.”
“No.”
“What did you do?”
“I falsified the report.”
“Why?”
“Because I couldn't do it.”
Victor scoffed.
“So instead, he married you and hid you.”
My throat tightened.
“That still means he used me.”
“Yes,” Daniel said.
The honesty hurt more than another lie would have.
“I used your name, your family, your access.”
I looked at the will.
“You used my mother's trust.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you leave tonight?”
He looked down.
“Because Victor found the laboratory.”
I frowned.
“What laboratory?”
“The one where they kept the original genetic records.”
Victor's expression changed.
“Daniel.”
“You don't own it anymore.”
“I own everything.”
“No.”
Daniel pulled his phone from his pocket.
“You don't.”
He tapped the screen.
A file appeared.
Then another.
Bank transfers.
Video files.
Laboratory photographs.
Emails.
Names.
Dates.
I stared.
“You copied everything.”
“I started three years ago.”
Victor took one step toward him.
“You betrayed me.”
Daniel's voice was steady.
“You betrayed everyone first.”
Victor's face hardened.
“You have no idea what you've unleashed.”
“I know exactly what I've unleashed.”
He turned to me.
“Your mother wanted this evidence released after her death.”
I looked at the files.
“Then why didn't she?”
“Because she needed one final piece.”
“What piece?”
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
“The original DNA record.”
Victor's expression changed.
And I understood.
He hadn't come for the will.
He hadn't come for the money.
He had come because of the DNA.
Evelyn suddenly reached into her coat.
Victor moved instantly.
Daniel drew back.
“Don't!”
Evelyn pulled out a tiny plastic tube.
A blood sample.
“This.”
Victor stared at it.
“You don't know what you're carrying.”
Evelyn smiled.
“My mother's last insurance policy.”
Victor lunged.
Daniel intercepted him.
They crashed into the desk.
The lamp shattered.
I ran toward Evelyn.
“Give it to me.”
She placed the tube in my hand.
“Don't let him get it.”
Victor shoved Daniel aside.
He came toward us.
“Emma.”
I stepped back.
“What?”
He stopped.
His voice softened.
“There is something your mother never told you.”
“What?”
“You are not the second daughter.”
I stared at him.
He pointed at Evelyn.
“She is.”
I frowned.
“Then what am I?”
Victor looked into my eyes.
“The original.”
The room seemed to vanish.
“What?”
“You were born first.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
Victor smiled.
“Your mother changed the dates.”
I looked at the hospital records.
March.
June.
Victor continued.
“You were born on March 17.”
My hands went numb.
“Then Evelyn?”
“June 4.”
I stared at her.
She was crying now.
“My mother…”
“She switched your identities,” Victor said.
“Why?”
“To hide the original child from me.”
I looked at Evelyn.
“Then which one did she send away?”
Victor's smile faded.
“The one she wanted me to find.”
Silence.
Daniel whispered,
“No.”
Victor looked at me.
“Your entire life has been a deception.”
He reached into his folder and removed one final sheet.
A DNA report.
At the bottom, a line had been circled in red.
PATERNAL MATCH: VICTOR HALE — 99.98%
But beneath it was another line.
MATERNAL MATCH: UNKNOWN.
I stared.
“My mother wasn't my biological mother.”
Victor nodded.
And Evelyn whispered something that made my blood run cold.
“Then whose daughter are you?”
Before I could answer, Daniel's phone exploded with notifications.
One after another.
Then one final message appeared.
THE LABORATORY HAS BEEN OPENED.
YOUR MOTHER LEFT SOMETHING THERE FOR HER REAL DAUGHTER.
Victor looked at the screen.
His face finally showed fear.
May you like
And he whispered:
“She shouldn't have survived.”