CHAPTER 14 THE LAST HEARTBEAT
The hospital doors burst open at 3:17 a.m.
Adrian carried Maya in his arms.
“Doctor!”
His voice tore through the emergency department.
Nurses rushed toward him.
Elena was already waiting.
“Put her down.”
Adrian laid Maya onto the gurney.
Her skin was frighteningly pale.
Her eyes remained closed.
The monitor beside her showed a weak, irregular rhythm.
Beep.
A pause.
Beep.
Another pause.
Elena's expression changed.
“Her heart is failing.”
Adrian stared at her.
“You said the transfer was safe.”
“I said we didn't know what would happen.”
“You told me—”
“I was wrong.”
Adrian stepped back.
For a man who had ordered hundreds of people around without hesitation, he suddenly looked lost.
“Fix her.”
Elena turned toward the medical team.
“Prepare the cardiac unit.”
Adrian grabbed her arm.
“Whatever it costs.”
Elena looked directly at him.
“This isn't about money.”
“Then what?”
“Her body has accepted the transfer.”
“So?”
“She has become the biological trustee.”
Adrian didn't understand.
“Speak English.”
Elena took a breath.
“The Moretti Trust is no longer just information.”
“What is it?”
“A biological system.”
Adrian stared.
“The device implanted in your heart is communicating with the trust.”
His face went pale.
“My device?”
“Yes.”
“And Maya?”
“She absorbed the administrative response.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“Meaning?”
Elena lowered her voice.
“You and Maya are now linked.”
Adrian looked at Maya.
“What happens to her if something happens to me?”
Elena didn't answer.
“What happens?”
“She could die.”
The words destroyed whatever remained of Adrian's composure.
“Then disconnect us.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because the system has already synchronized.”
“Then destroy it.”
“We tried.”
“Try harder.”
Elena stared at him.
“You don't understand what you're asking.”
Adrian leaned closer.
“I understand exactly.”
He pointed toward Maya.
“That's my daughter.”
Then toward Lily.
“That's my granddaughter.”
His voice broke.
“I've lost three years already.”
He looked at Maya again.
“I won't lose her tonight.”
Across the hospital corridor, Lily sat beside Anna.
She held Mr. Buttons tightly against her chest.
“Is Mommy going to wake up?”
Anna's eyes filled with tears.
“She will.”
“How do you know?”
Anna looked through the glass at Adrian.
“Because your father won't let her go.”
Lily frowned.
“Daddy can't control everything.”
Anna almost smiled.
“No.”
She looked at Adrian.
“But he hasn't learned that yet.”
Inside the cardiac unit, Maya's heart rate suddenly dropped.
Beep……
Adrian's head snapped up.
Elena shouted:
“Pressure falling!”
Nurses rushed around the bed.
“Charge to two hundred.”
Adrian moved toward Maya.
“Get him out!” someone shouted.
Elena stopped them.
“No.”
She looked at Adrian.
“Stay.”
“What?”
“If the connection is real…”
She pointed toward Maya.
“…your heartbeat may stabilize hers.”
Adrian stared.
“You want me to synchronize with her?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Relax.”
Adrian almost laughed.
“Relax?”
Elena glared.
“You've survived gunfights.”
“Kidnappings.”
“Heart failure.”
“You can survive five minutes of meditation.”
“I don't meditate.”
“Tonight you do.”
Adrian sat beside Maya.
He took her hand.
Her fingers were cold.
“Come on,” he whispered.
Nothing.
Her monitor remained unstable.
Elena adjusted the medication.
“Close your eyes.”
Adrian did.
“Listen to your heartbeat.”
He listened.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
“Now imagine hers.”
Adrian focused.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then—
Maya's rhythm changed.
Beep.
Adrian's heart responded.
Beep.
Maya.
Beep.
Adrian.
The two rhythms slowly aligned.
Elena stared at the monitors.
“Oh my God.”
The nurses froze.
Maya's blood pressure rose.
Her oxygen level improved.
Adrian opened his eyes.
“She’s stabilizing.”
Elena nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She looked at the monitors.
“Because the system wasn't designed to transfer power.”
Adrian frowned.
“Then what was it designed to do?”
“To connect the bloodline.”
Maya opened her eyes.
Adrian leaned toward her.
“Maya?”
Her lips moved.
“Dad?”
He almost collapsed with relief.
“I'm here.”
She blinked.
“Where's Lily?”
“Safe.”
“Anna?”
“Safe.”
“Mom?”
Adrian paused.
“Your mother?”
Maya nodded.
“Evelyn.”
Adrian's expression changed.
“She disappeared.”
Maya frowned.
“She was supposed to come back.”
“She didn't.”
Maya's eyes filled with fear.
“Victor.”
Adrian nodded.
“We'll find her.”
Maya gripped his hand.
“Dad.”
“What?”
“She told me something.”
“What?”
“She said Victor isn't the real enemy.”
Adrian went still.
“What did she mean?”
Maya swallowed.
“She said…”
Her voice weakened.
“…he's afraid of someone.”
“Who?”
Maya closed her eyes.
“I don't know.”
“Think.”
“She said one name.”
“What name?”
Maya whispered:
“Cassian.”
Adrian's face went completely still.
Elena noticed.
“You know that name.”
Adrian stared toward the window.
“Yes.”
“Who is Cassian?”
Adrian didn't answer.
Maya opened her eyes.
“Dad?”
He finally spoke.
“Cassian Moretti.”
“Who?”
“My grandfather's brother.”
Elena frowned.
“I thought he died.”
“So did everyone.”
Three hours later, Adrian stood alone in the hospital parking garage.
Vincent approached.
“Boss.”
Adrian didn't turn.
“Tell me everything about Cassian.”
Vincent hesitated.
“There's not much.”
“Then start with what you know.”
“Cassian was your grandfather's older brother.”
“How old?”
“Seventy-two.”
“Alive?”
Vincent looked at him.
“We don't know.”
Adrian turned.
“That's not good enough.”
Vincent handed him a folder.
“Read this.”
Adrian opened it.
The first photograph showed two young men standing outside a laboratory.
His grandfather.
And Cassian.
Beneath them:
PROJECT ZERO — FOUNDERS
Adrian flipped the page.
Another photograph.
Cassian holding a baby.
The baby's face had been blacked out.
Adrian stared.
“Who's the child?”
“We don't know.”
“Why is the face erased?”
“Cassian ordered it.”
Adrian turned another page.
A handwritten note.
If the fourth subject survives, the Moretti bloodline will no longer be controllable.
Adrian looked up.
“Fourth subject.”
Vincent nodded.
“Anna.”
Adrian's expression darkened.
“Cassian created her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“We don't know.”
Adrian read the next page.
His eyes stopped.
A single sentence had been underlined.
SUBJECT FOUR WAS NEVER DESIGNED TO OBEY THE SYSTEM.
Adrian whispered:
“She was designed to destroy it.”
A phone rang.
Vincent answered.
Then his face changed.
“What?”
Adrian watched him.
Vincent lowered the phone.
“It's Lily's school.”
Adrian's stomach dropped.
“What happened?”
“They found something.”
“Where?”
“In her locker.”
Adrian and Vincent arrived twenty minutes later.
The school had been evacuated.
Police cars surrounded the building.
A teacher led them toward the classroom.
“She said she didn't know how it got there.”
Adrian entered.
Lily's backpack sat on a desk.
Beside it was a small envelope.
His name was written on it.
ADRIAN MORETTI
Adrian opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
He recognized the place immediately.
The Moretti family cemetery.
A grave.
His father's.
But someone had crossed out the name.
Underneath, another name had been written.
CASSIAN MORETTI
Adrian stared.
Vincent whispered:
“Boss…”
Adrian flipped the photograph.
A message was written on the back.
HE NEVER DIED.
Then another line.
HE'S COMING FOR HIS INHERITANCE.
That night, Adrian returned to the hospital.
Maya was awake.
Lily slept beside her.
Adrian stood at the window.
Maya watched him.
“You're scared.”
He didn't deny it.
“Yes.”
“Of Cassian?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Adrian turned.
“Because I've spent my entire life believing I was the most dangerous person in my family.”
Maya frowned.
“And?”
“I was wrong.”
He walked toward her.
“Cassian disappeared when I was six.”
“What happened?”
“He killed three scientists.”
Maya stared.
“Why?”
“They wanted to expose the experiment.”
“And your grandfather?”
“He blamed Cassian.”
“Did he?”
Adrian nodded.
“According to the family records.”
Maya looked at him.
“But you don't believe it.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Adrian showed her the photograph.
“Because Cassian wasn't trying to destroy the experiment.”
Maya studied it.
“What was he doing?”
Adrian pointed at the baby.
“He was protecting the final subject.”
Maya looked at him.
“Who?”
Adrian stared toward Lily.
His voice dropped.
“I think it was her.”
Maya's eyes widened.
“But Lily wasn't born until years later.”
“I know.”
“Then how?”
Adrian looked at the photograph again.
“I don't know.”
A voice came from the doorway.
“I do.”
Adrian spun around.
Elena stood there.
Her face was pale.
“Cassian wasn't protecting Lily.”
Adrian raised his weapon.
“Then who?”
Elena slowly closed the door.
“Your grandmother.”
Adrian froze.
“My grandmother died.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
“She disappeared.”
Adrian's breathing stopped.
“Twenty-nine years ago.”
Maya stared.
“Why did everyone say she died?”
“Because Cassian needed them to believe it.”
Adrian whispered:
“Where is she?”
Elena looked at him.
“Under the city.”
They followed Elena into an underground tunnel beneath the hospital.
Vincent hated every second of it.
“This place wasn't on any blueprint.”
Elena kept walking.
“Because it wasn't built by the hospital.”
“Who built it?”
“Your grandfather.”
Adrian looked around.
The walls were old.
Concrete.
Steel.
Thousands of wires.
“This place is connected to the trust.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Elena stopped at a steel door.
“Because this is where it began.”
She entered a code.
The door opened.
Inside was a room filled with photographs.
Maya stopped.
“Those are…”
Children.
Dozens of them.
Each photograph labeled with a number.
Subject One.
Subject Two.
Subject Three.
Subject Four.
And beneath them—
SUBJECT ZERO.
Adrian approached.
The photograph showed a young woman.
His grandmother.
Alive.
Healthy.
Smiling.
Beside her stood Cassian.
And in her arms—
a baby.
Adrian stared.
“That's me.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
Adrian looked closer.
The baby had dark hair.
A tiny scar above the eyebrow.
But it wasn't him.
It was another child.
A girl.
Maya stepped beside him.
“Who is she?”
Elena whispered:
“Your grandmother's first daughter.”
Adrian's face went pale.
“Another daughter?”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
Elena looked at him.
“She became Subject Zero.”
Adrian stared at the photograph.
Evelyn.
His mother.
The truth suddenly rearranged itself.
His mother wasn't Subject Zero.
She was the child of Subject Zero.
Adrian whispered:
“Then who is Evelyn?”
Elena answered:
“Your aunt.”
Maya's eyes widened.
“Then who was Adrian's mother?”
Elena looked at Adrian.
“She died giving birth to you.”
Adrian froze.
For thirty-four years, he had believed the woman who raised him was his mother.
She wasn't.
His entire identity had been built on a lie.
He stepped backward.
“Who raised me?”
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
“Cassian.”
Silence.
Adrian stared at her.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“My father raised me.”
“Your father believed he did.”
“What are you saying?”
“Your grandfather erased your memory.”
Adrian's hand trembled.
“Why?”
“Because you were never supposed to inherit the empire.”
Maya whispered:
“Then what were you supposed to inherit?”
Elena looked toward the final photograph.
It showed Adrian as a child.
Beside him stood Cassian.
And on the table between them was a tiny medical device.
The same model Adrian carried inside his chest.
Elena whispered:
“Not the empire.”
“The heart.”
Adrian touched the photograph.
Suddenly a memory flashed.
A dark room.
A man's voice.
A cold metal table.
A child's cry.
Then Cassian's voice.
“You will forget this place.”
Adrian staggered.
Maya caught him.
“Dad!”
He closed his eyes.
Another memory.
His small hand holding another child's hand.
A little girl.
She was crying.
He remembered telling her:
“I'll come back.”
Then Cassian pulled him away.
The memory vanished.
Adrian opened his eyes.
“There was another child.”
Elena nodded.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“We don't know.”
“Where is she?”
Elena looked toward the photographs.
“She disappeared the same night you were taken.”
Maya's face changed.
“Could she be alive?”
Elena whispered:
“She may be.”
Adrian stared at the photograph.
Then the hospital lights above them flickered.
Once.
Twice.
The entire underground room went dark.
A speaker crackled.
A man's voice filled the chamber.
Old.
Calm.
Familiar.
“Hello, Adrian.”
Adrian slowly raised his weapon.
Cassian laughed.
“You've finally remembered.”
Maya moved closer to him.
Cassian continued:
“I've waited thirty-four years for this moment.”
Adrian's voice was cold.
“Where are you?”
“Closer than you think.”
A monitor came alive.
Cassian appeared on the screen.
Behind him stood Evelyn.
And another woman.
Adrian stared.
The woman turned toward the camera.
His heart stopped.
Because he knew her face.
He had seen it once before.
In a photograph from his childhood.
The little girl whose hand he had held.
His forgotten sister.
Cassian smiled.
“You wanted to know who your family really is.”
He placed a hand on the woman's shoulder.
“Meet your sister.”
Adrian couldn't breathe.
Cassian leaned toward the camera.
“And now that you've found her…”
He smiled.
“…it's time for the final inheritance.”
The screen went black.
Maya whispered:
“What inheritance?”
Adrian stared into the darkness.
Then his phone vibrated.
One message.
CASSIAN:
YOUR HEART IS MINE.
Adrian looked at the hospital monitor through the glass above them.
His implanted device began flashing red.
BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP.
Then the rhythm stopped.
Adrian collapsed.
May you like
Maya screamed.
“DAD!”
