Chapter 17 - The Counterattack
There are moments when fear becomes so large it burns itself into something else.
Mine became precision.
I did not scream.
I did not collapse.
I called Luka.
Then police.
Then Rachel.
Then Nathan.
Brittany had demanded the Room 417 drive because it contained proof of her own involvement.
She had thought we possessed only one copy.
We had six.
Luka had duplicated it within an hour of finding it.
For the first time, someone in this nightmare had planned ahead.
Brittany sent a location.
Mercer Reproductive Center.
The place where Grace had been conceived.
Of course.
Police wanted to handle the exchange.
I insisted on going.
This time nobody argued.
I entered the clinic carrying an empty flash-drive case.
Luka remained outside with tactical officers.
Nathan came with me because Brittany had specifically demanded him.
We found her in the embryo-transfer room.
Grace slept in a portable bassinet.
Alive.
Unhurt.
I nearly collapsed from relief.
Brittany stood beside her.
No gun.
No knife.
Only desperation.
“Give me the drive.”
I held up the case.
“Give me Grace.”
“First the drive.”
Nathan stepped forward.
“Brittany.”
She looked at her husband.
“You ruined everything.”
Nathan stared at her.
“We ruined everything the moment we became them.”
Her face twisted.
“I did this for us.”
“You used a woman who never consented.”
“So did Victor.”
“That doesn’t make us better.”
Brittany began crying.
“I lost twenty years because of him.”
Nathan’s voice softened.
“And now Grace was supposed to lose her life to our revenge?”
That broke something in her.
She looked down at the baby.
For one moment, she seemed horrified by herself.
I moved slowly.
“Brittany.”
Her eyes met mine.
“She needs her mother.”
“You have no idea what I lost.”
“You’re right.”
“I don’t.”
“But she didn’t take it from you.”
Brittany started shaking.
“She’s Nathan’s.”
“She’s mine.”
My voice did not rise.
“She is not your evidence.”
“She is not Victor’s asset.”
“She is not a Moretti voting key.”
“She is not Derek’s redemption.”
“She is not Nathan’s revenge.”
“And she is not Luka’s inheritance.”
“She is Grace.”
Brittany broke.
She stepped away from the bassinet.
I reached my daughter.
Held her.
Smelled her hair.
Felt her breath.
Everything else disappeared.
Police entered seconds later.
Brittany did not resist.
As officers took her away, she stopped beside me.
“I am sorry.”
I looked at her.
“I believe you.”
Hope flashed in her eyes.
Then I finished.
“That doesn’t mean I forgive you.”
She nodded.
That was consequence.
Not revenge.
Outside, Luka took one look at Grace and turned away.
His shoulders shook.
I touched his arm.
“She’s okay.”
He nodded without looking at me.
For a man who claimed he never wanted children, he had nearly broken when he thought mine was gone.
Then Nathan walked out in handcuffs.
He had confessed to everything.
Before entering the police car, he looked at Grace once.
No claim.
No demand.
Only regret.
The biological mystery was finally solved.
Nathan Holloway was Grace’s genetic father.
But another envelope still existed.
The independent laboratory had completed the full DNA analysis before the kidnapping.
And when the sealed copy arrived the next morning, Derek appeared at my door.
He saw the envelope in my hand.
Then dropped to his knees.
“Emma.”
May you like
His face went white.
“Please don’t open that.”
