CHAPTER 7-The Man Behind The Bloodline
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
The phone continued ringing in Evelyn's hand.
The name on the screen stared back at them.
DR. ADRIAN HAYES
A man who was supposed to be gone.
A man whose career had ended years ago.
A man whose existence had been reduced to old photographs and forgotten records.
But he was calling.
Right now.
Rachel watched Evelyn's face.
For the first time since she had known her, the older woman looked truly afraid.
Not defensive.
Not arrogant.
Afraid.
"Answer it."
Grant's voice was cold.
Evelyn looked at him.
"No."
"Answer it."
"Grant..."
"Five years."
His voice cracked.
"Five years you watched my wife suffer."
Evelyn lowered her eyes.
"You watched my daughter question whether she belonged."
A tear rolled down her cheek.
"And now he calls, and you want to protect him?"
Evelyn whispered:
"You don't understand."
Rachel stepped forward.
"No."
Her voice was steady.
"That is the problem."
She looked directly at Evelyn.
"Nobody ever explains anything."
The phone stopped ringing.
The room became silent again.
Then it rang once more.
Grant picked it up.
Evelyn grabbed his arm.
"Don't."
He looked at her.
"Why?"
She had no answer.
That was enough.
Grant answered.
"Hello?"
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Then a man's voice.
Older.
Calm.
Controlled.
"Grant."
Everyone froze.
Rachel recognized the voice.
Even though she had never heard it before.
It was the same voice from the video.
Adrian Hayes.
Grant's hand tightened around the phone.
"You're alive."
A small laugh came through the speaker.
"I never died."
"Where are you?"
"That is not important."
Grant's eyes hardened.
"After everything you did, you don't get to decide what's important."
A pause.
Then Hayes said:
"You finally learned."
Rachel felt a chill.
"What do you want?"
Grant asked.
The answer came immediately.
"To correct a mistake."
Nobody breathed.
"What mistake?"
Hayes replied:
"Your daughter."
Rachel felt her entire body go cold.
Grant looked at her.
"What did you say?"
Hayes continued calmly.
"Maddie was never supposed to be part of this."
Rachel stepped closer to the phone.
"Who are you?"
Hayes paused.
Then:
"The person who made your family possible."
Rachel's anger exploded.
"You ruined our lives."
"No."
His voice remained calm.
"I revealed what your family always was."
Grant looked furious.
"You used people."
"I advanced science."
"You destroyed lives."
"I created them."
The call went silent.
Then Hayes spoke again.
"Grant, you need to understand something."
"What?"
"You think you are my failure."
A pause.
"But you are my greatest achievement."
Grant's face changed.
Rachel saw the pain.
"You don't get to call me that."
Hayes ignored him.
"Your genetics were supposed to prove my theory."
"What theory?"
"That certain traits could be preserved."
Rachel felt sick.
"You mean your bloodline."
"Exactly."
The word made her stomach turn.
Hayes continued.
"And Maddie is the next stage."
Rachel immediately grabbed the phone.
"No."
The voice on the other side became quieter.
"Rachel."
She froze.
He knew her name.
"I have followed Maddie's progress since birth."
Her blood ran cold.
"You monitored my daughter?"
"Of course."
Grant pulled the phone away.
"You stay away from her."
Hayes laughed softly.
"Protective."
A pause.
"Just like your mother."
Grant looked at Evelyn.
Rachel noticed.
"What does that mean?"
Hayes answered:
"Evelyn knows exactly why Maddie was created."
The call ended.
For a long time, nobody spoke.
Then Grant turned toward Evelyn.
"What did he mean?"
Evelyn sat down.
She looked exhausted.
"I made a mistake."
Rachel shook her head.
"No."
She pointed toward the door.
"You made thousands."
Evelyn covered her face.
"I was young."
Grant laughed bitterly.
"You were my mother."
Evelyn looked at him.
"I was trying to give you a future."
"No."
His voice broke.
"You were trying to give yourself a perfect family."
Evelyn didn't deny it.
And that hurt more.
The next morning, Rachel woke up to a message.
Unknown number.
She almost deleted it.
Then she saw the attachment.
A photo.
A recent photo.
Maddie.
Taken outside their house.
Rachel's hands started shaking.
Below the image was a message.
"You need to understand why she matters."
Rachel immediately called Grant.
He answered before the first ring ended.
"Did you get it too?"
Rachel froze.
"What?"
"Someone sent me a photo."
Her heart dropped.
"Of Maddie?"
"Yes."
They rushed to the police.
But the authorities couldn't do much.
The image had no location data.
No information.
No evidence.
Just a warning.
That evening, Michael returned.
But this time, he wasn't alone.
A woman stood beside him.
Rachel recognized her immediately.
The woman from another file.
One of the twenty-three children.
"This is Sarah."
Michael introduced her.
"She was created from Hayes' material."
Rachel nodded.
"What did you find?"
Sarah looked nervous.
"Something about Maddie."
Grant stiffened.
"What?"
Sarah opened her bag.
She removed a folder.
"We compared Maddie's DNA against the others."
Rachel looked confused.
"We already know she shares genetic material."
Sarah shook her head.
"No."
She looked at Grant.
"That isn't the strange part."
"What is?"
Sarah placed the report on the table.
Rachel read it.
Then stopped.
Because the results showed something impossible.
Maddie shared DNA with the other children.
But there was another pattern.
A mutation.
A genetic marker.
One that appeared in only one other person.
Grant.
Rachel looked up.
"What does this mean?"
Sarah whispered:
"It means Maddie wasn't created from the donor material by accident."
Silence.
"It means someone selected the embryo."
Grant stared.
"Why?"
Sarah looked at him.
"Because they needed your genes."
Rachel felt a terrible realization forming.
"They used Maddie to continue the experiment."
Sarah nodded.
"And there's more."
"What?"
Sarah opened another file.
Inside was a photograph.
A photograph taken at the clinic.
Five years earlier.
The day Maddie was created.
Rachel looked closer.
Her heart stopped.
Standing in the background was a woman.
A woman she recognized.
A woman who had never told the truth.
Evelyn Bennett.
But she wasn't alone.
Beside her was Adrian Hayes.
And between them was a document.
With Rachel and Grant's names written on it.
Rachel whispered:
"No..."
Michael looked at her.
"Rachel."
She looked up.
Her voice shaking.
"Grant didn't just hide the truth from me."
Everyone stared.
"He didn't know."
A pause.
"The person who chose Maddie..."
May you like
Rachel looked toward Evelyn.
"Was his mother."
