CHAPTER 14 — THE GIRL WHO STARTED THE WAR
The photograph fell onto the cold metal floor.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Because the name written on the back was impossible.
VICTORIA BLACKWOOD.
The woman who controlled Project Echo.
The woman who created the Blackwood Council.
The woman who had spent years hunting Ethan, Amelia, and Lily.
Was not the person who started everything.
She was a result.
A subject.
A child created by the same system she later controlled.
Ethan stared at the photograph.
“That’s impossible.”
Daniel looked at him.
“I wish it was.”
Ethan picked it up.
The image showed a baby.
A newborn.
A hospital bracelet around her tiny wrist.
The name:
Victoria Blackwood.
But beneath it was another label.
SUBJECT 000.
Amelia stepped closer.
“Subject Zero?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
A pause.
“Before Zero.”
Everyone looked confused.
Daniel continued:
“Victoria was the first attempt to create a child who could inherit everything.”
Ethan looked at him.
“But you said Amelia was the first.”
Daniel nodded.
“The first successful attempt.”
A pause.
“Victoria was the first failure.”
The room became silent.
Ethan looked at the photograph again.
“So she was like us?”
Daniel’s expression was painful.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“She was a child created by people who wanted to control the future.”
Claire stepped forward.
“Then why did she become like this?”
Daniel looked toward the dark hallway.
“Because nobody saved her.”
Years earlier.
Before Ethan.
Before Amelia.
Before Project Echo became a weapon.
There was Victoria.
A child born into a world where she was never treated like a child.
Scientists studied her.
Corporations owned her.
Families fought over her.
She grew up hearing one sentence repeatedly:
“You are important because of what you can do.”
Never:
“You are loved because you exist.”
Daniel opened another file.
Inside were old documents.
Medical reports.
Psychological evaluations.
Research notes.
Ethan read one sentence:
“Subject 000 displays abnormal resistance to emotional attachment.”
He looked up.
“That’s cruel.”
Daniel nodded.
“They wrote about her like she was an object.”
Amelia touched the file.
“They did the same to me.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“But you had someone.”
Amelia understood.
“Me?”
Daniel nodded.
“You had Ethan.”
Ethan looked at Amelia.
She smiled sadly.
“For years, I thought being alone made me stronger.”
A pause.
“But maybe it just made me angry.”
Suddenly, a sound came from the facility speakers.
A voice.
Victoria.
“You finally found it.”
Everyone froze.
Her voice echoed through the room.
“You finally learned the truth.”
Ethan looked around.
“Where are you?”
Victoria laughed softly.
“Still searching for me?”
A pause.
“You really are your father’s son.”
Daniel stepped toward the speaker.
“Victoria.”
“Yes, Daniel.”
Her voice changed.
Not angry.
Almost sad.
“You always looked at me like I was a monster.”
Daniel said nothing.
“But you never asked why.”
The screen activated.
Victoria appeared.
Not in her expensive clothes.
Not as the powerful woman everyone feared.
She looked younger.
Broken.
The video showed her as a child.
Inside a laboratory.
Alone.
Ethan watched.
His anger slowly changed.
Not forgiveness.
Understanding.
Victoria’s younger voice appeared:
“Where is my mother?”
A scientist answered:
“You don’t have one.”
The child looked confused.
“Everyone has a mother.”
The scientist replied:
“You were created.”
The video ended.
Nobody spoke.
Because everyone understood.
Victoria wasn’t born into a family.
She was born into a project.
“She blamed us,” Daniel whispered.
Ethan looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because when she escaped…”
A pause.
“She believed the only way to survive was to become the people who hurt her.”
The screen turned back on.
Victoria looked directly at Ethan.
“You think I hate you.”
A pause.
“I don’t.”
Ethan frowned.
“Then why?”
“Because I see myself in you.”
Silence.
“You are what they wanted me to become.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“I’m not your enemy.”
Victoria smiled sadly.
“You say that because you don’t understand.”
A pause.
“One day, they will choose between you and everyone else.”
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
“They always do.”
The screen changed.
A document appeared.
Daniel immediately recognized it.
His face changed.
“No.”
Claire looked at him.
“What?”
Daniel whispered:
“The original agreement.”
The document was dated decades earlier.
The first Blackwood-Parker agreement.
But there was a hidden section nobody had seen.
A final condition.
Ethan read it aloud:
“When the three keys awaken, one must be chosen.”
Everyone froze.
“One must be chosen?”
Daniel nodded.
“It was always part of the plan.”
Amelia looked terrified.
“What does chosen mean?”
Nobody answered.
Then Victoria did.
“It means one of you must control the others.”
Ethan stared at the screen.
“No.”
Victoria continued:
“The project was never designed to create three heirs.”
A pause.
“It was designed to find one.”
The room became cold.
Three children.
Three lives.
One purpose.
The entire system was built around competition.
Not family.
Lily’s voice suddenly came through the speaker.
“Ethan?”
Everyone froze.
Because Lily was still with Victoria.
Ethan moved closer.
“Lily?”
Her voice trembled.
“Don’t listen to her.”
A pause.
“She wants us to fight.”
Victoria turned toward Lily.
“Quiet.”
The sound of movement.
Ethan’s heart raced.
“Don’t touch her!”
Victoria looked back at the camera.
“You see?”
A pause.
“This is why you will fail.”
“Why?”
“Because you care.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Victoria.”
She looked at him.
“You were my responsibility.”
For the first time…
Victoria looked emotional.
“You abandoned me.”
Daniel’s face changed.
“I tried to save you.”
“No.”
Her voice cracked.
“You tried to save everyone else.”
The screen went dark.
Then a message appeared.
A countdown.
FINAL SELECTION: 24 HOURS
Nobody spoke.
Ethan looked at Daniel.
“What happens in 24 hours?”
Daniel was silent.
Finally:
“The facility activates.”
“What does that mean?”
Daniel looked at the three children.
“It means Project Echo completes its final stage.”
Ethan felt sick.
“And if it completes?”
Daniel answered quietly:
“The system chooses the strongest subject.”
A pause.
“The other two lose everything.”
Amelia stepped back.
“No.”
Claire grabbed Ethan.
“We leave.”
But Daniel shook his head.
“We can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because Victoria has Lily.”
Silence.
“And because she has something else.”
Daniel opened one final file.
Inside was a photograph.
A woman.
A child.
A family.
Ethan recognized the woman.
His mother.
But the child…
Was not him.
It was Victoria.
Claire whispered:
“No…”
Ethan looked at her.
“You knew?”
Claire broke down.
“Ethan…”
A pause.
“When I was pregnant with you…”
Everyone froze.
Claire continued:
“I was not the first woman chosen.”
Ethan stared.
“What does that mean?”
Claire looked toward the photograph.
“Victoria was supposed to be your mother.”
The room went silent.
Because the final truth had been revealed.
Victoria Blackwood was not just connected to Ethan.
She was connected to his birth.
His family.
His existence.
And somewhere beneath the facility…
Victoria watched the same photograph.
A tear fell down her face.
Because she finally said the words she had never allowed herself to say:
“I was supposed to have a family.”
Then she looked at Lily.
May you like
And whispered:
“But they chose you instead.”
