Chapter 12: What Lily Heard That Night
The gunshot never came.
I heard the trigger click.
Nothing else.
Victoria's gun was empty.
My father stared at her.
Thomas moved first.
He lunged.
Sarah shouted.
“DOWN!”
Everything happened at once.
Thomas grabbed Victoria's wrist.
She twisted away.
The gun hit the concrete floor.
I pulled Lily behind me.
Emma grabbed Anna.
Robert stumbled toward the wall.
Then the warehouse lights exploded.
Darkness.
Complete darkness.
A second later, emergency lights flickered on.
Victoria was gone.
So was Thomas.
And my father was on the floor.
Blood covered his shirt.
“Dad!”
I ran toward him.
He raised one trembling hand.
“Don't.”
I stopped.
“Where are you hurt?”
“Shoulder.”
Sarah knelt beside him.
“It's a graze.”
My father looked at me.
“She wasn't trying to shoot me.”
“Then what was she doing?”
“She wanted you to believe she was.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
He reached inside his jacket.
Pulled out a small recorder.
“She needed you to hear this.”
He pressed a button.
A woman's voice filled the warehouse.
Emma.
But younger.
Terrified.
“If anything happens to me, Daniel must never know what his father did.”
I looked at Emma.
She went pale.
The recording continued.
“He believes he's protecting Daniel. He isn't.”
Static.
Then another voice.
My father's.
“You don't understand what they're capable of.”
Emma answered:
“I understand exactly what they're capable of. You made the deal.”
The recording stopped.
I stared at my father.
“You made the deal.”
He closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“With the Vales?”
“Yes.”
“For Anna?”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“For you.”
We left the warehouse before dawn.
My father came with us.
Victoria and Thomas were gone.
But this time, they hadn't taken anything.
They had left the recorder.
And I knew why.
They wanted me to hear it.
Back at the safe house, Emma sat with Lily and Anna.
The girls were asleep together.
For the first time in years, they looked peaceful.
I stood outside the room.
My father sat across from me.
“Tell me everything.”
He didn't argue.
“The Carter family was involved in an experiment.”
“Project Daughter.”
“Yes.”
“Why was I part of it?”
“Because your grandfather believed your genetics were valuable.”
“To whom?”
“To the Vales.”
“Why?”
My father looked at his hands.
“Your grandfather discovered that your blood carried a rare genetic marker.”
I frowned.
“What marker?”
“One that could be used to identify descendants.”
“That doesn't explain two children.”
“No.”
He looked toward the bedroom.
“It explains why they wanted Lily and Anna.”
I felt sick.
“Explain.”
“They weren't interested in money.”
“Then what?”
“Your daughters were proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That the Carter genetic line had continued.”
I shook my head.
“That's insane.”
“It was.”
“Then why did you agree?”
“Because I was trying to save you.”
“By sacrificing my children?”
His face tightened.
“I thought I could control the situation.”
“You couldn't.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“I couldn't.”
I stood.
“You let Emma disappear.”
“I thought she was dead.”
“You knew she was alive.”
“Not at first.”
“When did you find out?”
“Two years later.”
My fists clenched.
“And you did nothing?”
“I was being watched.”
“So was Emma.”
“I know.”
“You could have saved her.”
“I tried.”
“Where were you?”
He looked at me.
“Prison.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Not a real prison.”
“What does that mean?”
“A private facility.”
“Who held you?”
“The Vales.”
I stared.
“You were their prisoner?”
“For eleven years.”
Silence.
“Then how did you escape?”
He looked at Thomas's empty chair.
“Thomas helped me.”
I frowned.
“Thomas?”
“He betrayed them.”
“Then why did he work with Victoria?”
“Because Victoria was his daughter.”
I remembered the fake DNA test.
The files.
The lies.
“Thomas's wife?”
My father shook his head.
“We don't know who Victoria's mother was.”
“Then how did she become part of this?”
“Because Thomas raised her.”
“Why?”
“She was the child of the woman who carried Anna.”
I stopped.
“What?”
My father nodded.
“Victoria was born into the operation.”
“Then why did she hate Emma?”
“She didn't.”
I thought about everything Victoria had done to Lily.
The bruises.
The threats.
The locked room.
The medicine.
“You expect me to believe she cared about Emma?”
“No.”
My father looked toward the bedroom.
“I expect you to understand that Victoria became dangerous because she was trying to escape.”
I shook my head.
“People don't escape by hurting children.”
“I know.”
“Then why defend her?”
“I'm not.”
He lowered his voice.
“I'm telling you that the woman you hated may not be the woman who started this.”
At six in the morning, Lily woke.
She came downstairs carrying Bunny.
“Daddy?”
I turned.
“Hey.”
She climbed onto my lap.
“Are we going home?”
I kissed her forehead.
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because I have to make sure it's safe.”
She thought for a moment.
“Is Mommy Victoria coming back?”
I didn't know what to say.
Emma answered from behind me.
“No.”
Lily looked at her.
“Are you Mommy?”
Emma froze.
“Yes.”
Lily stared at her.
“Why did you leave?”
Emma knelt.
“I didn't want to.”
“Then why?”
Emma's eyes filled with tears.
“Because people were trying to hurt you.”
Lily looked at me.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Can I tell you something?”
“Always.”
She looked around.
“About that night.”
“What night?”
“The night Mommy Emma disappeared.”
My heart stopped.
“You remember?”
“A little.”
Emma knelt beside us.
“What do you remember, sweetheart?”
Lily squeezed Bunny.
“I was hiding.”
“Where?”
“Behind the chair.”
I looked at Emma.
She went completely still.
“Who was there?”
Lily whispered:
“Grandpa.”
My father closed his eyes.
“What did he do?”
“He was angry.”
“Who was he angry with?”
“Mommy.”
Emma's face crumpled.
Lily continued.
“Mommy said she wasn't giving him the baby.”
I swallowed.
“Which baby?”
Lily looked at Anna.
“Her.”
Everyone went silent.
“What happened next?”
Lily's voice became smaller.
“Grandpa said Mommy would lose everything.”
“What did Mommy say?”
“She said she would tell Daddy.”
“Then?”
“Grandpa hit the table.”
Lily flinched.
“And then Mommy took me.”
“Where?”
“To the car.”
I looked at Emma.
Emma covered her mouth.
Lily continued.
“But Grandpa stopped us.”
“What did he say?”
She whispered:
“Take the little one.”
My heart pounded.
“Who did he mean?”
“Anna.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Who took her?”
“Thomas.”
“Then what happened to Mommy?”
Lily looked down.
“She screamed.”
“Why?”
“Because she thought they were going to kill me.”
Emma began crying.
“And then?”
Lily looked at me.
“Daddy came.”
I froze.
“I came?”
She nodded.
“You were little.”
My blood ran cold.
“I was there?”
“Yes.”
“What did I do?”
“You screamed.”
“What did I scream?”
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
“You said, ‘Don't take my sister.’”
I looked toward my father.
He wouldn't meet my eyes.
The memory hit me.
Not clearly.
Fragments.
A hallway.
A woman's scream.
My father's hand.
A little girl crying.
Emma shouting my name.
Then darkness.
I staggered backward.
My father whispered:
“They erased your memory.”
I looked at him.
“Who?”
“Your grandfather.”
That afternoon, Dr. Shaw arrived with a new file.
“This is everything I kept.”
She placed it on the table.
I opened it.
Birth records.
Embryology reports.
Hospital photographs.
Then I saw something I had never seen before.
A discharge document.
Patient 6-18-A — Emma Carter.
Discharged alive.
Another document.
Patient 6-18-B — Transfer authorized.
Destination:
Carter Private Facility.
I looked at Dr. Shaw.
“What is the Carter Private Facility?”
She shook her head.
“It doesn't exist anymore.”
“Where was it?”
“Below your grandfather's estate.”
I looked at my father.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“Anna was there?”
“For three months.”
“Then where did she go?”
My father didn't answer.
Emma did.
“She went to me.”
I turned.
“What?”
Emma's face was pale.
“After I escaped, I found her.”
“Then why wasn't she with you?”
“Because someone followed me.”
“Who?”
She looked at the door.
“Victoria.”
That night, the safe house alarm went off.
Sarah jumped to her feet.
“Everyone stay inside.”
I grabbed Lily.
Emma grabbed Anna.
The lights flickered.
Then went out.
A man's voice came through the security system.
“Daniel.”
Thomas.
“I'm not here for the children.”
I stared at the speaker.
“Then what do you want?”
A pause.
“Your father's ledger.”
My father looked at me.
“What ledger?”
Thomas laughed.
“You really never told him?”
I turned.
My father's expression changed.
Thomas continued.
“The ledger contains the names of everyone who paid to keep Emma silent.”
I felt cold.
“Where is it?”
Thomas answered:
“Your house.”
“My house?”
“The locked room.”
I remembered the hidden room beneath the stairs.
Thomas's voice became quieter.
“Not the one you found.”
I looked at my father.
“There are two.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
My father closed his eyes.
“Behind the fireplace.”
A crash came from upstairs.
Sarah shouted:
“They're inside!”
I pulled Lily close.
Anna screamed.
And from the hallway came a woman's voice.
Victoria.
“Daniel!”
I froze.
She shouted:
May you like
“Don't let your father open that room!”
Then gunfire erupted.
