LOGINThe doors slammed shut.The sound echoed through the basement like a verdict.Ethan didn't look at the locked doors.He looked at the man standing across from him.Subject C.The supposed dead child.The boy from the photograph.The man who looked enough like Ethan to make every lie he'd ever been told feel deliberate.Ethan raised his weapon.“Who are you?”The man's smile disappeared.“I told you.”“No.”Ethan's voice hardened.“You told me what they wanted me to believe.”The man's eyes flickered.“That is the first intelligent thing you've said tonight.”Ava moved beside Ethan.“Ethan.”“I know.”He lowered the weapon slightly.“I'm not shooting anyone until I know what we're dealing with.”Sophia stared at Subject C.“You shouldn't be alive.”He looked at her.“Neither should you.”Sophia went pale.Marcus immediately moved between them.“Everyone stays where they are.”Richard looked at Marcus.“You're alive.”Marcus gave him a cold smile.“Disappointed?”“I thought Alexander ha
Ava didn't step back because Elias Vale looked dangerous.She stepped back because he looked familiar.Not to her.To Ethan.The resemblance between the two men was close enough to make the room feel suddenly too small.Same dark eyes.Same strong jaw.Same straight nose.Even the slight tilt of the head when they studied a room.Ethan stared at him.“You're Elias Vale.”The man nodded.“Yes.”“The name on my original records.”“Yes.”“The man who was supposed to be me.”Elias smiled faintly.“Now you're getting somewhere.”Ethan's weapon remained raised.“Then explain the part where you were supposed to be Ava's husband.”Ava turned sharply.“What?”Elias looked at her.“That part is true.”Ethan's expression hardened.“Start talking.”Elias took another step.Richard immediately raised his weapon.“Don't.”Elias glanced at him.“Still pretending you saved everyone?”Richard's voice was cold.“Still pretending you were innocent?”The tension between them was immediate.Ethan stepped
The woman standing in the doorway had Ava's face.But she didn't have Ava's eyes.Ava's eyes carried warmth even when she was furious.This woman's carried calculation.She smiled as though she had just walked into a room where everyone else had finally caught up to a joke she had understood years ago.Ethan moved in front of Ava.The woman laughed softly.“Still protecting her.”“Stay where you are.”“You always say that.”Ava stared at the stranger.“Who are you?”The woman tilted her head.“You really don't remember me?”“No.”“Of course you don't.”Her smile disappeared.“They made sure of that.”Mira stepped backward.“A-02.”The woman looked at her.“Don't call me that.”“What should I call you?”“Leah.”Ava's face tightened.“Leah.”The woman nodded.“That's the name I was given after they decided Ava Reed was more useful than I was.”Ethan's eyes narrowed.“You're claiming you were supposed to be Ava?”“I was born before her.”Ava shook her head.“No.”Leah smiled sadly.“That
The voice behind Ava belonged to a man who sounded exactly like Ethan.Not similar.Not close.Exactly.Ava spun around.Nothing.Only darkness.“Ethan?”“I’m here.”His hand found hers immediately.Mira stepped toward them.“Don't move.”Ethan's attention remained fixed on the staircase.“Who was behind her?”Mira shook her head.“He doesn't need to stand behind you.”Ava frowned.“What does that mean?”“It means he's already inside your head.”Ethan's expression hardened.“I've had enough riddles.”A faint click came from the basement.Then the lights returned.For one second, everything looked normal.The grand staircase.The marble floor.The portraits.The chandelier.Then Ava noticed the blood.A thin trail led from the basement door across the floor.Ethan drew his weapon.“Mira, stay behind Ava.”Mira almost smiled.“You still give orders.”“I'm serious.”“So am I.”She looked at Ava.“You should have left him five years ago.”Ava stiffened.Ethan turned.“What did you say?”M
Ava had spent her entire life believing she was an only child.Now her mother was telling her she had a sister.A sister who looked exactly like her.A sister who had apparently taken Ethan.A sister who was standing inside the locked basement of the Blackwood mansion with Alexander, Helena, and the mysterious boy.Ava couldn't breathe.“My sister?”Elena nodded.“Her name is Mira.”Ava stared at her.“Mira Reed?”“Yes.”“Why have I never heard that name?”“Because she was never supposed to exist.”Ava's laugh was hollow.“That's impossible.”“So was everything you've learned this week.”Ava turned away.She couldn't absorb another revelation.Not another hidden child.Not another secret family.Not another person who had known the truth while she lived inside a carefully constructed lie.Ethan watched her.He recognized the look.It wasn't weakness.It was overload.He moved closer.“Ava.”She shook her head.“Don't.”He stopped immediately.She closed her eyes.“I need one minute wh
The photograph had one purpose.To make Ethan question his own face.Two newborn boys lay beneath the same hospital lights.Two identical dark-haired infants.Two sets of records.Two names.ETHAN BLACKWOOD.SUBJECT C.Ava stood beside him, staring at the photograph.“That isn't possible.”Ethan didn't answer.He couldn't.Because the child in the second bassinet had his face.Not similar.Not close.His.The same shape of the eyes. The same dark hair. Even the tiny scar-like mark near the left eyebrow that Ethan had spent years believing was simply a birthmark.He reached for the photograph.Richard caught his wrist.“Don't.”Ethan slowly looked at him.“You've said that too many times.”Richard released him.Ethan picked up the photograph.On the back, there was a handwritten date.The date Ethan had been born.And beneath it:TRANSFER ONE COMPLETE.A second line had been crossed out.TRANSFER TWO FAILED.Ava read it over his shoulder.“Failed?”Ethan's voice was barely audible.“Wh







