CHAPTER 10: THE MAN WHO GAVE ME AWAY

The screen went black.

Elena did not move.

She kept staring at the place where her father's face had appeared only seconds ago.

A syringe in his hand.

Her unconscious body beneath him.

And that message.

YOUR FATHER DIDN'T GIVE YOU TO BLACKRIDGE.

HE GAVE BLACKRIDGE YOUR LIFE.

"No."

The word escaped her before she could stop it.

Adrian watched her carefully.

Elena shook her head.

"No. That's not possible."

Mira remained silent.

Marcus lowered his eyes.

Neither of them tried to comfort her.

That told Elena more than words could.

"You knew," she whispered.

Adrian didn't answer.

"You all knew."

Her voice became louder.

"My father didn't send me to Blackridge. He handed me over."

"Elena—"

"Don't."

She raised her hand.

Adrian stopped.

Her eyes burned with tears, but she refused to let them fall.

"My father was the man who held me when I was sick."

Her voice cracked.

"He was the one who taught me how to ride a bicycle."

She swallowed hard.

"He was the one who told me no one would ever hurt me as long as he was alive."

A bitter smile crossed her lips.

"And he was the one who put a needle into my arm."

Adrian took a step toward her.

Elena stepped back.

"Don't come near me."

"I'm sorry."

She laughed.

"You're sorry?"

Her laugh was empty.

"Everyone is sorry."

She pointed toward Marcus.

"He's sorry."

Then toward Mira.

"She's sorry."

Finally, she looked at Adrian.

"And you're always sorry."

She wiped her cheek angrily.

"Do you know what I want?"

Adrian stared at her.

"I want one person to tell me the truth."

Mira's expression softened.

"Then watch the memory."

Elena looked at the screen.

The monitor flickered.

The recording restarted.

This time, the video continued beyond the moment they had seen before.

Her father stood beside the hospital bed.

He looked younger.

Tired.

Broken.

The woman lying on the bed was Elena.

She looked no older than eighteen.

Her eyes were closed.

A doctor stood beside her.

"Mr. Virelli, we need your consent."

Her father stared at Elena.

"What happens if I refuse?"

The doctor hesitated.

"She will die."

Elena's heart tightened.

Her father looked at her for a long time.

"How long?"

"Maybe six months."

"And if I agree?"

The doctor looked toward the glass wall.

"She could live."

Her father closed his eyes.

"What do you need?"

"Access to her neural activity."

"For how long?"

"We don't know."

"And the procedure?"

The doctor hesitated again.

"Experimental."

Her father's voice became cold.

"You said it could save her."

"It could."

"Then do it."

Elena's breathing stopped.

The recording continued.

A younger Adrian entered the room.

He looked angry.

"You can't do this."

Elena's father turned.

"You don't understand."

"I understand perfectly."

Adrian pointed toward Elena.

"She's not a test subject."

Her father stared at him.

"She will be dead without this."

"You don't know that."

"I've spoken to the doctors."

"They're using fear."

Her father shook his head.

"They're offering her a chance."

Adrian looked at Elena.

"At what cost?"

Her father didn't answer.

The video skipped forward.

Elena was now inside a laboratory.

Her wrists were strapped to a table.

She was awake.

Terrified.

Her father's voice could be heard from behind the glass.

"Begin."

Elena's heart shattered.

She had been awake.

She had known.

She had been afraid.

And no one had stopped it.

A technician approached her.

"Elena, I need you to remain calm."

"Where's my father?"

The technician looked toward the glass.

Elena followed his gaze.

Her father was standing there.

Watching.

"Dad?"

He didn't move.

"Dad, please."

He turned his face away.

The machine started.

Elena watched herself scream.

The recording suddenly ended.

The room became silent.

Elena covered her mouth.

She couldn't breathe.

She turned away from the screen.

Her shoulders shook.

Adrian approached slowly.

"Elena."

She didn't answer.

He stopped several feet away.

"I tried to stop it."

She turned.

"But you didn't."

"No."

"You watched."

"Yes."

"You watched me beg."

Adrian's eyes filled with guilt.

"Yes."

Elena stared at him.

"Why?"

"Because I was too late."

She shook her head.

"That's not enough."

"I know."

"Then tell me what happened."

Adrian looked at Mira.

She nodded.

He finally spoke.

"The procedure wasn't supposed to kill you."

"But it did."

"Yes."

"What went wrong?"

"The transfer process activated something inside your brain that the researchers didn't understand."

Elena frowned.

"What?"

"Your memories began separating."

She stared at him.

"Separating?"

"Your consciousness remained active, but your memories became fragmented."

Mira stepped closer.

"That's why you remember things out of order."

Elena looked at her.

"The flashes."

"Yes."

"The laboratory."

"Yes."

"My mother."

"Yes."

"The people who chased me."

Mira nodded.

"Those are pieces of your original memory."

Elena closed her eyes.

"So when I woke up..."

"You weren't supposed to remember any of it."

Marcus spoke quietly.

"But you did."

Elena opened her eyes.

"Why?"

Nobody answered.

She looked at Marcus.

"Why?"

Marcus hesitated.

"Because something went wrong during your death."

"Again?"

He nodded.

"Your brain didn't shut down completely."

Elena looked toward the screen.

"And that's why I came back."

"Partly."

Her eyes narrowed.

"Partly?"

Marcus looked at Mira.

Mira answered.

"You didn't simply come back."

Elena waited.

"You were reconstructed."

The room seemed to shrink around her.

"By who?"

Mira's eyes remained fixed on her.

"By yourself."

Elena frowned.

"That makes no sense."

"It will."

Mira reached for the silver pendant.

She opened it.

Inside was a tiny photograph.

Elena recognized herself as a child.

But beneath the photograph was a small memory chip.

Elena stared.

"What is that?"

"Your mother's final message."

Elena took it carefully.

"She left this for me?"

"She left it for the version of you that survived."

Elena looked at Adrian.

"How long have you had it?"

He answered honestly.

"Six years."

Her eyes hardened.

"You kept it from me."

"Your father ordered me to."

Elena's expression changed.

"My father?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Adrian's voice dropped.

"Because he was afraid of what your mother had hidden inside it."

Elena looked at the chip.

"What did she hide?"

Before Adrian could answer, the monitor suddenly turned on.

The broken-circle symbol appeared.

Then a message.

EXTERNAL CONNECTION DETECTED.

Marcus immediately moved toward the computer.

"Someone's accessing the system."

"Can you stop them?" Adrian asked.

"I'm trying."

The screen began filling with lines of code.

Elena stared.

"Who is it?"

Marcus shook his head.

"I don't know."

A second message appeared.

HELLO, ELENA.

She stepped closer.

"Who are you?"

The words on the screen changed.

YOU ALREADY KNOW.

Elena's stomach tightened.

"No."

Another message appeared.

REMEMBER THE FIRE.

Her body went cold.

The fire.

The night she died.

The memory she had tried to bury.

She saw flames.

Smoke.

Adrian screaming.

Vanessa is running.

A hand pushing her toward the burning building.

Then another memory appeared.

Her father was standing outside.

Watching.

Elena gasped.

"No."

She grabbed the edge of the desk.

"I remember."

Adrian looked at her.

"What?"

"My father was there."

Mira nodded.

"Yes."

"He wasn't trying to save me."

"No."

"He was watching."

"Yes."

Elena's eyes filled with tears.

"Why?"

The screen changed again.

YOUR FATHER WASN'T THE ONE WHO ORDERED YOUR DEATH.

Elena stared.

Then another line appeared.

HE WAS TRYING TO STOP IT.

She froze.

"What?"

Adrian looked shocked.

Marcus stopped typing.

Mira's face became unreadable.

The final message appeared.

THE PERSON WHO ORDERED YOUR DEATH WAS SOMEONE YOU TRUSTED MORE THAN YOUR FATHER.

Elena's heart began pounding.

"Who?"

The screen went black.

A name slowly appeared.

ADRIAN VALE.

Elena turned.

Adrian stood completely still.

She stared at him.

He didn't defend himself.

He didn't deny it.

That silence destroyed whatever remained of her trust.

"Adrian."

His eyes met hers.

"I'm sorry."

Elena felt something inside her break.

"You."

He took a step toward her.

"Elena, listen to me."

"You killed me."

"No."

"You ordered my death."

"I didn't."

"Then why does the system say you did?"

Adrian's face hardened.

"Because someone wants you to believe that."

Elena shook her head.

"How many lies am I supposed to believe tonight?"

Adrian moved closer.

"I never wanted you dead."

"Then prove it."

He stared at her.

"I can't."

"Why?"

His eyes shifted toward Mira.

"Because the person who gave the order is still alive."

Elena's heart stopped.

"Who?"

Adrian looked at her.

Then he said the one thing she wasn't prepared to hear.

"The person who ordered your death is standing in this room."

Everyone went silent.

Elena slowly looked around.

Marcus.

Mira.

Adrian.

Her eyes stopped on Mira.

The woman with her mother's face smiled faintly.

And for the first time, Elena wondered whether the woman who had called herself an ally had been the nightmare waiting for her all along.