Chapter 15: The Third Child

A third child.

The words echoed through Emma's mind like thunder.

She stared at the photograph in Rachel's trembling hand.

The image was unmistakable.

It was her.

Younger.

Exhausted.

Lying in a hospital bed.

Holding a newborn baby.

And written on the back in faded black ink were the words:

Project Genesis – Subject Three Survived.

Emma felt the ground shift beneath her feet.

"No..."

Her voice barely existed.

The helicopters roared overhead.

The armed men were shouting.

Vehicles were starting their engines.

But Emma heard none of it.

Her entire world had narrowed to a single photograph.

A single impossible truth.

Hope stood beside her.

Ava stood on her other side.

Her daughters.

The daughters she had spent ten years unknowingly searching for.

And now someone was telling her there had been another child.

Another baby.

Another piece of her life stolen away.

Daniel slowly approached.

Despite the blood staining his shirt, he remained standing.

Barely.

But standing.

His eyes fixed on the photograph.

And Emma immediately noticed something.

Shock.

Not confusion.

Not disbelief.

Shock.

As though he had never seen it before.

"Daniel?"

His gaze shifted to hers.

The color had drained from his face.

"That's impossible."

Rachel looked equally disturbed.

"I thought all records were destroyed."

The older man suddenly laughed.

A harsh, bitter sound.

Everyone turned toward him.

His composure was gone now.

His empire was collapsing around him.

Yet somehow he looked relieved.

The expression chilled Emma.

Because it wasn't the look of a defeated man.

It was the look of someone watching a secret finally escape.

"You still don't understand."

Emma's pulse quickened.

"Understand what?"

The older man looked directly at the photograph.

Then back at her.

"The third child was never supposed to exist."

Silence.

A cold silence.

Rachel's hand tightened around the file.

"Stop talking."

The older man ignored her.

For the first time, he seemed eager to speak.

As though ten years of silence had become unbearable.

"Your parents didn't create one miracle."

His smile widened.

"They created three."

Emma felt sick.

Three children.

Three lives.

Three targets.

Then a memory surfaced.

Not clear.

Not complete.

But stronger than before.

A laboratory.

Her mother arguing with someone.

Her father shouting.

The words blurred together.

Except for one sentence.

One sentence that suddenly stood out.

"The third embryo is unstable."

Emma gasped.

The memory vanished instantly.

Rachel saw her reaction.

"You remembered something."

Emma nodded weakly.

"What was Genesis?"

The question hung in the air.

Nobody answered immediately.

Because everyone already knew the answer would change everything.

Finally Rachel spoke.

"It wasn't a medical treatment."

Emma frowned.

"What?"

Rachel's eyes filled with sadness.

"It started as one."

A chill crept down Emma's spine.

Started.

Past tense.

That single word told her everything.

The project had become something else.

Something dangerous.

Rachel continued.

"Your parents were trying to cure a rare genetic disease."

The older man laughed.

"Cure?"

His voice dripped with mockery.

"They went far beyond that."

Daniel looked uncomfortable.

Ethan looked furious.

Nobody seemed eager to discuss it.

Which only made Emma more afraid.

Then Rachel quietly said the words that changed everything.

"The Genesis Project altered human DNA."

The forest fell silent.

Even the helicopter blades seemed distant.

Emma stared at her.

"What?"

Rachel swallowed.

"Hope, Ava..."

Her voice faltered.

"...and the third child were born carrying genetic modifications."

Emma's stomach twisted.

The words sounded impossible.

Like science fiction.

Like madness.

Yet looking around, seeing the years of murder and secrecy surrounding her children, she knew there had to be something more.

No one destroys families over ordinary research.

No one kills for normal science.

The older man smiled.

"Now you're finally asking the right questions."

Emma ignored him.

Her eyes remained locked on Rachel.

"What kind of modifications?"

Rachel hesitated.

Long enough to make everyone nervous.

Then she answered.

"We never fully understood them."

Emma's pulse hammered.

Never fully understood.

That was somehow worse.

Then Ava suddenly spoke.

"I do."

Everyone turned.

The young woman looked terrified.

But determined.

Emma frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Ava slowly rolled up her sleeve.

And revealed a small scar near her wrist.

The sight stunned Rachel.

Daniel went pale.

Even Ethan seemed alarmed.

Emma's heart raced.

"What is that?"

Ava's voice shook.

"They tested me."

Silence.

Pure silence.

The confession landed like a bomb.

Emma felt instant rage.

"They what?"

Tears filled Ava's eyes.

"They found me when I was nine."

The older man's smile widened slightly.

Emma wanted to kill him.

"They ran tests."

Ava struggled to continue.

"They said I healed faster."

Emma froze.

"What?"

Ava nodded.

A tear slid down her cheek.

"When I got hurt, I recovered too quickly."

Rachel's face drained of color.

"No."

Ava looked at her.

"It's true."

Hope suddenly grabbed Emma's hand tighter.

Her little face filled with fear.

Emma immediately knelt beside her.

"It's okay."

But Hope shook her head.

"No."

Emma frowned.

"What is it?"

The little girl looked terrified.

Then whispered something that made everyone freeze.

"It happens to me too."

The world stopped.

Rachel stumbled backward.

Daniel stared.

Ethan swore quietly.

And Emma's heart nearly burst from her chest.

Because Hope wasn't lying.

The fear in her eyes was real.

The confusion.

The loneliness.

The secret she had apparently carried for years.

Emma wrapped both arms around her daughter.

Protective.

Fierce.

Terrified.

Nobody was touching her children again.

Nobody.

Then another memory slammed into Emma.

Much stronger than the others.

A laboratory.

Her mother crying.

Her father looking exhausted.

And a computer screen displaying three names.

Hope.

Ava.

And—

Emma's breath caught.

A third name.

She almost remembered it.

Almost.

Then the memory shattered.

Gone.

Leaving only frustration behind.

The older man noticed.

"You remember her."

Emma looked at him sharply.

Her.

Not it.

Not the child.

Her.

The third child was a girl.

A daughter.

The realization made her chest tighten.

"Where is she?"

The older man's smile disappeared.

For the first time, uncertainty flickered across his face.

And that frightened Emma more than any answer.

Because this man hated uncertainty.

He hated not knowing.

Yet he genuinely seemed disturbed.

Then he quietly admitted something no one expected.

"I don't know."

The forest fell silent again.

Rachel blinked.

Daniel frowned.

Even Victoria looked shocked.

The older man laughed bitterly.

"That's the problem."

Emma's pulse quickened.

"What problem?"

His eyes locked onto hers.

Cold.

Fearful.

Honest.

For the first time in years.

And then he spoke the words that chilled everyone to the bone.

"She's the only one who was never found."

Emma's heart stopped.

The helicopters were landing now.

Federal agents were pouring into the clearing.

The conspiracy was ending.

The arrests were beginning.

The truth was finally coming to light.

Yet none of it mattered.

Because somewhere in the world...

Another daughter existed.

A daughter no one could find.

A daughter carrying the final secret of Project Genesis.

Then Rachel looked down at the last page hidden inside the file.

Her eyes widened instantly.

Pure horror crossing her face.

Emma noticed immediately.

"What is it?"

Rachel didn't answer.

She simply handed over the page.

Emma looked down.

And froze.

It wasn't a report.

It wasn't a photograph.

It was a recent surveillance image.

Taken only three months ago.

The photograph showed a young woman stepping out of a black car.

Her face was partially hidden.

But visible enough.

Emma's breath stopped.

Because the young woman looked exactly like her.

And written beneath the photograph were five terrifying words:

SUBJECT THREE HAS AWAKENED.