LOGINThe Choice That Could Destroy EverythingDaniel POVCOME ALONE TO THE OLD RECORDS VAULT BEFORE MIDNIGHT.I read the message again.Isabella was alive.After seven years of believing I had lost her, I had finally seen her face.And someone was threatening to take her away again."I have to go," I whispered.Nathan stepped in front of me."No."I looked at him."You saw the photograph.""I did.""Then you understand.""I understand that Victor wants you separated from everyone who can help you."My hands tightened."That's the mother of my child!"Emma flinched.I immediately lowered my voice.Nathan didn't move."And Emily is still inside that building. So are eleven other children."His words struck me.I looked at the photograph.Isabella's bruised face stared back at me."What am I supposed to do?"Nathan placed a hand on my shoulder."Help us save them without giving Victor another prisoner."Emma POVI watched my brother struggle.For years, Daniel had lived with the belief that I
The Daughter He Never KnewDaniel POV"Emily is Daniel's daughter."My mother's words struck me harder than anything Victor had ever done.I stared at her."What?"Elizabeth covered her mouth.Tears streamed down her face."Daniel, I'm sorry."I shook my head."No."My voice sounded unfamiliar."I don't have a daughter."Nobody spoke.I turned toward Richard's voice on the phone."Who is Emily Laurent?"Richard hesitated."A little girl. Seven years old."Seven.My stomach tightened.Seven years ago, I lived under a false identity, moving between safe houses and trying to expose Project Zero.There had been someone.A woman I loved.A woman who disappeared without explaining why.I looked at my mother."Who is her mother?"Elizabeth lowered her eyes."Isabella."The room began spinning.Isabella.The woman I had spent seven years believing was dead.Emma POVI had never seen Daniel look so frightened.He gripped the edge of the desk."Is Isabella alive?"My mother shook her head."I d
The Photograph That Changed EverythingNathan POVI stared at the photograph.Inspector Sarah Mitchell.Victor Hale.Standing together outside Northbridge Institute.Two weeks earlier.My stomach tightened."Where did Richard get this?"Alexander shook his head."I don't know."Dylan stepped closer."She's the investigator you trusted?""Yes.""And she met Victor?"I examined the photograph again.Something didn't feel right.Richard had sent it at the exact moment we were preparing to rescue Sophie.He wanted us to doubt Mitchell.But why?"Nobody contacts her yet," I said.Emma frowned."Why?""Because a photograph doesn't tell us what happened during that meeting."Jonathan laughed quietly."You're finally learning."I turned toward him."Don't mistake caution for trust, Father."His smile disappeared.I looked back at the screen."If Mitchell is compromised, we need proof.""And if Richard is lying?" Dylan asked.I closed the photograph."Then we cannot afford to lose the only ind
The Trap We Set for VictorEmma POV"We're not going to give Victor what he wants."Everyone stared at me.Dylan held my hand."Emma, he has Sophie.""I know."My voice trembled, but I continued."And that's exactly why we cannot walk into Northbridge without a plan."Nathan nodded."Victor expects you to come frightened and desperate."I looked at him."Then we give him something he doesn't expect.""What?""Evidence. Witnesses. And people who can stop him."Jonathan laughed bitterly."You think Victor will allow investigators into his facility?"I turned toward him."No. That's why we won't tell him they're coming."For the first time, Jonathan had no answer.Nathan POVI opened the files we had preserved from the archive.Victor's name appeared throughout the records.Unauthorized medical research.False identities.Financial transfers.Evidence of coercion.But much of it still needed independent verification."We have enough to make a serious report," I said. "And Sophie is being
The Sister Who Signed My FateEmma POVWITNESS: SOPHIE BENNETT.I stared at the name.Sophie.My sister.The same girl who had spent years competing with me for our parents' affection.The same girl who had recently promised she was finished being manipulated.And now her name appeared on a petition targeting my unborn child."No," I whispered.Dylan moved closer."Emma, we don't know whether she signed it."I looked at him."Her name is right there.""Names can be forged."Nathan nodded."Especially by people who have spent years falsifying identities."I wanted to believe them.But memories were already flooding back.Sophie smiling while I was blamed.Sophie remaining silent when I needed someone to defend me.Sophie choosing herself.Again and again.My phone trembled in my hand.I opened her contact.And pressed call.Sophie POVMy phone rang while I was leaving the Bennett residence.Emma.I smiled faintly.For the first time in years, I had been trying to build a relationship w
The Signature That Condemned UsEmma POVAUTHORIZED BY: CHARLES WHITMORE.I stared at the screen.My unborn child.Registered under Project Zero.And Charles had signed the authorization.I turned toward him."Tell me this is a mistake."Charles stood motionless."Emma—""No."My voice shook."Tell me you didn't do this."Dylan stepped beside me.His expression was terrifyingly calm."Charles, you have one chance to explain."Charles looked at Nathan.Then at my mother.Finally, he lowered his head."The signature is mine."My stomach tightened.I stepped backward."You registered my baby?""Yes."I felt tears burning my eyes."How could you?"Charles swallowed."Because someone else was about to do it."I stared at him."What?"He looked toward the computer."And if Victor registered your child first, I wouldn't have been able to stop him."Dylan POVI wanted to believe there was an explanation.But I had heard too many explanations from people who claimed to be protecting Emma."Wha
Emma POVI'd never seen Dylan look at me like that before. Well, that wasn't exactly true. He'd looked at me with hatred plenty of times, with disgust and contempt and barely concealed loathing. But this was different. This was rage mixed with something else, something darker that made my blood run
Emma POVA strong hand caught my arms, steadying me before I could fall."Careful there."I looked up, and my heart stopped.It was Dylan's younger brother, Marcus Carter. I'd only met him once, briefly, at the wedding. He'd been away on business ever since, somewhere overseas. I didn't even know h
Emma POV"Nothing," I said quickly. Too quickly. "Nothing's wrong with me."Dylan's eyes narrowed. He was studying me now, really looking at me in a way he hadn't since that first morning we woke up together. I could see his mind working, putting pieces together."You've been doing that all day, ha
Emma POV I woke up several hours later to the sound of raised voices downstairs. Dylan's voice was angry and sharp. And another voice, male, equally angry.I got out of bed and crept to the top of the stairs, staying in the shadows where I couldn't be seen.Dylan was in the foyer, and standing wit







