CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: THE FIRSTBORN

Elena stared at the baby.

Then at Victor.

"Which one was born first?"

Victor's smile widened.

"That's the question you've been avoiding for seven years."

Damien stepped in front of Elena.

"Stay away from them."

Victor ignored him.

His attention remained on the crib.

"The child in that room was born before Lily."

Elena's breath caught.

"No."

"Yes."

"That's impossible."

Victor gave a quiet laugh.

"You've been given too many versions of the truth."

Elena looked at the baby again.

The hospital bracelet around its tiny wrist still carried her name.

ELENA ASHFORD.

She reached toward the crib.

Victor immediately said, "Don't."

Her hand stopped.

"Why?"

"Because you don't know what you're holding."

"He's a baby."

"He's an heir."

Damien's expression hardened.

"To what?"

Victor looked at him.

"Everything."

---

Lily clutched Elena's hand.

"Mommy, don't let him take the baby."

"I won't."

Victor looked down at the girl.

"You shouldn't have brought her here."

Elena pulled Lily closer.

"She's my daughter."

Victor's expression became cold.

"She's a mistake."

Lily flinched.

Elena stepped forward.

"Say that again."

"She was never supposed to survive."

"Neither was Noah."

Victor's eyes narrowed.

"And yet both did."

Damien looked around the room.

"Where is Noah?"

Victor smiled.

"Safe."

"Where?"

"Somewhere you won't find him."

Elena's voice shook.

"You took my children."

Victor's expression hardened.

"No. You gave them away."

She stared at him.

"I never gave you my children."

"You asked me to protect them."

"I asked you to protect one."

"Exactly."

Victor stepped closer.

"And that decision created everything that followed."

Elena's mind raced.

"Tell me what happened."

Victor looked toward the baby.

"Your first pregnancy was complicated."

Damien frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

"You were told Elena was carrying one child."

Elena's heart pounded.

"But she wasn't."

Victor nodded.

"She was carrying twins."

Elena looked at Lily.

"And then?"

"Then there was a third."

Silence.

Damien stared at him.

"A third?"

Victor nodded.

"The pregnancy had been misreported."

Elena shook her head.

"That isn't possible."

"It is when the medical records are controlled by someone who knows exactly what they're doing."

Adrian stepped closer.

"Victor."

Victor looked at him.

"You helped."

Adrian's face tightened.

"I didn't know about the third."

"You knew enough."

Elena looked between them.

"What did you do?"

Adrian swallowed.

"I believed there were two children."

Victor smiled.

"And I made sure everyone continued believing it."

---

Elena looked at the baby.

"Who is he?"

Victor didn't answer immediately.

Instead, he walked toward the crib.

Damien blocked him.

"Don't."

Victor stopped.

"You still think you're his father."

Damien's eyes hardened.

"I don't care what you call him."

"Then perhaps you should know his name."

Victor looked at Elena.

"You named him before you forgot."

Her heart skipped.

"What?"

Victor smiled.

"You called him Adrian."

Adrian went completely still.

"No."

Elena looked at him.

"You knew?"

"No."

Victor laughed.

"Of course he didn't."

Adrian stared at the baby.

"I never met him."

"You did."

"When?"

"The night he was born."

Adrian's face drained of color.

Victor continued.

"You held him."

Adrian shook his head.

"I don't remember."

"That's because you were unconscious."

Elena looked at him.

"Why were you there?"

Adrian couldn't answer.

Victor did.

"Because Damien wasn't."

Damien stepped forward.

"What does that mean?"

Victor looked at him.

"You weren't in the delivery room."

"I was outside."

"No."

Victor smiled.

"You were somewhere else entirely."

Damien's face tightened.

"Where?"

Victor's eyes darkened.

"At the accident."

Silence.

Elena's breathing stopped.

"The accident happened before the children were born?"

Victor nodded.

"Hours before."

Damien looked confused.

"That's impossible."

"You've been remembering the wrong night."

Elena felt dizzy.

The memories she'd recovered were shifting again.

The rain.

The car.

The crying baby.

She had assumed the accident happened after the birth.

But what if it hadn't?

"What happened that night?" she whispered.

Victor looked at her.

"You were running from me."

"Why?"

"Because you'd discovered the truth."

"What truth?"

Victor's voice became quiet.

"That Damien wasn't the only man who had access to your life."

Elena stared at him.

"What are you saying?"

Victor smiled.

"You've spent seven years believing your children were victims."

He pointed toward the crib.

"But one of them was the reason everything began."

---

A sound came from the hallway.

Footsteps.

Everyone turned.

Marcus appeared.

"We have a problem."

Damien immediately moved toward him.

"What?"

"Someone has breached the building."

"Victor's men?"

Marcus shook his head.

"No."

"Who?"

Marcus looked at Elena.

"Your mother."

Elena froze.

"She's here?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

Marcus pointed toward the stairs.

"She came alone."

A moment later, Elena's mother appeared.

Her face was pale.

She looked at the baby.

Then at Victor.

Her expression changed instantly.

"No."

Elena moved toward her.

"Mom?"

Her mother shook her head.

"You found him."

"Who?"

"The firstborn."

Elena glanced toward the crib.

"You know him?"

Her mother nodded.

"I know what he is."

"What is he?"

Her mother looked at Damien.

Then Adrian.

Finally, she looked at Elena.

"He was never supposed to be born."

The room went silent.

Elena's heart pounded.

"Why?"

Her mother stepped closer.

"Because he wasn't part of Victor's experiment."

Victor's smile disappeared.

"Don't."

Her mother ignored him.

"He was the result of something Victor never planned."

"What?"

She looked at Elena.

"Your pregnancy."

Elena frowned.

"I don't understand."

"You weren't supposed to conceive."

Damien stared at her.

"What?"

Her mother continued.

"After your first pregnancy, the doctors told us you couldn't safely carry another child."

Elena's eyes widened.

"But I did."

"Yes."

Her mother looked toward the baby.

"And that child wasn't created in a laboratory."

Victor's jaw tightened.

"He was created naturally."

Elena looked at the baby.

"Then who is his father?"

Her mother didn't answer.

Elena's voice trembled.

"Mom."

Her mother closed her eyes.

"You know the answer."

Elena's heart pounded harder.

She looked at Damien.

Then Adrian.

Then Victor.

"Who?"

Her mother whispered:

"Your first husband."

Damien went completely still.

Elena stared at her.

"I never had another husband."

Her mother shook her head.

"Not that you remember."

Elena's face went pale.

Victor suddenly laughed.

"Now you're getting close."

Damien turned toward him.

"Stop."

Victor smiled.

"Tell her."

"Tell me what?"

Victor's eyes met Elena's.

"You were married before Damien."

Elena shook her head.

"No."

"You were."

"To whom?"

Victor's smile slowly disappeared.

"To me."

Silence.

Elena's entire world seemed to stop.

Damien looked at Victor in disbelief.

"You're lying."

Victor didn't look at him.

He looked only at Elena.

"You don't remember the wedding."

Elena backed away.

"I would remember."

"No."

Victor's voice was almost gentle.

"That's exactly what I made sure of."

Elena's hand went instinctively to her head.

Another memory flashed.

A white dress.

A ring.

A dark room.

Victor standing before her.

And her own voice whispering:

I don't love you.

Victor's voice answered:

You don't have to.

Elena gasped.

The memory vanished.

Damien caught her before she fell.

"Elena."

She stared at him, terrified.

"I remember."

"What?"

She looked at Victor.

"I married him."

Victor smiled.

"Yes."

Then the baby in the crib began crying.

Victor turned toward him.

"And now you finally remember who his father is."

Elena looked at the child.

Victor's voice came quietly behind her.

"Because that baby isn't just the firstborn."

He paused.

"He's my son."

The room went silent.

Then Elena's mother whispered:

"No."

Victor smiled.

"Yes."

And from the hallway came another voice.

A familiar one.

Noah.

"Mommy!"

Elena turned toward the sound.

Victor's smile vanished.

Because Noah was standing at the end of the corridor.

And he was holding a gun.