Chapter 53: The Shadow of Helios

 

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). 2:00 PM.

Harper wore sunglasses and a trench coat. She felt like a spy in a bad movie, but Count Louis had insisted on a public place. "Art hides secrets," he had texted. "Meet me by the Water Lilies."

She found him standing in front of Monet’s masterpiece. He wasn't looking at the painting; he was watching the reflection of the room in the glass.

"You came," Louis didn't turn around. "Did you find the name?"

"Arthur Sterling," Harper whispered, standing beside him. "He signed the funding order. 1995."

Louis nodded grimly. "Arthur provided the money. Richard Vance provided the political cover. And my... organization... provided the science."

"What was Project Helios?" Harper asked, her voice trembling. "Was it a weapon? A drug?"

Louis turned to face her. His eyes were sad. "It was a genetic editing program. They wanted to create... perfection. Higher intelligence. Stronger immunity. The next step of evolution."

He looked at Harper. "Your mother, Catherine, was the lead geneticist. But when she realized they wanted to test it on embryos... on babies... she ran." "She stole the only successful sample. The 'Key'."

Harper felt sick. "Did they... did they catch her?"

"They hunted her for years," Louis said. "Arthur Sterling was obsessed. He believed the Key belonged to him."

He reached out and touched Harper’s arm gently. "Harper, you need to understand. Sebastian is Arthur's son. The apple does not fall far from the poisoned tree. He is benefiting from the blood money that killed your mother."

"He didn't know," Harper defended him instinctively. "He was a child."

"Was he?" Louis raised an eyebrow. "Or is he just good at hiding it? Why do you think Sterling Corp has such advanced biotech patents? Where do you think that technology came from?"

Harper stepped back. "I don't believe you."

"Then ask him," Louis handed her a small flash drive. "This is the personnel file from the lab. Ask your husband why his name is on the 'Surveillance List' since 2015."

---

[The Batcave]

Sterling Estate. Server Room.

At the same moment, Sebastian was staring at a screen that turned his blood to ice. He had cracked the encryption on the 1995 files.

He saw the financial records. Millions of dollars funneled into a shell company called "Helios Gen". He saw his father's signature. But that wasn't what stopped his heart.

It was a security log dated three years ago. [ Incident Report: 2023-05-12 ] [ Subject: Sebastian Sterling ] [ Status: Unauthorized Access Detected. ] [ Action: Initiate Protocol 'Silence'. ]

Sebastian’s hands shook. May 12th, 2023. The day of his car accident.

He remembered that day clearly. He had found some discrepancies in the company accounts—money disappearing into a "Research Division" that didn't exist. He had started asking questions. That night, his brakes failed on the highway. His car flipped five times. He woke up in the hospital, paralyzed, his father dead from a "heart attack" a week later.

"It wasn't an accident," Sebastian whispered to the empty room. "They tried to kill me."

The Syndicate—the people protecting Helios—had tried to assassinate him because he got too close. And his father... did his father order it? Or was his father killed too?

"Sir." Liam walked in. He looked hesitant. "I tracked Harper's phone."

Sebastian looked up, his eyes red-rimmed. "Where is she?"

Liam put a tablet on the desk. It showed a grainy photo taken from a security camera at the MoMA. Harper was standing close to Count Louis. Louis’s hand was on her arm. Their heads were bent together, sharing a secret. To an outsider, it looked intimate. It looked like betrayal.

"She's with the Frenchman," Liam said quietly. "Meeting in secret."

Sebastian stared at the photo. The woman he loved. The woman he crawled for. She was meeting with a man who claimed to know her mother's secrets. And she hadn't told him.

A dark, cold laugh bubbled up in Sebastian’s throat. "Of course," he muttered. "She doesn't trust me. She thinks I'm one of them."

He looked at the Incident Report on his screen. Protocol Silence. Then he looked at Harper in the photo.

"She's in danger," Sebastian said abruptly. "Louis isn't just an art lover. He's a broker. If he has Harper..."

"He might be using her as bait," Liam finished. "To get to the Key."

Sebastian spun his wheelchair around. The grief in his eyes was replaced by a terrifying resolve. "Prepare the car, Liam." "And bring the gun."

"Sir, are we going to rescue her?"

"No," Sebastian checked the magazine of his pistol. "We are going to hunt a Wolf."

---

[The Confrontation]

Riverside Park. 30 Minutes Later.

Harper walked out of the museum, her mind reeling. She clutched the flash drive Louis gave her. She needed to talk to Sebastian. She needed to scream at him, to hug him, to ask him the truth.

A black SUV screeched to a halt in front of her. The door flew open. Sebastian.

He didn't have his wheelchair. He was sitting in the back seat, the door open. "Get in," he ordered. His voice was unrecognizable.

Harper froze. "Sebastian? How did you find me?"

"I said, get in," Sebastian snapped. "Before I drag you in."

Harper climbed into the car, terrified. As soon as the door closed, Sebastian locked it. He snatched the flash drive from her hand.

"Hey!" Harper tried to grab it back. "That's mine!"

"Is it?" Sebastian held it up to the light. "Or is it something your French boyfriend gave you to poison your mind?"

"He's not my boyfriend!" Harper shouted. "He gave me proof, Sebastian! Proof that your family destroyed mine!"

"I know," Sebastian said calmly. Too calmly.

Harper stopped. "You... you know?"

"I know my father funded it," Sebastian looked at her, his eyes full of pain. "And I know that three years ago, when I tried to find out why... they cut my brake lines."

Harper gasped. She covered her mouth. "Oh my god..."

"They didn't just hurt your mother, Harper," Sebastian whispered. "They broke my legs to keep me quiet."

He leaned forward, trapping her against the leather seat. "So don't you dare go to strangers for answers. Don't you dare trust a man like Louis over me." "We are in this together now."

He handed the flash drive back to her. "But we do it my way. No more secrets."

Harper looked at the flash drive, then at his broken, angry, beautiful face. She realized she had been wrong. He wasn't the villain. He was a survivor, just like her.

She threw the flash drive on the floor and hugged him. "I'm sorry," she sobbed into his chest. "I'm so sorry."

Sebastian held her tight, stroking her hair. But over her shoulder, his eyes were fixed on the rearview mirror. He saw a silver sedan following them. Louis.

"Driver," Sebastian said coldly. "Lose them."