MasukAmelia couldn't breathe.The words remained on the screen.MOTHER AND CHILD: REUNITED.Her eyes were fixed on the little girl.Dark hair.Small face.Those eyes.Her eyes.“No,” Amelia whispered.Damian stood beside her.He didn't speak.He couldn't.The entire room had gone silent.Even Alexander looked as though the world had just collapsed around him.Amelia turned slowly toward him.“Dad.”Alexander didn't answer.“Tell me she's lying.”His lips parted.Nothing came out.“Dad!”“I don't know.”“You don't know?”Amelia's voice cracked.“You knew about Anastasia. You knew about the Archive. You knew about the laboratory. You knew they took me.”She pointed toward the screen.“And now there's a child calling me her mother.”Alexander looked at the little girl.His eyes filled with tears.“I thought she was dead.”Amelia froze.“You knew about her?”Alexander closed his eyes.“Yes.”Damian's head snapped toward him.“You knew Amelia had a child?”Alexander shook his head.“Not exactly
“Anastasia?”Amelia's voice broke.The room remained completely dark.For one terrifying second, there was nothing.No movement.No answer.Then the speakers crackled.“Yes.”Amelia covered her mouth.Her knees almost gave out.Damian caught her before she fell.“Amelia.”“She's alive.”Her voice trembled.“She said she's alive.”Alexander stared at the speakers as if they had become something impossible.“No.”Amelia looked at him.“You heard her.”“I know that voice.”Alexander's face had gone pale.“I know that voice.”The speakers crackled again.“Dad?”Alexander froze.That single word destroyed whatever composure he had left.He took a step forward.“Anastasia?”“Yes.”His eyes filled instantly.“My God.”He covered his face with one hand.“I thought you were dead.”“I was supposed to be.”The words sent a chill through the room.Damian looked toward the ceiling.“Where are you?”A pause.“I don't know.”Adrian stepped toward the terminal.“The signal is coming from somewhere be
The first gunshot tore through the laboratory.Amelia screamed.Damian pulled her down.“GET DOWN!”Bullets struck the metal wall behind them.Adrian fired back immediately.The seven children scattered with practiced precision, disappearing behind equipment and pillars as if they had rehearsed the movement a hundred times.Because they had.Damian dragged Amelia behind a reinforced steel table.“Are you hurt?”She shook her head.“My baby…”“She’s okay.”Another shot rang out.Damian looked over the edge of the table.There were at least fifteen armed men in the doorway.All dressed in black.No insignia.No identification.No hesitation.“They came prepared,” Adrian said from across the room.Clara fired twice.One of the men dropped.“Of course they did.”Alexander crouched beside Amelia.“We need to leave.”Amelia looked at him.“Who are they?”“You already know.”“No.”Her voice shook.“I remember a room. I remember the boy. I remember being taken.”She swallowed.“But I don't re
The eyes opened.Amelia froze.For several seconds, nobody moved.Nobody breathed.The figure behind the glass remained perfectly still, submerged in darkness.Only the faint glow from the laboratory illuminated the outline of a body inside the chamber.A child.Or at least, that was what Amelia thought at first.The boy standing beside the control panel stared at the chamber with an expression that was almost reverent.“He's awake,” he whispered.Damian stepped closer to Amelia.“Stay behind me.”Amelia barely heard him.Her eyes were fixed on the chamber.Something about the figure inside felt familiar.Not familiar in the way a face was familiar.It was something deeper.A sensation.A memory that didn't feel like a memory.Her stomach tightened.The baby moved again.Hard.Amelia gasped and placed a hand against her abdomen.The heartbeat from inside the chamber immediately accelerated.Thump.Thump.Thump.The machine began flashing red.Adrian looked at the readings.“That's not
The helicopter moved through the night sky.No one spoke.Amelia couldn't take her eyes off the small screen in Adrian's hand.ARCHIVE RESTORATION: 4%The number continued to increase.5%.6%.7%.Her stomach tightened.She looked at Alexander."My first life."The words felt impossible."What does that mean?"Alexander remained silent.Damian's patience finally broke."Answer her."Alexander looked at Amelia."You were very young.""How young?""Three years old."Amelia's eyes widened."Three?"Alexander nodded."You were taken from your mother.""Taken?""Yes.""By the organization?""By people working for them."Amelia shook her head."But I remember my childhood.""You remember what they allowed you to remember."Her breathing became unsteady."No."Damian immediately moved beside her."Amelia.""I remember my mother.""You remember pieces.""Her voice.""Her hands.""The house."Alexander nodded."Those memories are real.""Then what's missing?""The laboratory."Amelia froze."Y
The silence after the Archive was destroyed felt almost unnatural.No alarms.No flashing screens.No hidden messages.No countdowns.For the first time in years, there was nothing telling them what would happen next.But Amelia knew better.The silence didn't mean they were safe.She was still holding Damian when Bennett shouted from the doorway."They're here."Everyone turned.The barricaded entrance had begun to shake.Once.Twice.Then violently.Nathan tightened his grip on his weapon."How many?"Bennett looked through the narrow opening."At least ten."Noah moved beside him."Ten?"Bennett shook his head."More are coming."Damian slowly pushed himself upright.Amelia immediately held his arm."Don't.""I'm fine.""You just collapsed.""I'm still standing.""That's not the same thing."A faint smile crossed his face."You're becoming very bossy.""And you're becoming very difficult."He squeezed her hand."I missed this."Amelia frowned."What?""You worrying about me."She s
The crystal chandeliers of the Grand Orion Hotel glowed above the crowd, casting gold across silk gowns and tailored suits. Laughter echoed through the ballroom, champagne glasses clinked softly, and cameras flashed toward the stage where the powerful elites of the city gathered.At the center of i
“Amelia!”The sound of Damian’s voice echoed through the apartment with a panic nobody had ever heard from him before.Sophie gasped.Nathan froze.And Adrian immediately lifted Amelia into his arms as her body went limp against him.“Move.”His calm tone cut sharply through the chaos.Years of med
The words slammed into Damian like a physical blow.“Don’t touch her.”For a second, nobody moved.Amelia’s body trembled weakly in Adrian’s arms, her face pale enough to terrify everyone in the room.“Move aside,” Damian said coldly.Adrian ignored him completely.“Get water,” he told Sophie calml
Amelia’s heartbeat stopped for a second.No.Not now.Not tonight.Sophie looked between the door and Amelia in confusion before opening it wider.Standing outside was a tall man dressed in a dark coat, rainwater still glistening faintly on his shoulders. His sharp features carried the calm confide







