Chapter 10 - The Daughter Who Knew My Name
"Daddy..."
The word broke me.
Not because I had never heard it before.
I had heard Lily say it.
I had felt my heart explode the first time my daughter looked at me and called me that.
But this was different.
This little girl standing beside the black vehicle...
Wasn't Lily.
She was Sarah.
The daughter I never knew existed.
The child everyone had hidden from me.
And she was looking at me like she had been waiting her entire life for this moment.
I couldn't move.
I couldn't breathe.
I only stared.
The little girl touched the necklace around her neck.
The same necklace I had seen in my mother's old photographs.
The necklace my mother wore the last time I remembered seeing her.
"Where did you get that?"
My voice shook.
The girl looked confused.
"My mommy gave it to me."
My heart stopped.
"Your mommy?"
She nodded.
"She said my daddy would know."
Nobody spoke.
Not Arthur.
Not Victor.
Not Victoria.
Not even Emma.
Everyone was watching me.
Waiting for my reaction.
But I didn't know what reaction I was supposed to have.
How could someone feel love for a child they had never met?
How could someone grieve for a daughter they never knew they lost?
I looked at Sarah.
And somehow...
I already loved her.
The same way I loved Lily.
Without explanation.
Without logic.
Without needing proof.
I slowly stepped forward.
Arthur immediately moved.
"Daniel."
I stopped.
His voice carried a warning.
Not from a father.
From someone protecting a secret.
"Don't."
I looked at him.
"Don't what?"
He stared at Sarah.
"Don't let her change everything."
My anger returned.
"She is my daughter."
Arthur's face tightened.
"She is also the reason you are in danger."
I laughed.
A quiet, painful laugh.
"Everything is always about danger with you."
I held Lily closer.
"Everyone keeps telling me they lied because they were protecting me."
I looked at Sarah.
"But nobody protected these children."
Arthur didn't answer.
Because he knew I was right.
Sarah looked at me.
"Are you really my daddy?"
The question destroyed me.
Not because I didn't know the answer.
Because I did.
I knelt down.
Keeping Lily in one arm.
I reached my other hand toward Sarah.
"Yes."
My voice broke.
"I am."
She stared at my hand.
Then slowly walked closer.
She touched my fingers.
And smiled.
A small smile.
The kind only children have.
A smile that doesn't know about secrets.
Or lies.
Or betrayal.
For a moment...
Everything stopped.
Then Victor spoke.
"Beautiful."
Everyone turned.
He was watching us.
Like we were an experiment.
Not a family.
"The two subjects finally reunited."
My expression changed.
"Don't call my daughters that."
Victor tilted his head.
"But that's what they are."
"No."
My voice became colder.
"They are children."
Victor smiled.
"That is exactly what Arthur wanted you to believe."
I looked at Arthur.
"What does he mean?"
Arthur remained silent.
Victor walked closer.
"The project wasn't about creating smarter children."
He looked at Sarah.
"It was about creating the perfect successor."
My stomach tightened.
"Successor to what?"
Victor looked at me.
"To your father."
I felt cold.
Arthur stepped forward.
"Enough."
Victor ignored him.
"Arthur realized early that intelligence wasn't inherited the way people believed."
He opened the folder again.
"That's why he created you."
I looked down.
At Lily.
At Sarah.
"No."
Victor continued.
"You were Subject One."
He pointed at Adrian.
"He was Subject Two."
Then he looked at my daughters.
"And they were the next generation."
Emma started crying.
"Stop."
Victor looked at her.
"You knew this."
She shook her head.
"I knew pieces."
"Enough to stay."
Her face broke.
"Enough to protect them."
I looked at Emma.
There was pain in her eyes.
Real pain.
But there was also something else.
Regret.
A regret that had been growing for years.
"Emma."
She looked at me.
"I'm sorry."
Those two words hurt.
Because I knew they were honest.
But honesty after years of secrets still hurts.
The airport alarms suddenly stopped.
The silence afterward felt worse.
Then every screen around the hangar turned on.
A video appeared.
Everyone looked up.
A man appeared on the screen.
Arthur.
But younger.
Much younger.
A recording.
My father looked directly into the camera.
"If you're watching this, it means the project failed."
Arthur's face went pale.
"No."
The recording continued.
"My son Daniel has discovered the truth."
I stared.
My own father was speaking from the past.
"But there is one thing he doesn't know."
The screen changed.
A medical report appeared.
My name.
Daniel Whitmore.
Then another name.
Subject Zero.
I stopped breathing.
Victor smiled.
Arthur looked away.
The recording continued.
"Daniel was never the first."
The entire runway became silent.
I looked at Arthur.
"What does that mean?"
Nobody answered.
The screen changed again.
A photograph appeared.
A child.
A boy.
Older than me.
Standing inside the same laboratory.
The same machines.
The same room.
The same place where I had been taken.
The boy looked familiar.
Too familiar.
Because he had my face.
But older.
A voice came from the recording.
"The first successful subject was created before Daniel."
My hands went cold.
"His name was..."
The screen flickered.
Static covered the image.
Everyone waited.
Then the recording returned.
The name appeared.
A name I had never heard.
But Arthur recognized immediately.
His face lost all color.
Because the person on the screen was not dead.
He was alive.
And he was watching us.
The recording finished with one sentence:
"Daniel was not my first son."
The screen went black.
Nobody moved.
I looked at Arthur.
Then at Adrian.
Then at Victor.
"Who is he?"
Arthur whispered:
"My oldest mistake."
A sound came from behind us.
A slow clap.
Everyone turned.
A man stood at the entrance of the hangar.
Older than Arthur.
Older than everyone there.
But his eyes...
His eyes were exactly like mine.
He smiled.
"Hello, little brother."
May you like
And then he looked at Lily and Sarah.
"My daughters' replacements."
