Chapter 11 - The Brother Who Was Erased
"My daughters' replacements."
The words stayed in the air.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
I stared at the man standing at the entrance of the hangar.
The man who looked like me.
Not similar.
Not close.
Like me.
The same eyes.
The same jawline.
The same expression my father used to have when he was hiding something.
But older.
Stronger.
More dangerous.
Sarah moved closer to me.
Lily started crying softly in my arms.
And for the first time...
I understood something.
This was never about money.
Never about companies.
Never about power.
It was always about us.
The children.
The experiments.
The people my father created.
"Who are you?"
My voice was quiet.
The man smiled.
"You really don't remember."
I froze.
"Remember what?"
He walked forward slowly.
Arthur immediately stepped between us.
"Don't."
The man's smile disappeared.
"Still protecting him?"
Arthur's face hardened.
"You don't know what you're doing."
The man laughed.
A bitter laugh.
"I know exactly what I'm doing."
He looked at me.
"My name is Michael Whitmore."
The name meant nothing.
But Arthur's reaction did.
He looked terrified.
Not surprised.
Terrified.
"Michael."
Arthur whispered the name like it hurt.
I looked at Adrian.
Then Victoria.
Then Emma.
Everyone knew.
Everyone except me.
Again.
"Who is Michael?"
Nobody answered.
Michael looked at Arthur.
"Tell him."
Arthur stayed silent.
Michael nodded.
"Of course."
He looked at me.
"He never told you about the first child."
My chest tightened.
"First child?"
Michael smiled.
"Before Daniel."
He pointed at himself.
"Before Adrian."
The world became quiet.
"I was Subject Zero."
Victor's expression changed.
For the first time, he looked nervous.
"You shouldn't be here."
Michael turned toward him.
"Neither should you."
The two men stared at each other.
A different kind of fear passed between them.
They weren't enemies.
They were survivors.
And somehow...
That scared me more.
I looked at Arthur.
"You created him."
Arthur closed his eyes.
"I tried to fix it."
I almost laughed.
"Fix it?"
I looked around.
"How many people did you destroy trying to fix your mistakes?"
Arthur didn't answer.
Michael stepped closer.
"Your father didn't create me because he wanted a son."
He looked at me.
"He created me because he wanted proof."
"Proof of what?"
"That he could build perfection."
I looked down at Lily.
At Sarah.
My daughters.
The children everyone called experiments.
My anger grew.
"And what happened?"
Michael's face changed.
"He failed."
Silence.
"I wasn't perfect."
He looked at Arthur.
"I had emotions."
A pause.
"I had anger."
Another pause.
"I had questions."
His eyes returned to me.
"So Arthur replaced me."
My stomach tightened.
"Replaced you?"
Michael nodded.
"He created Daniel."
I felt cold.
"No."
"Yes."
Michael stepped closer.
"Then when Daniel showed the same problems I had..."
He smiled sadly.
"Arthur created Adrian."
Adrian looked away.
I stared at my twin brother.
All those years.
All those secrets.
We weren't just brothers.
We were versions.
Attempts.
Failures.
The thought made me sick.
"What did you do after he abandoned you?"
Michael looked at Arthur.
"I survived."
Arthur's expression changed.
"I thought you were dead."
Michael laughed.
"You needed me to be dead."
The words hit harder.
Because I knew that feeling.
The feeling of someone rewriting reality because the truth was too inconvenient.
I looked at Victor.
"Why are you here?"
Victor looked at Lily.
"Because the project belongs to me."
"No."
Michael interrupted.
"That's what you tell yourself."
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"You don't understand."
"I understand everything."
Michael stepped forward.
"You took Arthur's research."
Victor smiled.
"And you took his children."
The accusation hit the room.
Everyone went silent.
Michael looked at Sarah.
Then Lily.
"I never wanted them involved."
I looked at him.
"Then why are you here?"
He didn't answer.
That scared me.
Because everyone who claimed they wanted to protect us always had another reason.
I held Lily closer.
"Nobody comes near my daughters."
Michael looked at me.
Something changed in his expression.
A sadness.
Almost regret.
"You sound exactly like him."
I hated that sentence.
Because a part of me feared it.
That maybe after everything...
I was becoming my father.
"No."
Michael looked at me.
"You don't know what he did."
I stepped forward.
"I know enough."
Michael shook his head.
"No, Daniel."
His voice became serious.
"You know what everyone wanted you to know."
He looked toward Arthur.
"But you don't know what happened the night you were born."
My breathing slowed.
Another secret.
Another missing piece.
"Tell me."
Arthur immediately said:
"No."
I turned.
"Why?"
His face changed.
Because he knew.
Michael continued.
"The night Daniel was born..."
He looked at me.
"There weren't two babies."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
"There were three."
The hangar went silent.
Three.
Not two.
Three.
I looked at Adrian.
He looked shocked.
I looked at Arthur.
He looked away.
"Who was the third?"
Nobody spoke.
Michael looked at me.
"The one your father was most afraid of."
A notification sound suddenly came from Arthur's phone.
Everyone turned.
He looked at the screen.
And all the color disappeared from his face.
"What is it?"
Arthur didn't answer.
Michael stepped closer.
"Who contacted you?"
Arthur slowly lowered the phone.
His hands were shaking.
That was the first time I had ever seen my father afraid.
Not pretending.
Not acting.
Actually afraid.
I looked at the phone.
"Show me."
Arthur hesitated.
Then handed it to me.
One message.
One image.
My blood froze.
Because the picture showed a hospital room.
The same hospital.
The same night.
Three newborn babies.
Three small beds.
And written underneath:
SUBJECT ZERO.
SUBJECT ONE.
SUBJECT TWO.
But the third name had been hidden.
Covered.
Except for one visible letter.
A letter I recognized.
Because it was my own.
Michael stared at the phone.
Then whispered:
"No."
I looked at him.
"What?"
His face turned pale.
"The third child..."
He stepped back.
"Wasn't supposed to survive."
The lights in the hangar suddenly went out.
Everyone froze.
A second later, emergency lights turned on.
But Michael was no longer looking at the photograph.
He was looking behind me.
At the hangar entrance.
Because someone else had arrived.
Someone who should have been impossible.
May you like
Michael whispered:
"She's alive."
