Chapter 8 - The Name He Was Afraid to Say
The lock turned from the other side.
I froze.
Julian grabbed my arm.
“Don't.”
The steel door opened a fraction.
A woman's silhouette appeared in the gap.
Then she whispered the name again.
“Amelia.”
I stopped breathing.
The name from the file.
The name Julian had been terrified for me to say.
Amelia.
The door opened wider.
A young woman stepped into the archive.
She was around twenty years old.
Long dark hair.
Pale skin.
A small scar above her left eyebrow.
My eyes.
My daughter's eyes.
She looked at me for several seconds.
Then she whispered,
“Mom.”
My knees almost gave out.
I held onto the edge of the filing cabinet.
Julian moved between us.
“Stay back.”
The girl looked at him.
“You're still protecting her from me.”
Her voice was calm.
Almost painfully calm.
Julian's face went white.
“You shouldn't be here.”
She smiled without warmth.
“Neither should you.”
I pushed Julian aside.
“Who are you?”
The girl looked at me.
For a moment, she didn't answer.
Then she took one step closer.
“My name is Amelia.”
My heart shattered.
“Are you my daughter?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You already know the answer.”
I shook my head.
“I need to hear you say it.”
She looked at Julian.
Then back at me.
“Yes.”
The word barely left her lips.
I covered my mouth.
Twenty years.
I had imagined this moment thousands of times.
In those dreams, my daughter was always a baby.
Sometimes I imagined her as a little girl.
Sometimes as a teenager.
But I had never imagined meeting her as a grown woman.
I had never imagined she would look at me with fear.
Or anger.
Or both.
I stepped toward her.
She stepped backward.
I stopped.
“I'm sorry.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“For what?”
“For everything.”
“You didn't do it.”
I swallowed.
“I should have protected you.”
“You didn't know.”
“I should have known.”
“No.”
Her voice became sharper.
“You shouldn't have known.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because if you had known, they would have killed you too.”
Julian looked toward the door.
“Amelia, we need to leave.”
She turned on him.
“You don't get to tell me what to do.”
“I've spent twenty years keeping you alive.”
“You spent twenty years hiding the truth.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
I stared between them.
“You two know each other.”
Amelia looked at me.
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Since I was fourteen.”
My heart sank.
“Fourteen?”
Julian nodded.
“I found her six years ago.”
I looked at him.
“You found her.”
“Yes.”
“And you didn't tell me.”
“I couldn't.”
Amelia laughed bitterly.
“He was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“Of what I would tell you.”
I turned toward Julian.
“What did you know?”
He didn't answer.
Amelia did.
“He knew what happened to my sister.”
I froze.
“Emma?”
Amelia shook her head.
“That's the name you were given.”
I stared at her.
“What do you mean?”
“She was never Emma.”
Julian stepped forward.
“Amelia.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“She's spent twenty years believing that name belonged to her.”
I felt dizzy.
“Then who is Emma?”
Amelia's eyes filled with tears.
“My sister.”
I couldn't breathe.
“You mean…”
“She is alive.”
My hand went to my chest.
“Where?”
Amelia looked at the files.
“Somewhere they can't reach.”
“Who?”
She didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
“Amelia, please.”
She looked at me.
“She was taken because they wanted me.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
“Because I was R-17.”
My heart stopped.
“You?”
She nodded.
“I was the baby your father-in-law wanted.”
I looked at Julian.
He lowered his head.
“Then Emma…”
“She was the baby Evelyn saved.”
I closed my eyes.
Everything shifted.
The photographs.
The records.
The letters.
The necklace.
The names.
All of it.
Amelia was R-17.
Emma was the daughter Evelyn had hidden.
But then why had the records said Emma was R-17?
Someone had switched the identities.
Someone had rewritten the entire story.
I opened my eyes.
“Who changed the records?”
Amelia looked at Julian.
“My father.”
I stared.
“Julian?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
She pointed toward the oldest file on the desk.
“Your father-in-law.”
I looked at Julian.
“He was my father.”
“Yes.”
“But why would he want you?”
Amelia walked to the desk.
She opened a file.
Inside were medical reports.
She pushed one toward me.
I read the first page.
The words blurred.
I read it again.
Subject R-17 demonstrated a rare genetic marker.
Below it:
Potential hereditary resistance to targeted disease.
I looked at Amelia.
“He wanted to use you.”
She nodded.
“He wanted to prove he could create a treatment.”
“For what?”
“Cancer.”
I stared at the report.
“He believed my blood could be used to develop a treatment.”
“Yes.”
“And Emma?”
“She didn't have the marker.”
“So she wasn't useful.”
Amelia's face hardened.
“To him.”
I understood.
He had separated two babies.
One valuable.
One expendable.
My daughters.
I felt sick.
“Evelyn knew.”
“Yes.”
“She took Emma.”
“Yes.”
“And you?”
“My father took me.”
I whispered, “How?”
“Through the hospital.”
My hands trembled.
“Did he hurt you?”
Amelia looked away.
“He didn't raise me himself.”
“Who did?”
“A woman named Vanessa.”
I froze.
“The woman from the photograph.”
Amelia nodded.
“She was assigned to watch me.”
“Why?”
“To make sure I never escaped.”
I looked at Julian.
“And you?”
“I found Amelia when she was fourteen.”
“You said six years ago.”
“Yes.”
“What did you do?”
“I tried to get her out.”
Amelia shook her head.
“He tried.”
I looked at her.
“What happened?”
“My father found us.”
“Your father-in-law?”
“No.”
She looked at Julian.
“My father.”
My stomach dropped.
“Julian's father?”
Amelia nodded.
“He was still alive?”
“For a while.”
“What happened?”
“He died six months later.”
“Did he know you were his granddaughter?”
“He knew exactly who I was.”
I looked at Julian.
“And he knew about Emma?”
“Yes.”
“Where was she?”
Amelia's expression softened.
“She was with Evelyn.”
My heart broke.
“Evelyn had her?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Almost twelve years.”
“Then why didn't she bring her home?”
“She thought it was safer.”
I closed my eyes.
Evelyn had protected one daughter.
Julian had searched for the other.
And I had been left outside the entire truth.
“Where is Emma now?”
Amelia looked toward the ceiling.
“She disappeared six years ago.”
My heart sank.
“Why?”
“She found out who she really was.”
“What happened?”
“She ran.”
“From Evelyn?”
“No.”
“From whom?”
Amelia looked directly at Julian.
“From him.”
Julian stiffened.
“That's not true.”
Amelia stepped toward him.
“You told her you would protect her.”
“I tried.”
“You brought her to Blackridge.”
“I had to.”
“You brought her to the one place she was afraid of.”
“I didn't know he was there.”
“Who?”
Julian's face changed.
Amelia whispered:
“Your father.”
Silence.
“He was supposed to be dead,” Julian said.
“He wasn't.”
I stared at Julian.
“You saw your father?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
“And you didn't tell me?”
“I couldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because he made a threat.”
“What threat?”
Julian looked at me.
“He said if I told you about the girls, he would kill you.”
I felt tears rise.
“You believed him.”
“Yes.”
“Even after he died?”
Julian's expression changed.
“I thought he was dead.”
Amelia shook her head.
“He wasn't.”
I turned toward her.
“What do you mean?”
“He faked his death.”
Julian stepped forward.
“Amelia.”
“He's still alive.”
The room went silent.
I looked at Julian.
He looked genuinely terrified.
“Where?”
Amelia pointed toward the files.
“He owns another facility.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Julian grabbed her arm.
“Who told you?”
She pulled away.
“You already know.”
“No.”
“You saw the records.”
“I saw the records six years ago.”
Amelia looked at me.
“He's been watching you ever since.”
My phone vibrated.
I looked down.
A new message.
Unknown number.
There was no text.
Only a photograph.
My breath stopped.
It showed my house.
Taken from across the street.
The photograph was recent.
Very recent.
Then another image appeared.
My front door.
Then another.
My living room.
Then another.
The fireplace.
Evelyn's urn.
And finally—
A photograph of my bedroom.
Someone had been inside my house.
I looked at Julian.
“Who has access to my home?”
He didn't answer.
I opened the final image.
It showed my wedding ring sitting on the marble table.
Beside it was a handwritten note.
Three words.
SHE IS NEXT.
Amelia grabbed my hand.
“Don't go home.”
“I have to.”
“No.”
“Why?”
She stared at the photograph.
“Because he wants you there.”
“Who?”
She looked at Julian.
“My grandfather.”
Julian's phone suddenly rang.
He stared at the screen.
His face lost all color.
I stepped closer.
“Who is calling?”
He didn't answer.
The phone rang again.
Then again.
Amelia whispered, “Don't pick up.”
Julian looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because he knows we're here.”
The phone stopped.
A message appeared.
Julian opened it.
His hands began shaking.
He handed me the phone.
There was a photograph.
A man sitting behind a desk.
Older.
Silver hair.
Sharp eyes.
Alive.
I stared at the face.
Julian whispered,
“My father.”
Another message arrived.
BRING CLARISSA TO THE MAIN HOUSE.
Then another.
BRING BOTH GIRLS.
My blood ran cold.
Amelia looked at the screen.
May you like
Then she whispered one sentence.
“He has Emma.”
