Chapter 13: The Truth Emily Left Behind
For several minutes, I couldn’t move.
I stared at the photo on my phone.
The laboratory.
The machines.
The woman standing in the background.
Emily.
My brain refused to accept what my eyes were seeing.
“No,” I whispered.
Rachel looked over my shoulder.
Her face changed instantly.
“Daniel…”
I turned the phone toward her.
“Tell me that’s fake.””
Rachel didn’t answer.
That scared me more than anything.
“Tell me.””
She slowly shook her head.
“I don’t know.””
I grabbed my keys.
“We’re going there.””
“Daniel, wait.””
“No.””
My voice cracked.
“I spent five years believing I knew how my wife died. I spent five years believing I knew the kind of person Emily was.””
I looked at the picture again.
“And now everyone is telling me she was hiding things.””
Rachel followed me.
“Then you need to find the truth, not chase the people who want you angry.””
I stopped.
Because she was right.
Michael wanted me emotional.
Vanessa wanted me confused.
Everyone had their own version of Emily.
But I needed Emily’s.
The address wasn’t far.
The laboratory was hidden behind an old research building that looked abandoned.
Inside, the lights flickered.
Dust covered the equipment.
But someone had been there recently.
I saw footprints.
A chair moved from its place.
A computer still running.
“Someone was here,” Rachel whispered.
I walked toward the computer.
A folder was open.
The title made my heart stop.
“Project Sophie.””
I felt sick.
Rachel looked at me.
“Daniel…”
I clicked the folder.
Inside were hundreds of documents.
Medical reports.
DNA analysis.
Research notes.
Then I saw the date.
The project started before Sophie was born.
I opened the first file.
Subject: Emily Carter.
My hands froze.
Emily.
Not Sophie.
Emily.
I read the notes.
Emily was not the subject.
She was the volunteer.
The purpose of the research was to help women with genetic diseases have healthy children.
I kept reading.
Then I found the truth.
The experiment had failed.
The company had been hiding dangerous results.
Emily discovered that Vanessa and Michael were involved.
They weren’t trying to create a child.
They were trying to create a treatment.
A treatment that would use genetic material from patients without their consent.
Sophie wasn’t created by the experiment.
She was proof of what they had done.
Emily had discovered the illegal program and exposed it.
But why did Michael say Emily changed Sophie’s DNA?
I opened another file.
A video.
Emily appeared on screen.
Older.
Tired.
But alive.
My breath caught.
“Daniel,” she said.
I covered my mouth.
Her voice.
Her face.
After all these years.
“If you’re watching this, it means things went wrong.””
She looked directly into the camera.
“I need you to know something.””
She took a deep breath.
“Sophie’s DNA was changed.””
My heart sank.
“But not the way Michael believes.””
Emily looked down.
“When Sophie was born, doctors discovered she carried a genetic marker linked to my cancer.””
I froze.
“Doctors told us Sophie might inherit the same illness.””
Emily’s eyes filled with tears.
“I couldn’t accept losing my daughter the way I was dying.””
Rachel whispered:
“Oh my God.””
Emily continued.
“I joined the research program because they promised they could remove the risk.””
I held my breath.
“They altered a small part of Sophie’s genetic sequence.””
The room went silent.
“But Michael changed the story.””
Emily looked terrified.
“He turned medical treatment into something dangerous. He wanted people to believe Sophie was valuable because of what she carried.””
She shook her head.
“She is not an experiment.””
Tears filled my eyes.
“She is a child.””
Emily continued.
“The procedure saved Sophie.””
I closed my eyes.
“But Vanessa found out.””
The screen flickered.
“Vanessa wanted access to the research. She believed Sophie was the key to recreating it.””
My hands clenched.
“She didn’t want my daughter.””
Emily’s voice broke.
“She wanted what was inside her.””
The video ended.
I stood there silently.
All the pain.
All the confusion.
All the betrayal.
Finally made sense.
Emily hadn’t hidden the truth because she didn’t trust me.
She hid it because she was protecting Sophie.
Then Rachel pointed at the screen.
“There’s another file.””
I opened it.
It was a recent recording.
Created three days ago.
The date Vanessa took the bracelet.
I clicked it.
Vanessa appeared.
Standing beside Michael.
My blood ran cold.
She looked directly into the camera.
“Emily was right about one thing.””
She smiled.
“Daniel would always choose Sophie.””
The video ended.
And beneath it was a message.
“She knows where we are.””
Rachel looked at me.
“Who?””
I already knew.
My phone rang.
Sophie.
I answered.
“Daddy?””
Her voice was shaking.
“Please come get me.””
Then I heard Vanessa’s voice in the background.
May you like
“Say goodbye.””
The call ended.
