CHAPTER 5 — “Those Girls Were Never Supposed to Exist…”
The words echoed through the hidden basement like a sentence passed down by fate.
"Those four little girls were never supposed to exist."
For a heartbeat...
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Nora stared at the man she had once planned to marry.
The man she had cried for.
The man she had buried in her heart eleven years ago.
"You..."
Her voice broke.
"...you're Daniel."
He smiled without emotion.
"The name was real."
"The love wasn't."
Every word felt like a knife.
"You lied to me?"
"I was ordered to."
"You wanted me to trust you?"
"I needed you to."
"You wanted me to love you?"
"I couldn't complete the assignment if you didn't."
Nora's knees buckled.
Owen caught her before she hit the floor.
The four rifles remained trained on them.
Daniel watched without the slightest hint of guilt.
"You monster..."
Nora whispered.
Daniel's expression didn't change.
"I've been called worse."
"You ruined my life."
"No."
"I followed orders."
"My life was never mine."
For the first time...
A flicker of sadness crossed his face.
It disappeared almost instantly.
Owen stepped forward.
"You murdered Emily."
Every masked man looked at Daniel.
The room became impossibly still.
Daniel answered quietly.
"No."
"I loved Emily too much to let that happen."
Owen froze.
"What?"
Daniel slowly reached into his jacket.
Every rifle immediately shifted toward Owen, expecting him to react.
Instead...
Daniel removed an old photograph.
He tossed it onto the desk.
Owen picked it up.
His entire body went numb.
The picture showed Emily...
Standing beside Daniel.
Both were smiling.
The photograph had been taken months before Owen had even met her.
"No..."
Owen whispered.
"No..."
Daniel nodded.
"Emily was my younger sister."
The world stopped.
Owen looked at the photograph again.
The resemblance was unmistakable now.
The same eyes.
The same smile.
The same stubborn dimple on the left cheek.
How had he never noticed?
Because Daniel had grown a beard.
Changed his hairstyle.
Changed his name.
Changed everything.
Except...
His eyes.
Emily had never spoken much about her brother.
Only once.
She had quietly told Owen,
"He disappeared years ago."
Owen had assumed Daniel abandoned the family.
The truth was far worse.
Daniel closed his eyes.
"I wasn't allowed to contact her."
"I wasn't allowed to attend her funeral."
"I wasn't even allowed to tell her I was alive."
His voice finally cracked.
"I watched her funeral from across the cemetery."
Nora stared.
For the first time...
She saw not a villain.
But a prisoner.
"So who killed Emily?"
Owen demanded.
Daniel looked toward the old photographs on the wall.
"They did."
"Who?"
"The people who created Project Sparrow."
"They discovered Emily had learned something she shouldn't."
"What?"
Daniel swallowed.
"She found the original research."
"And she told me she was going to the police."
The room fell silent.
"They killed her before she could."
One of the masked agents suddenly interrupted.
"Enough."
He looked at Daniel.
"We've wasted enough time."
Daniel didn't answer.
The agent stepped closer.
"Finish the mission."
Daniel remained perfectly still.
"I gave you an order."
Nothing.
The room became dangerously quiet.
Finally...
The agent lifted his rifle.
Not toward Owen.
Not toward Nora.
Toward Daniel.
"You've become emotionally compromised."
Daniel smiled bitterly.
"I was emotionally compromised..."
"...the day you murdered my sister."
The rifle fired.
BANG!
Daniel shoved Nora sideways.
The bullet tore through his shoulder instead.
Blood splashed across the dusty floor.
Everything exploded into chaos.
"Run!"
Daniel shouted.
Owen grabbed Nora's hand.
The two sprinted deeper into the underground archive.
Bullets ripped through old filing cabinets.
Boxes exploded.
Photographs scattered into the air like autumn leaves.
The red strings connecting hundreds of lives snapped one by one.
They reached the far end of the basement.
Dead end.
Nora turned in panic.
"We're trapped!"
Daniel staggered after them, clutching his bleeding shoulder.
"No..."
He slammed his hand against an old brick wall.
A loud metallic CLICK echoed underground.
The entire wall slowly slid open.
Behind it...
A narrow escape tunnel stretched into darkness.
Marco had built another exit.
Daniel looked at Owen.
"Take her."
"What about you?"
Daniel smiled sadly.
"If I go with you..."
"They'll never stop chasing all of us."
"You'll die."
"I already died eleven years ago."
Owen refused to move.
"I'm not leaving you."
Daniel laughed weakly.
"Emily chose well."
He reached into his pocket and pressed a small flash drive into Owen's hand.
"It contains everything."
"Every name."
"Every payment."
"Every experiment."
"The people behind Project Sparrow."
"Protect it."
Before Owen could answer...
Daniel shoved both of them into the tunnel.
"GO!"
The hidden wall slammed shut.
Locking Daniel alone with the armed agents.
Silence.
Only muffled gunfire echoed behind the bricks.
One shot.
Then another.
Then three more.
Nora covered her ears.
Tears streamed down her face.
Owen stood frozen.
Unable to move.
Unable to breathe.
Finally...
Everything went quiet.
Completely quiet.
They walked through the tunnel for nearly fifteen minutes.
It ended beneath an abandoned church several blocks away.
Sunlight poured through broken stained-glass windows.
Fresh air had never tasted so precious.
Nora leaned against a stone pillar.
"My girls..."
She gasped.
"They're at school."
Owen immediately pulled out his phone.
No signal.
Nothing.
Then...
The church bell rang.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
A phone vibrated inside Owen's pocket.
One new message.
Unknown sender.
No number.
Only a photograph.
Owen opened it.
His blood turned to ice.
The picture showed all four little girls...
Walking out of school.
A woman held each of their hands.
But it wasn't Nora.
It was a tall blonde woman wearing dark sunglasses.
Beneath the photograph was a single sentence.
"You chose the wrong tunnel."
Another message arrived.
This time...
A live video.
Willa looked directly into the camera.
She wasn't crying.
She wasn't screaming.
She smiled innocently and waved.
Then someone behind the camera whispered,
"Tell Mommy we'll be waiting."
The screen went black.
Nora screamed.
"No!"
Owen gripped the flash drive so tightly it cut into his hand.
But before either of them could react...
The church doors slowly creaked open.
An elderly nun stepped inside.
She looked at Owen.
Then at Nora.
Without a word...
She reached into her robe and removed an old silver locket.
Inside was a faded photograph of Marco holding...
four newborn baby girls.
The date written on the back froze both of them.
It was dated...
Three days before Nora had officially given birth.
The nun whispered through trembling lips,
May you like
"If you want to save your daughters... you must first learn why the hospital records were falsified."
END OF CHAPTER 5
