CHAPTER 8 – The Final Truth No One Was Ready to Hear
Lucas's body hit the ground.
Emma screamed as Ethan shielded her and their son behind the cabin wall.
Police returned fire.
Within minutes, the masked gunmen disappeared into the forest, leaving behind only silence... and unanswered questions.
Paramedics rushed to Lucas.
Against all odds...
He was still alive.
Barely.
As they loaded him into the ambulance, Lucas weakly grabbed Ethan's sleeve.
"I... have to tell you..."
Ethan leaned closer.
"The Carter fortune..."
"...was never their target."
Blood filled Lucas's mouth.
"They're looking for... Project Genesis."
Before Ethan could ask another question, Lucas lost consciousness.
Three days later...
Federal agents arrived at the Carter estate.
They introduced themselves without smiling.
"This investigation is now under federal jurisdiction."
Emma frowned.
"What is Project Genesis?"
The lead agent placed an old classified file on the table.
Inside were photographs taken over thirty years earlier.
Scientists.
Military officials.
And Ethan's late father.
"No..."
Ethan whispered.
"My father wasn't a scientist."
The agent nodded.
"He wasn't."
"He financed the project."
The next photo revealed dozens of newborn babies wearing identical silver bracelets.
The same bracelet Ethan's son had worn at birth.
Emma covered her mouth.
"What... is this?"
The agent answered quietly.
"Thirty-one years ago, several wealthy families secretly funded research to eliminate a rare inherited blood disease."
"The project succeeded."
"But something unexpected happened."
"The treated children developed extraordinary genetic resistance to dozens of life-threatening illnesses."
Ethan looked toward his sleeping son.
"You're saying..."
The agent nodded.
"Your son inherited that rare genetic profile."
"He may be one of the most medically valuable children in the world."
Suddenly...
Everything made sense.
The anonymous messages.
The lies.
The kidnapping.
Lucas had never been the mastermind.
He had only been manipulated by people who wanted access to Ethan's child.
Just then, Detective Harper burst into the room.
"The attackers from the cabin..."
"We identified them."
He placed one final photograph on the table.
Emma stared at it...
Then her face turned completely white.
"No..."
"It can't be..."
The woman in the photo smiled confidently beside a luxury yacht.
She wasn't a stranger.
She was Emma's mother...
The woman everyone believed had died twenty-five years ago.
The detective looked at Ethan.
"She didn't die."
"She disappeared."
"And according to everything we've uncovered..."
"She's the one who started Project Genesis."
Ethan and Emma stood frozen.
Their greatest enemy had never been Lucas.
May you like
It was the woman who had been dead...
For half their lives.
