CHAPTER 8 – THE GUNSHOT WAS FAKE... BUT THE BETRAYAL WASN'T
The phone slipped from Richard's hand.
Emma couldn't breathe.
The last thing she had heard was Sophie's frightened voice...
Then a gunshot.
"No!"
She screamed so loudly the entire mansion fell silent.
Daniel grabbed the phone and tried calling back.
Nothing.
The number no longer existed.
Richard leaned against the wall, his face pale.
"They're playing with us."
Emma's tears disappeared.
Fear was slowly turning into anger.
"I'm going after my daughter."
Richard immediately shook his head.
"If you walk into their headquarters alone..."
"You'll never come back."
Emma stared at him.
"Then tell me where it is."
Richard hesitated.
For the first time in twenty years...
He looked ashamed.
"I've never been there."
Emma frowned.
"What?"
"I only know one thing."
"They call it The House."
"No address."
"No maps."
"No records."
"Only people who receive an invitation can enter."
Daniel suddenly remembered something.
"The necklace."
Everyone turned toward him.
"The pendant Sophie gave Emma."
Emma quickly removed the silver necklace from around her neck.
For the first time, she noticed something unusual.
Inside the tiny frame...
Hidden beneath the old photograph...
Was a microscopic metal chip.
Richard's eyes widened.
"My God..."
"It's the key."
Within minutes, Daniel inserted the chip into a secure computer.
A map slowly appeared on the screen.
Coordinates.
Satellite images.
An isolated island hidden beneath heavy clouds.
No official name.
Only one encrypted label.
THE HOUSE
Richard whispered,
"I searched for this place for twenty-five years..."
"And it was hanging around your neck the whole time."
Emma clenched her fists.
"I'm going."
"No matter what."
Before anyone could stop her...
Every light inside the mansion suddenly turned red.
A computerized voice echoed through every room.
WARNING.
UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS DETECTED.
Then every monitor switched on again.
But this time...
It wasn't Eleanor.
It was Sophie.
She wasn't crying anymore.
She was smiling.
Calm.
Confident.
Almost... different.
She looked directly into the camera.
"I'm sorry, Mom."
"I lied."
Emma froze.
"What?"
Sophie took a slow breath.
"I was never kidnapped."
"I came here because I wanted to."
Daniel whispered,
"No..."
Sophie's eyes were cold now.
"So many people died trying to protect me."
"I don't need protection anymore."
"I know who I am."
Emma's heart shattered.
"Sophie... please come home."
For a brief second...
A tear rolled down Sophie's cheek.
Then it disappeared.
She looked behind the camera.
Someone nodded.
Sophie turned back to Emma.
"The Board has chosen."
"They don't want you dead."
"They want you to replace them."
Emma stared in disbelief.
"What are you talking about?"
Sophie gave one final, heartbreaking smile.
"Because, Mom..."
"You were never the victim."
"You were always the one they were preparing to rule."
The screen went black.
Silence filled the room.
Then Daniel slowly opened another hidden file recovered from the chip.
His hands began shaking uncontrollably.
Richard looked over his shoulder...
And dropped to his knees.
Emma stepped closer.
There was only one sentence on the screen.
PROJECT EVE
Status: Successful.
Subject 01: Emma Carter.
Memory Suppression: ACTIVE FOR 32 YEARS.
Emma felt her entire world collapse.
If her memories had been erased...
Then who had she really been before she became Emma Carter?
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And what terrible truth had been hidden inside her mind for more than three decades?
TO BE CONTINUED...
