Chapter 13 - The Betrayal of the Patriarch
I plugged the drive into my laptop inside my home office, locking the door behind me. The screen flickered to life, launching an encrypted database containing thousands of patient files dating back to 1996.
As I scrolled through the pages, the horror of my family's true legacy unveiled itself.
William hadn't been an innocent victim of Evelyn's greed. He was the founder of Aegis Protocol, a rogue bio-tech syndicate that engineered targeted genetic therapies using rare, recessive Kell-negative blood strains—the exact blood type running through my veins, Noah's veins, and the unborn child Grace was carrying.
Evelyn hadn't been protecting the family wealth when she exiled Grace; she had been trying to prevent William's covert network from identifying Grace's pregnancy. Evelyn knew that if William discovered I had produced triplets with a matching genetic profile, he would treat them not as grandchildren, but as biological assets.
My phone rang. The caller ID read: RESTRICTED.
I answered and put it on speaker. "Where is he?"
"Ryan," William's raspy voice came through the speaker, devoid of the trembling frailty he had displayed at the hospital. "I suggest you listen carefully. The blood samples I retrieved from your house contain the final synthesis vector needed to complete the Aegis patent."
"You used your own grandson," I spat, my knuckles white against the desk.
"I saved humanity from degenerative disease!" William barked back. "Your mother was weak. She thought in terms of local politics and social standing. I think in terms of decades. Noah’s heart defect wasn't a tragedy—it was the catalyst that proved my vascular regeneration serum works."
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"I will hunt you down," I said softly.
"You won't have to," William replied calmly. "Because in seventy-two hours, Grace will go to her scheduled prenatal scan at Chicago Presbyterian. You will bring the remaining umbilical cord registry keys from your mother's safe. If you don't, I will release the clinical trial data to the FDA—and Dr. Vance's affidavit will ensure Grace is named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the illegal trial."
