Chapter 7 - THE DAUGHTER THEY HID
Ethan did not go alone.
He contacted the detectives, but he also understood that whoever had sent the message expected surveillance.
They went to the location quietly.
An abandoned train station stood beneath a gray sky.
Inside, a girl waited.
Sixteen years old.
Dark hair.
Green eyes.
Claire stopped walking.
The girl stared at her.
“You're Claire.”
Claire could barely speak.
“How do you know me?”
“Because they showed me your photograph.”
“Who?”
“Victor.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“What's your name?”
The girl hesitated.
“Lena.”
Claire whispered, “Lena.”
The girl nodded.
“My name was changed.”
Ethan asked, “Are you Daniel Vale's daughter?”
Lena looked at Claire.
“Yes.”
Claire began crying.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I thought you abandoned me.”
“I never did.”
Lena's face broke.
“I know.”
She stepped forward.
Claire pulled her into a hug.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then Lena whispered, “Nora is in danger.”
Ethan stiffened.
“How do you know?”
“Because Victor told me.”
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
“But you know what he wants.”
Lena nodded.
“He wants Nora's DNA.”
“Why?”
“Because the records prove something.”
“What?”
Lena looked at Ethan.
“Your father wasn't killed because he discovered the child network.”
“Then why?”
“He discovered Project Star was being used for something else.”
“What?”
“Identity replacement.”
Ethan frowned.
Lena explained that wealthy clients had been using the network to obtain children whose biological histories could be altered.
Some children were given new identities.
Some inherited hidden assets.
Some were used to conceal financial crimes.
Nora had been selected because her genetic connection to Daniel linked two families with a massive inheritance dispute.
Ethan suddenly understood.
“Your family.”
Lena nodded.
“Daniel's family fortune.”
Claire stared.
“I don't care about money.”
“Victor does.”
Lena pulled out a small flash drive.
“This contains the records.”
Ethan took it.
“Why didn't you give it to the police?”
“Because Victor controls people inside the system.”
A car engine roared outside.
Lena looked toward the windows.
“They found me.”
Ethan grabbed Claire.
“Run!”
The station erupted into chaos.
Two men entered through the front door.
Police returned fire from outside.
Ethan, Claire, and Lena escaped through a maintenance tunnel.
At the end, Lena stopped.
“I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
She looked at Claire.
“Nora wasn't taken because of Victor.”
Claire froze.
“Then why?”
“Because someone inside your house gave him the information.”
Ethan's heart sank.
He thought of Margaret.
Then Claire whispered:
“Who else knew Nora's DNA had been tested?”
Lena looked at Ethan.
“Your doctor.”
The same doctor who had delivered Nora.
Dr. Andrew Mercer.
Ethan remembered something.
Mercer had been at their house two days earlier.
He had asked strangely specific questions.
Ethan pulled out his phone.
There was a missed call from Mercer.
The voicemail contained only one sentence.
May you like
“Mr. Cole, if you want your daughter alive, stop trusting your mother.”
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