Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Should Have Been DeadThe woman disappeared before security reached the hall.
Grant searched the property.
Nothing.
The only evidence left behind was a white scarf.
Claire recognized the perfume.
“So did I.”
“What?”
“Your wife used this.”
Grant stared.
“Where did you smell it?”
“On the scarf.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“She stopped wearing it years ago.”
Claire looked at him.
“Maybe someone wants you to think she's alive.”
“Why?”
“To make you trust the wrong person.”
The answer arrived sooner than expected.
Dr. Adrian Vale entered the mansion the next morning.
Grant's security nearly stopped him.
He presented identification.
“Mr. Holloway, I'm here regarding Lily.”
Grant stared.
“You're not authorized.”
Vale smiled.
“I've been her consultant for years.”
“Not anymore.”
Vale's expression hardened.
“I'm afraid that's not your decision.”
Claire stepped forward.
“It is.”
Vale looked at her.
Recognition flashed.
“You.”
Claire's stomach tightened.
“You remember me?”
“Of course.”
His smile was cold.
“You were always observant.”
Grant stepped between them.
“You know each other.”
“Yes,” Claire said.
Vale nodded.
“She was the nurse who asked too many questions.”
Grant's face darkened.
“What questions?”
“About Helix.”
Claire stared.
“Tell him.”
Vale smiled.
“There’s nothing to tell.”
“Why did those children disappear?”
“Relocation.”
“Why were their records sealed?”
“Privacy.”
“Why were sensors found in them?”
Vale's smile disappeared.
Grant's voice became dangerously calm.
“Answer her.”
Vale looked at him.
“Your wife understood.”
“What?”
“Some things are bigger than individual lives.”
Grant's fists tightened.
“My wife died.”
“Yes.”
Vale's eyes moved to Claire.
“She knew the price.”
Grant grabbed him.
Security rushed in.
Vale laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
“Understand what?”
“Your daughter isn't the target.”
Grant froze.
“What?”
“She's the key.”
Then Vale was escorted out.
Claire stared at Grant.
“What does that mean?”
Grant looked sick.
“I don't know.”
But he did.
His family's trust.
His father's company.
Helix.
The secret data.
The medical sensors.
Lily.
It all connected.
His daughter wasn't merely being monitored.
Her identity mattered.
That evening, Claire discovered the truth.
Lily's blood type didn't match Grant's.
Not unusual.
But her genetic profile did not match the records on file.
Grant demanded another test.
It confirmed the impossible.
Lily was not biologically Grant's daughter.
He staggered.
Claire caught his arm.
“No.”
“I don't understand.”
“The records.”
“Her mother was pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“But…”
Claire looked at him.
“Someone switched the records.”
Grant stared at the DNA report.
His entire life turned upside down.
He loved Lily.
That did not change.
But the question remained.
Who was her biological father?
And why had someone spent seven years hiding it?
Then Lily walked into the room.
She held a drawing.
“Daddy?”
Grant knelt.
“What's this?”
She handed him the paper.
It showed four people.
Lily.
Her mother.
Grant.
And a fourth man.
A man Lily had never met.
Grant stared.
“Who is this?”
Lily shrugged.
“Mommy said he was important.”
Claire looked at the drawing.
The man was wearing a dark coat.
Three dots were drawn on the collar.
Grant's blood ran cold.
“That,” he whispered,
“is my brother.”
Claire looked at him.
“Your brother is dead?”
Grant nodded.
“He died twenty years ago.”
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Lily had never met him.
Yet she had drawn him.
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