Chapter 6 - THE TRUTH ABOUT THE AFFAIR
The photograph was taken outside the hospital where Jonah was born.
I stared at it.
Fourteen years earlier.
I had just given birth.
Daniel stood beside me.
We looked happy.
Young.
Naive.
And behind us, barely visible, stood Victor Kane.
I felt sick.
“He was there.”
Daniel nodded.
“I didn't know.”
“You were there.”
“So were you.”
“I know.”
The investigator found the photographer.
A former hospital employee.
He confessed.
Kane had ordered photographs of every family connected to the genetic program.
Why?
Because he was mapping family lines.
I wasn't random.
Daniel wasn't random.
Jonah wasn't random.
We were part of the research from the beginning.
But there was another revelation.
The affair with Erin had not been random either.
I found out through old emails.
Erin had been working at the pharmaceutical company.
She knew about the research.
Daniel met her there.
The affair began.
But Erin hadn't known the entire truth.
She had been manipulated too.
Kane wanted a second child carrying the mutation.
Daniel and Erin were genetically compatible.
Tyler was born.
Then the trial began.
I confronted Erin.
She broke down.
“I didn't know.”
“You knew about the research.”
“I knew there was an experimental program.”
“You let them use Tyler.”
“I thought it would save him.”
“They told you that.”
“Yes.”
She cried.
“I thought I was protecting him.”
I believed her.
For the first time, I understood that sometimes people can cause terrible harm while believing they're doing the right thing.
It doesn't erase the harm.
But it complicates the blame.
Daniel was different.
He had known about the research.
He hadn't known the full extent.
But he had still cheated on me.
That part remained his.
We didn't excuse it.
We simply separated it from everything else.
The boys needed us.
That became the only thing that mattered.
Tyler's transplant recovery progressed.
Jonah improved.
But the genetic mutation remained.
We needed the complete treatment.
Kane still had the missing data.
Then Daniel found a hidden account.
Money had been transferred for years to a Swiss laboratory.
One name appeared.
Grace Hale.
Daniel's mother.
“She was alive?”
“No.”
“She died years ago.”
“Maybe she left something.”
We flew to Switzerland.
The laboratory was abandoned.
But inside, we found a vault.
A recording.
Grace appeared on screen.
“My son.”
Daniel stared.
“If you are seeing this, then Victor has returned.”
She explained everything.
She had discovered the research.
She had tried to stop it.
She had hidden the treatment formula.
She had secretly collected family DNA to find a safe solution.
She had known about the mutation.
But she had never intended to use children.
Then she said something that made Daniel cry.
“I should have protected you better.”
She had known Daniel could carry the mutation.
She had feared it would emerge.
She had asked doctors to monitor him.
Someone removed the records.
Kane.
The final clue was hidden in a painting.
My field.
Art authentication.
I looked at the canvas.
The painting was centuries old.
Real.
Except one portion.
A tiny section had been replaced.
I removed it.
Behind it was a memory card.
I laughed through tears.
“My mother taught me this.”
Daniel smiled.
“What?”
“Never trust what you're told about an object.”
The card contained the treatment formula.
But incomplete.
One component missing.
We searched for the missing piece.
Then I realized where it was.
The original hospital where Jonah was born.
The old neonatal wing.
Under a floor tile.
We found a small vial.
The missing compound.
The treatment worked in laboratory models.
But human trials were needed.
Jonah looked at me.
“I'll do it.”
“No.”
He frowned.
“Why?”
“Because you've already done enough.”
“But Tyler—”
“You're not a test subject.”
He looked toward Tyler.
Tyler shook his head.
“She’s right.”
Jonah stared.
“You don't need to save me.”
“But—”
Tyler stepped closer.
“You already did.”
The two boys hugged.
I turned away.
For the first time, they looked like brothers.
Not because of blood.
Because of loyalty.
Then the door opened.
Victor Kane stood there.
He had found us.
He raised a weapon.
“Give me the formula.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“No.”
May you like
Kane smiled.
“Then everyone dies.”
