Chapter 6 - The Truth About My Father Made Me Question Whether I Could Trust LeoMichael revealed everything.
Years earlier, my father had discovered the Mercer medical program.
It was supposed to develop treatments for immune disorders.
Instead, powerful investors turned it into a private research program.
People were tested secretly.
Children included.
My father helped shut it down.
But before doing so, he had allowed one final study.
Me.
I had been an infant.
No consent.
No records.
No knowledge.
My blood had unusual immune markers.
The researchers stored my samples.
My father destroyed the program.
Or thought he did.
Michael had found the surviving records.
That's why he took my children.
He wanted me desperate.
He wanted my blood.
He wanted Lily's condition.
And he wanted the research.
“I won't help you.”
Michael smiled.
“You will.”
“No.”
“I have your son and daughter.”
I froze.
He showed a video.
My children were alive.
Scared.
But unharmed.
“Let them go.”
“Give me one sample.”
“What happens after?”
“They go home.”
I looked at Leo.
He whispered:
“Don't.”
I trusted him.
For the moment.
Michael raised the gun.
“You have ten minutes.”
We pretended to cooperate.
Leo distracted the guards.
I accessed the lab's network.
The files showed Michael was not acting alone.
Someone else funded him.
A woman.
Evelyn Mercer.
Leo's aunt.
She had controlled the family's medical foundation.
She had escaped prosecution years ago.
I looked at Leo.
“Your aunt.”
He went silent.
“You knew?”
“No.”
Michael laughed.
“You really don't know your family.”
He pushed me into another room.
I saw my children on a screen.
My daughter crying.
My son trying to be brave.
I almost broke.
Then Lily began crying.
Leo's baby.
She was safe at the house.
But I could hear her through a monitor.
Her cries changed.
She needed me.
I realized something.
Michael had underestimated the bond between mothers and children.
I hit the emergency alarm.
Everything went black.
Leo's men entered.
Chaos.
Gunfire.
We freed my children.
Michael escaped.
Evelyn escaped.
But the research was destroyed.
Or so we thought.
One server remained.
It was encrypted.
And Elena's name appeared on it.
Not mine.
A different woman.
Elena Mercer.
Leo stared.
“That was my aunt's name.”
I frowned.
“Why would it be attached to my records?”
He didn't know.
Then he received a message.
Ask why her milk changed Lily's blood.
I froze.
Lily wasn't merely improving.
Her immune system had changed.
Her blood contained new antibodies.
My breast milk had transferred more than nutrients.
It had helped stimulate her immune system.
The researchers wanted to replicate it.
That was their real goal.
And I was the source.
Leo looked at me.
“I am sorry.”
“For what?”
“For bringing you into this.”
“You didn't.”
“Maybe I did.”
“No.”
I took his hand.
“You gave me a choice.”
He looked at me.
“I won't take that away.”
For the first time, we weren't just protecting each other.
We were partners.
May you like
But Evelyn was still out there.
And she had the full research.
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