Chapter 8 - The Woman at the Center of the WarThe whisper belonged to Dr. Victor Lombardi.
He stepped from the shadows.
I had imagined him as a monster.
Instead, he looked ordinary.
Gray suit.
Silver hair.
Calm eyes.
He smiled.
“Claire.”
Sebastian raised his gun.
Victor didn't flinch.
“You could shoot me.”
“Yes.”
“But you won't.”
“Why?”
“Because you want answers.”
Sebastian lowered the weapon slightly.
Victor looked at me.
“You remember now.”
“Enough.”
“Not enough.”
“What do you want?”
“You.”
“Why?”
“Because you were the only successful neurologist in the program.”
“I was a physical therapist.”
“That is what they told you.”
My stomach turned.
Victor continued.
“You weren't simply treating damaged bodies.”
“You were training the nervous system to reorganize itself.”
“I taught you.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“Your mother did.”
I froze.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“She was a nurse.”
“She was a researcher.”
Everything I believed about my family seemed to collapse.
Victor looked at Sebastian.
“Your father and Claire's mother worked together.”
“For what?”
“To create the treatment.”
Sebastian stared.
“Then why did they betray us?”
“They didn't.”
“Who did?”
Victor smiled.
“Marcus Vale.”
The truth came slowly.
Marcus had stolen the research.
Sold it to foreign buyers.
Then framed Sebastian's father.
The bombing was not ordered by Sebastian's father.
It was ordered by Marcus.
But the explosion was manipulated afterward.
The medical compound was used on Sebastian without anyone's permission.
His paralysis had been an unintended side effect.
Marcus had taken advantage of it.
Then spent twenty years controlling the Lombardi empire from the shadows.
“Why?”
Victor's expression hardened.
“Because your father possessed the research.”
“What did he want?”
“Immortality.”
I frowned.
“Not literal.”
Victor nodded.
“Regenerative longevity.”
He looked at me.
“The treatment could repair nerve tissue.”
“But it could also rewrite immune function.”
My heart tightened.
“Oliver.”
Victor nodded.
“Your son was born with a rare genetic variation that made him respond differently.”
“You used him.”
“I studied him.”
“You almost killed him.”
“I saved him.”
My voice broke.
“You don't get to call that saving.”
Victor was silent.
Then he said:
“Your son is the only reason Sebastian can walk.”
I looked at Sebastian.
“What?”
“The compound affected Sebastian's nervous system.”
“But Oliver's immune variation produced antibodies that neutralized the inhibitor.”
“You touched Sebastian's foot.”
“The dormant pathway reacted.”
Victor smiled.
“Claire, your hands aren't magical.”
“You are merely the only person who can trigger the response.”
I shook my head.
“Then why did you attack me?”
“Because I needed you to activate it.”
Sebastian stepped forward.
“You could have asked.”
Victor laughed.
“You would never have cooperated.”
“What happens now?”
Victor's smile disappeared.
“Now the treatment exists.”
“What does that mean?”
“Chicago becomes the testing ground.”
“For what?”
Victor answered:
“For a new generation.”
He left.
We tried to stop him.
Too late.
A bomb exploded outside.
The tunnel collapsed.
Sebastian pushed me through the opening.
Then disappeared behind falling concrete.
I screamed.
“Sebastian!”
No answer.
Gabriel grabbed me.
“Move!”
“No!”
“He may still be alive.”
We escaped through the emergency passage.
When we reached the surface, Gabriel stopped.
His phone rang.
He answered.
His face went pale.
“What?”
He listened.
Then looked at me.
“Sebastian is alive.”
I nearly collapsed in relief.
“But?”
“What?”
Gabriel swallowed.
“He was taken.”
Victor had Sebastian.
And for the first time since the war began, I understood the real strategy.
Victor didn't want Sebastian dead.
He wanted Sebastian standing.
He wanted the whole city to see it.
May you like
Because the moment the world learned the crippled mafia boss could walk again, every rival would want to know how.
And every one of them would kill to get the answer.
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