Chapter 8 - Lorenzo’s Dead Grandfather Had Created Helix Nine, and the Two Babies Were Only the Latest Generation in a Thirty-Year ExperimentThe truth stretched back thirty years.
Lorenzo's grandfather had founded a private medical corporation.
He wanted to develop treatments.
Then he learned how valuable genetic data could be.
He began collecting families.
Children.
Pregnant women.
Hospital records.
The experiment became a business.
Lorenzo's father inherited it.
Then Marco.
And eventually Lorenzo.
Without knowing.
The family fortune had been built partly on hidden medical research.
Lorenzo looked sick.
"How many children?"
Dr. Marquez estimated hundreds.
Some survived.
Some didn't.
The research had been hidden under legitimate medicine.
My son and Leo were only two among many.
The Bell family foundation was exposed.
Authorities raided facilities.
Records were released.
Families were notified.
A national scandal followed.
Lorenzo gave evidence.
He turned over accounts.
He closed companies.
He testified.
He even surrendered assets.
He wanted the victims to be compensated.
I watched him.
The man everyone feared was willing to destroy his own empire to protect children he didn't even know.
That mattered.
The twins' treatment improved.
My son became stronger.
Leo started gaining weight.
For the first time, they looked like babies instead of patients.
I still nursed Leo when needed.
But the purified protein became available.
The medical team developed a safe formula.
One that could actually nourish him.
He no longer needed to depend entirely on me.
That was bittersweet.
My body had become part of his survival.
Now science had caught up.
One evening, Lorenzo entered the nursery.
Leo was asleep.
My son slept beside him.
Two cribs.
Two children.
One terrible secret.
Lorenzo whispered:
"They saved each other."
I looked at him.
"Maybe."
He smiled.
Then he said:
"I owe you."
"You don't."
"I do."
"No."
"I can't let you carry this alone."
I looked at him.
"I'm not."
May you like
He reached for my hand.
I let him.
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