Chapter 8 - THE SECRET EMMA CARRIED
Emma sat in a chair.
Vale stood behind her.
“You're coming alone.”
Adrian watched the screen.
“I'll come.”
“Of course.”
The location was an old laboratory.
The same place where the research had begun.
Adrian went.
Lily wanted to come.
He refused.
Thomas stayed with her.
Adrian entered alone.
Vale waited.
“You think you won.”
“I know I did.”
“No.”
Vale smiled.
“Emma is the missing piece.”
Adrian looked at her.
“What did you do?”
Vale approached.
“Her mother didn't just work on the antidote.”
He looked at Emma.
“She altered the treatment.”
“How?”
“She introduced a third genetic factor.”
Adrian froze.
“Mine?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Emma's.”
Emma shook her head.
“I don't understand.”
Vale smiled.
“Your mother used her own blood.”
Adrian's eyes widened.
“Sarah was resistant too.”
“Yes.”
“She wasn't just researching.”
“She was part of the trial.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“And Emma inherited it.”
Vale nodded.
“Exactly.”
Emma wasn't simply a witness.
She was the missing third component.
Lily had resistance.
Thomas had the disease carrier.
Emma had stabilization.
Together, they could create the permanent treatment.
Vale needed all three.
Adrian looked at Emma.
“Did your mother know?”
“Yes.”
“She hid it from everyone.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To protect me.”
Vale laughed.
“Everyone always says they're protecting children.”
Emma glared.
“You're not.”
“No.”
He raised a weapon.
“I'm building a future.”
“You're hurting children.”
“History forgives the necessary.”
Adrian's voice became cold.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I won't.”
Gunfire erupted.
Marcus and federal agents stormed the building.
Vale tried to escape.
Adrian chased him.
They reached the roof.
Vale raised his weapon.
“You can't kill me.”
Adrian lowered his gun.
“I don't need to.”
Police surrounded them.
Vale was arrested.
Adrian walked back inside.
Emma rushed toward him.
He hugged her.
“You okay?”
She nodded.
“I was scared.”
“You don't have to hide it.”
“I didn't.”
He smiled.
“That means you're stronger than I was at your age.”
The laboratory was seized.
The research was secured.
Independent scientists were brought in.
The children were protected.
The truth became public.
But the hardest part came afterward.
Emma's mother woke.
She had been sedated by medication and exhaustion.
When she opened her eyes, she saw Adrian.
Then Lily.
Then Thomas.
She began crying.
“Emma.”
Emma ran into her arms.
“You came back.”
Sarah held her.
“I promised.”
Emma cried.
“You scared me.”
“I know.”
“I thought you left.”
“Never.”
Adrian stepped back.
Sarah looked at him.
“You're his son.”
“Yes.”
“He would be proud.”
Adrian swallowed.
“I failed him.”
“No.”
May you like
Sarah shook her head.
“You finished what he started.”
