PART 7 — THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
“Hello, Laura.”
I stopped breathing.
For several seconds, I couldn’t even understand what I was seeing.
The man standing behind my mother was supposed to be dead.
Not missing.
Not hiding.
Not living somewhere under another name.
Dead.
My uncle Daniel.
My father’s younger brother.
The man who had carried me on his shoulders when I was a little girl.
The man who had taught me how to ride a bicycle.
The man whose funeral I had attended fifteen years ago.
The man whose photograph had sat beside my father’s photograph in our family home.
He was alive.
And he was standing behind my mother.
I whispered his name.
“Daniel?”
He smiled.
Not warmly.
Not lovingly.
Almost sadly.
“Yes.”
My knees weakened.
I grabbed the edge of the table.
“No…”
Daniel looked at me through the screen.
“I know this is difficult.”
“Difficult?”
My voice cracked.
“You died.”
“I had to.”
“You died!”
“Yes.”
“You let us bury an empty coffin?”
He didn’t answer.
I looked at Samuel.
He had gone completely pale.
“You knew.”
Samuel shook his head.
“I knew Daniel was alive.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“You knew?”
“I didn’t know he was working with Elias.”
Daniel smiled faintly.
“Samuel always believed he could save you.”
He leaned closer to my mother.
She was crying.
I shouted:
“Let her go!”
Daniel looked at me.
“She hasn’t been harmed.”
“Then release her.”
“I will.”
“When?”
“When you come here.”
Samuel immediately stepped between me and the screen.
“Don’t listen to him.”
Daniel laughed.
“Still protecting her after all these years?”
Samuel’s expression hardened.
“You’ve already taken too much.”
Daniel looked at him.
“You took everything from me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
I looked between them.
“What happened between you?”
Neither answered.
I stepped forward.
“I want the truth.”
Daniel smiled.
“You always did.”
“What does that mean?”
“You were always the curious one.”
“I was a child.”
“Yes.”
“And you disappeared.”
“I was forced to.”
“By whom?”
Daniel looked at Samuel.
“Ask him.”
I turned to Samuel.
“What did you do?”
Samuel shook his head.
“I didn’t kill Daniel.”
“Then why did he fake his death?”
“Because Elias wanted him dead.”
Daniel laughed.
“That’s not what happened.”
Samuel stared at him.
“You’re lying.”
“I survived because you failed.”
“Stop!”
My voice echoed through the room.
Both men went silent.
“I don’t care who betrayed whom.”
I pointed at the screen.
“My mother is there.”
I looked at Samuel.
“My children are inside me.”
I touched my stomach.
“And I want answers.”
Daniel nodded.
“Then you’re finally ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“To learn why you were created.”
I felt a chill.
“I wasn’t created.”
Daniel’s smile disappeared.
“Yes, Laura.”
He said it quietly.
“You were.”
I shook my head.
“I was born.”
“You were born after someone decided exactly what genetic material would be used.”
“That doesn’t mean I was created.”
“It does when the purpose of your existence was determined before your mother ever became pregnant.”
My stomach turned.
“What purpose?”
Daniel looked directly at me.
“To cure me.”
Silence.
I didn’t understand.
“You?”
He nodded.
“I was sick.”
“What disease?”
“Something genetic.”
Samuel spoke.
“Daniel inherited a rare disorder.”
Daniel glared at him.
“Don’t simplify it.”
“Then explain it yourself.”
Daniel turned back toward me.
“My condition was considered incurable.”
I listened.
“Your mother was one of the first patients selected for a genetic research program.”
“Why her?”
“Because she had a particular genetic profile.”
“And my father?”
“Your father was compatible with the treatment.”
I frowned.
“So I was born to cure you?”
Daniel nodded.
“That’s what they intended.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“That can’t be true.”
“It is.”
“No.”
“You weren’t supposed to live with your parents.”
I felt sick.
“What?”
“The original agreement was that you would be transferred to the research facility after birth.”
My mother screamed from the screen:
“No!”
Daniel looked at her.
“You broke the agreement.”
“I was your sister-in-law!”
“You stole my chance.”
“I stole nothing!”
“You took the child.”
“I took my daughter!”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“She wasn’t yours.”
My mother cried.
“She was my baby!”
I couldn’t listen anymore.
I turned away.
My entire childhood was collapsing around me.
The birthday cakes.
The school photographs.
My father’s hugs.
My mother’s bedtime stories.
Everything.
Had I really been born as part of a medical experiment?
Had my parents spent my entire life hiding it?
Had Daniel spent twenty-nine years believing I belonged to him?
Then I remembered something.
The file.
Subject Seven.
The other eleven children.
I turned toward Samuel.
“You said the other subjects died.”
He nodded.
“Some.”
“How many?”
“Eight confirmed.”
“Eight?”
“Yes.”
“And the others?”
“Unknown.”
My heart pounded.
“You said eleven disappeared.”
Daniel interrupted.
“Because three survived.”
I looked at him.
“Where are they?”
He smiled.
“That’s what Elias wants you to find.”
Samuel suddenly shouted:
“Don’t!”
The screen flickered.
Daniel looked amused.
“Samuel never told you about the others.”
“What others?”
“Subjects Four, Nine, and Eleven.”
I stared.
“Where are they?”
“Alive.”
My heart jumped.
“Where?”
Daniel leaned toward the camera.
“One of them has been searching for you.”
“Who?”
“Your entire life.”
I felt cold.
“Why?”
“Because he believes you caused his family to die.”
I shook my head.
“I was a baby.”
“That doesn’t matter to him.”
“Who is he?”
Daniel smiled.
“Subject Eleven.”
The screen went black.
I stared at it.
“Daniel!”
Nothing.
I turned toward Samuel.
“Who is Subject Eleven?”
He didn’t answer.
“Tell me!”
Samuel looked away.
I stepped closer.
“Who?”
Finally, he whispered:
“Your brother.”
The word hit me like a physical blow.
“My… brother?”
Samuel nodded.
“You had a twin.”
I stopped breathing.
“What?”
“Not an identical twin.”
I couldn’t speak.
“Your mother gave birth to two children.”
My eyes moved toward the screen.
“Why didn’t I know?”
Samuel looked at me.
“Because they took him.”
My hands shook.
“Who?”
“Elias.”
“Why?”
“Because he wasn’t compatible.”
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
“He carried the wrong mutation.”
“And I carried the right one?”
“Yes.”
“So they kept me.”
“And discarded him.”
I felt sick.
“Where is he now?”
Samuel hesitated.
“Alive.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
“I swear.”
I stepped backward.
Then a thought hit me.
The twins.
My twins.
The babies inside me.
If I had been one of twelve experimental children…
what did that mean for them?
I looked down.
“Are my babies being watched?”
Samuel’s expression changed.
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
“Everyone.”
My heart sank.
“Why?”
“Because they’re the first generation born naturally from Subject Seven.”
“What makes them special?”
Samuel stared at my stomach.
“They inherited your genetic markers.”
“And?”
“They also inherited something from their biological father.”
I froze.
“Diego?”
Samuel didn’t answer.
“Is Diego their father?”
He looked at me.
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“The paternity records were altered.”
“By whom?”
“Elias.”
I felt dizzy.
“So the twins might not be Diego’s.”
Samuel nodded.
“Then whose are they?”
He whispered:
“We need to find out before they are born.”
My phone suddenly rang.
I answered.
It was Paula.
Her voice was shaking.
“Laura.”
“Where are you?”
“I escaped.”
“What?”
“Elias had me too.”
My heart pounded.
“Where are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Paula!”
“I’ve been running.”
“Tell me where you are.”
She whispered an address.
I recognized it.
It was the old hospital where I had my first ultrasound.
“What are you doing there?”
“I found something.”
“What?”
“The original pregnancy file.”
My heart stopped.
“What does it say?”
“I don’t know.”
“Read it.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because there’s something else here.”
“What?”
Her voice dropped.
“A man.”
“Who?”
“I think…”
She stopped.
“Paula?”
“I think it’s Subject Eleven.”
The line went dead.
I stared at the phone.
Samuel looked at me.
“You can’t go there.”
“I have to.”
“Laura—”
“My mother is missing.”
“Daniel has her.”
“And Paula may have found my brother.”
Samuel stepped closer.
“It’s a trap.”
“Everything is a trap.”
I looked at him.
“But I’m done running.”
We reached the old hospital twenty minutes later.
The building was almost completely abandoned.
Only one floor still had electricity.
The fourth floor.
The same floor where my first ultrasound had been performed.
I walked through the corridor.
Every step brought back memories.
The first time I heard the heartbeat.
The first time the doctor told me there were two babies.
The first time Diego looked terrified.
Now I knew that maybe none of it had been coincidence.
We reached the ultrasound room.
The door was open.
Paula was inside.
She was sitting on the floor.
Blood was on her forehead.
I rushed toward her.
“Paula!”
She looked up.
“Laura…”
“What happened?”
“He came.”
“Who?”
She pointed toward the hallway.
“Your brother.”
I froze.
“Where?”
“He left.”
“Where did he go?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did he look like?”
She began crying.
“He looks like you.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“He has your eyes.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“Where is the file?”
She pointed to the examination table.
I picked it up.
The folder was old.
Yellowed.
My name was written across it.
But beneath my name was another.
SUBJECT 11 — MALE.
I opened the first page.
Date of birth.
The same as mine.
I stared.
“Twin?”
Paula nodded.
“Look at the bottom.”
I did.
There was a handwritten note.
SUBJECT 07 — RETAIN.
SUBJECT 11 — REMOVE.
I felt sick.
“Remove?”
Paula whispered:
“They separated you.”
I turned the page.
Another note.
SUBJECT 11 TRANSFERRED TO PRIVATE CUSTODY.
I stared.
“Private custody?”
Paula nodded.
“Someone adopted him.”
“Who?”
She pointed to the next page.
I read the name.
My heart stopped.
Daniel Varela.
My uncle.
The man who was supposed to be dead.
The man currently holding my mother.
He had raised my brother.
My whole body shook.
“Daniel knew.”
Paula nodded.
“He knew everything.”
I flipped through the remaining documents.
Then I saw something that made me stop.
A photograph.
A little boy.
Maybe five years old.
Standing beside Daniel.
His eyes were mine.
His smile was mine.
And on the back of the photograph was written:
Subject Eleven — Adrian.
My brother had a name.
Adrian.
I whispered it.
“Adrian.”
Then I heard a voice behind me.
“You finally found me.”
I turned.
A man stood in the doorway.
He was around my age.
Dark hair.
Tired eyes.
A scar along his cheek.
And when he looked at me…
I saw myself.
Not exactly.
But enough.
My heart pounded.
“Adrian?”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
I couldn’t speak.
He stepped closer.
“You don’t remember me.”
“No.”
“You shouldn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because they erased me from your life.”
I looked at him.
“Who?”
He laughed bitterly.
“Everyone.”
He pointed at the file.
“Your mother.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Your father.”
“No.”
“Samuel.”
I stared at him.
“Even Daniel.”
“Why?”
“Because they were afraid.”
“Of what?”
He looked at my stomach.
“Of what you would become.”
I instinctively covered my belly.
Adrian’s expression softened.
“I’m not here to hurt you.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To warn you.”
“About what?”
“Your children.”
My heart raced.
“What about them?”
He stepped closer.
“They aren’t safe.”
“I know.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You don’t.”
He pulled a small device from his pocket.
“Your twins have already been registered.”
“Registered where?”
“A genetic database.”
“By whom?”
“Elias.”
I felt cold.
“How?”
Adrian looked at me.
“Because the moment you became pregnant, the system recognized the genetic markers.”
I stared.
“That’s impossible.”
“Your pregnancy was never supposed to happen naturally.”
“Why?”
“Because Subject Seven was considered sterile after the treatment.”
I frowned.
“What treatment?”
“The treatment they performed after you were born.”
My stomach tightened.
“What treatment?”
Adrian looked at me.
“They changed something in your body.”
“What?”
He whispered:
“They activated the genes.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“For what?”
“So you could carry the next generation.”
I stared at him.
“You’re saying I was designed to have these babies?”
Adrian nodded.
“Yes.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“No.”
He reached into his pocket.
“There is something else.”
He handed me a small memory card.
“What’s on it?”
“Your mother’s confession.”
My heart stopped.
“She recorded it before they took her.”
I stared at the card.
“What does she confess?”
Adrian looked away.
“That she knew the twins weren’t Diego’s.”
Silence.
I felt as though the floor had disappeared beneath me.
“What?”
“She knew before the first ultrasound.”
“No.”
“She knew before you even told Diego.”
“No.”
“She knew because she was the one who arranged it.”
My blood ran cold.
“My mother?”
Adrian nodded.
“She chose the donor.”
My hands shook.
“Who?”
Adrian looked directly at me.
Then he said:
“Samuel.”
I stared at him.
“My biological father?”
“Yes.”
I couldn’t breathe.
My twins…
might be carrying genetic material from the same man who had fathered me.
The thought was horrifying.
“No.”
Adrian immediately shook his head.
“Not like that.”
“Then explain!”
“The donor wasn’t Samuel’s ordinary genetic material.”
“What does that mean?”
“He had a modified genome.”
I stared.
“The embryos were created from modified cells.”
“And the twins?”
“Your body combined those markers with Diego’s.”
I froze.
“Then Diego is their father?”
Adrian nodded.
“Biologically, yes.”
I closed my eyes.
A wave of relief.
Then another thought.
“Why did Samuel say he didn’t know?”
“Because he wanted you to doubt Diego.”
“Why?”
“To make you easier to control.”
I opened my eyes.
Adrian looked at me.
“There’s one more thing you need to know.”
“What?”
He hesitated.
“Your twins aren’t the only babies involved.”
My stomach tightened.
“What do you mean?”
“Someone else is pregnant.”
“Who?”
“Paula.”
I stared.
“What?”
“She was part of the same program.”
My blood ran cold.
“She was never just Diego’s affair.”
Adrian looked toward the hallway.
“She was selected years ago.”
“For what?”
“To carry another generation.”
I couldn’t speak.
Then suddenly—
The hospital lights went out.
Complete darkness.
Paula screamed.
Adrian grabbed my hand.
“Don’t move.”
A door slammed somewhere nearby.
Footsteps.
Several people.
Coming toward us.
Adrian whispered:
“They found us.”
I heard a voice from the hallway.
Daniel.
“Laura.”
My blood froze.
“Come out.”
Another voice.
Samuel.
“Daniel, stop.”
Daniel laughed.
“You still think you can save her?”
Then another voice joined them.
Cold.
Calm.
Familiar.
Elias.
“Bring her to me.”
Adrian tightened his grip on my hand.
“There’s a back exit.”
“Where?”
“Behind the ultrasound room.”
We ran.
Paula followed.
The corridor was dark.
Behind us, doors slammed open.
Someone shouted:
“Stop!”
We reached the back stairwell.
Adrian pushed the door open.
“Go!”
I ran down the stairs.
But halfway down, I heard Paula scream.
I turned.
She was gone.
“Paula!”
Adrian grabbed me.
“Keep moving!”
“No!”
“They took her!”
We reached the basement.
A single emergency light flickered.
Adrian opened a metal door.
Inside was a tunnel.
“Where does this go?”
“Outside.”
“How do you know?”
“I escaped through here years ago.”
We ran.
Then I heard something behind us.
Footsteps.
Adrian stopped.
“Keep going.”
“What?”
“I’ll hold them.”
“No!”
“Laura.”
He looked at me.
“You’re my sister.”
My eyes filled.
“I just found you.”
He smiled.
“Then don’t lose me again.”
He turned.
I ran.
Behind me, I heard shouting.
Then a gunshot.
I stopped.
“Adrian!”
Another gunshot.
I turned back.
But he was gone.
I ran through the tunnel until I reached the exit.
Outside, the sky was beginning to brighten.
Dawn.
I collapsed against the wall.
My phone vibrated.
One new message.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
A photograph.
Adrian.
Alive.
But he was tied to a chair.
Beside him was Paula.
And behind them stood Daniel.
The message said:
You have one hour.
Then another message appeared.
Bring Subject Seven alone.
And finally:
Or your brother and Paula die.
I stared at the screen.
My hands trembled.
Then the phone rang.
I answered.
Daniel’s voice came through.
“You have something I need.”
“What?”
“The twins.”
“You’re insane.”
“No.”
He laughed softly.
“I’m their uncle.”
“You’re not.”
“I am.”
“You kidnapped my mother.”
“She knows too much.”
“You took Adrian.”
“He belongs to me.”
“He’s my brother!”
Daniel went silent.
Then he said:
“Exactly.”
“What do you want?”
“I want you to come home.”
“Where?”
“Where it all began.”
“Where?”
He gave me an address.
My mother’s old fertility clinic.
The clinic where I had been born.
The clinic that had supposedly been abandoned twenty-nine years ago.
Then he said:
“Come alone.”
The call ended.
I looked at the sunrise.
Then at my stomach.
I placed my hand over the twins.
“I’m coming.”
But I wasn’t going alone.
Because for the first time in my life, I knew exactly what I was fighting for.
My mother.
My brother.
My unborn children.
And the truth.
I turned toward the road.
A black car was waiting.
The driver’s window lowered.
Valeria was behind the wheel.
“You didn’t think I’d let you go alone, did you?”
I climbed in.
She looked at me.
“What happened?”
I handed her the phone.
She read the messages.
Her face became serious.
“Then we’re going to that clinic.”
I nodded.
“But we’re not walking into their trap.”
“What are we doing?”
I looked at the old photograph of the twelve babies.
“We’re turning the trap around.”
Valeria started the engine.
We drove toward the clinic.
Neither of us knew that inside the abandoned building, Daniel was already waiting.
Neither of us knew that Samuel had been taken.
Neither of us knew that Paula had discovered a secret that could destroy the entire program.
And neither of us knew that Adrian had managed to leave one final message before he was captured.
A message that arrived on my phone just as we reached the clinic.
I opened it.
There was no text.
Only a photograph.
A newborn baby.
Numbered 13.
My heart stopped.
Underneath the photograph was a date.
Tomorrow.
Then one final sentence appeared:
Subject 13 is already alive.
I looked at Valeria.
“Who is Subject 13?”
She stared at the screen.
Then her face went completely white.
“Laura…”
“What?”
She whispered:
“I think I know.”
“Who?”
She looked at me.
“Your mother.”
I stared at her.
“That makes no sense.”
Valeria shook her head.
“No.”
She zoomed in on the photograph.
“That isn’t a newborn.”
I looked closer.
The image had been manipulated.
The baby wasn’t the important part.
There was a reflection in the glass beside it.
A woman’s face.
Older.
Terrified.
Alive.
My mother.
But beneath her reflection was another image.
A hospital wristband.
And the name printed on it was not my mother’s.
It was mine.
LAURA VARELA — SUBJECT 13.
My heart stopped.
I looked at Valeria.
“I was Subject Seven.”
She nodded.
“Then why does this say Subject Thirteen?”
Neither of us had an answer.
Until my phone rang again.
This time, the caller ID wasn’t unknown.
It was my mother’s number.
I answered.
No one spoke.
Then I heard a baby’s cry.
My blood turned cold.
A man’s voice whispered:
“Welcome to the final stage, Subject Seven.”
The call ended.
And from inside the abandoned clinic…
a second baby’s cry answered.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Click Here to continuous Read Full Ending Story👉PART(8): – My husband had a vasectomy, yet two months later…
