Chapter 20 - The Door We Were Never Meant to Open
For twelve years, my father had believed my mother was dead.
For twelve years, I had believed the same thing.
And now she was standing beside my son's crib.
Alive.
Watching me through a photograph.
I couldn't breathe.
Dad took the phone.
His hand started shaking.
“Elena.”
Richard was still outside.
I ran after him.
“You knew.”
He stopped.
“You knew she was alive.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell us?”
“Because she didn't want you to know.”
“Where is she?”
“Back where it began.”
“That's not an answer.”
“It is the only one I can give.”
Dad caught up.
“Richard.”
Richard turned.
“Michael.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“You let me grieve my wife.”
“You had to.”
Dad looked like he'd been punched.
“Why?”
“Because Elena asked me to.”
Dad's face collapsed.
“She was protecting Camila.”
“No.”
Richard's eyes moved to me.
“She was protecting Noah.”
I felt cold.
“Why?”
“Because after Phase Two, the project changed.”
“How?”
Richard looked at Dad.
“Your daughter was the proof of concept.”
I stared.
“Proof of what?”
“That attachment could be manipulated through engineered loss.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means they took people you loved away from you and measured what you did.”
I remembered Diane.
The money.
The lies.
The custody case.
The disappearance.
The warehouse.
The threats.
My chest tightened.
“All of it was a test.”
“Yes.”
“Then Ethan…”
“Was a subject.”
I shook my head.
“He chose things too.”
“Yes.”
“His choices were real.”
Richard nodded.
“That's the part they didn't anticipate.”
“What?”
“Love made the experiment unpredictable.”
I stared at him.
“You're saying Ethan actually loves me.”
Richard looked away.
“I believe he does.”
That hurt more than it helped.
“What about my mother?”
“She's been trying to destroy the project from inside.”
“Why didn't she come for me?”
“She did.”
“When?”
“Twelve years ago.”
Dad closed his eyes.
“After your mother was supposedly killed.”
Richard nodded.
“Elena took you.”
I stared.
“Then why was I with Dad?”
“You weren't.”
My heart stopped.
Dad looked at him.
“What are you saying?”
Richard swallowed.
“When Michael found the facility, there were two girls.”
My pulse stopped.
“Two?”
“One was Camila.”
“One was C-14.”
Richard looked at me.
“They looked almost identical.”
Dad shook his head.
“No.”
“You were injured, Michael.”
“I remember holding her.”
“You held one child.”
“Which one?”
Richard didn't answer.
I felt the world shift.
“Then how do you know I'm really Camila?”
Richard looked at me.
“Because of the scar beneath your shoulder.”
I touched it instinctively.
“You were given it in the fire.”
I stared.
“My mother?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Richard whispered:
“Diane.”
The name cut through everything.
I remembered.
A flash.
A hallway.
A woman bending over me.
A needle.
A burning smell.
Someone screaming.
And Diane.
You need to forget.
I staggered.
Dad caught me.
“I remember her.”
He looked at me.
“What?”
“Diane.”
His face hardened.
“What did she do?”
“She told me to forget.”
Richard nodded.
“She was already part of Carter then.”
I looked at him.
“And my mother?”
“She was trying to get C-14 out.”
“Who was C-14?”
Richard's voice dropped.
“Diane's biological daughter.”
I shook my head.
“She didn't have a daughter.”
“She did.”
“Where is she?”
He looked directly at me.
“You already know.”
My heart stopped.
“No.”
Richard said it.
“Leah.”
Silence.
I couldn't breathe.
“No.”
He nodded.
“Diane gave her to another family.”
“Leah?”
“Yes.”
The woman who had helped us.
The woman who had stood beside Robert.
The woman I had trusted.
My knees weakened.
Dad stared at Richard.
“You're saying Leah is Diane's daughter.”
“Yes.”
I shook my head.
“That doesn't make her part of the project.”
Richard looked at me.
“It makes her the one person they could use who you would never suspect.”
The photograph of the house appeared again.
This time it showed another room.
Leah standing beside Noah.
Robert was on the floor.
Ethan was tied to a chair.
Diane stood behind them.
And my mother stood in the corner.
Alive.
Watching.
My phone rang.
I answered.
“Mom?”
Silence.
Then her voice.
“Camila.”
I broke.
“Where are you?”
“At home.”
“With Noah?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you need to come through the door.”
I looked at Dad.
My mother continued.
“You have to open it yourself.”
“What door?”
“The one underneath the house.”
My heart stopped.
“There is no door.”
“There is.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I lived beneath it.”
Dad stepped closer.
“Elena.”
She became silent.
He took the phone from me.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I needed you to.”
“Why?”
“Because if they knew I survived, they would come for her.”
“She is our daughter.”
“She is not the only daughter you lost.”
Dad froze.
“What?”
My mother breathed shakily.
“Michael, there were three children.”
Dad closed his eyes.
“C-12.”
“No.”
“C-13.”
“No.”
“Then who?”
She whispered:
“C-14 was never a child.”
The line went dead.
I stared at Dad.
“What does that mean?”
He didn't answer.
Behind us, Richard slowly removed his coat.
“Because C-14 was a designation.”
“For what?”
“A person who could control the others.”
I felt a chill.
“Who?”
Richard looked at me.
Then he said the name.
“Leah.”
Everything inside me went silent.
The phone rang again.
This time it was Robert's number.
I answered.
His voice was barely audible.
“Camila.”
“Robert.”
“Don't come here.”
I froze.
“Why?”
“Because I lied.”
“What did you lie about?”
He started crying.
“Leah didn't help me.”
My stomach dropped.
“She recruited me.”
Dad stepped closer.
Robert continued.
“Diane wasn't the mastermind.”
“Then who was?”
A long silence.
“The person who built Carter Ridge.”
“Voss?”
“No.”
Robert whispered:
“Leah.”
The line went dead.
Dad looked at me.
I looked toward the distant road.
The night had become completely still.
No traffic.
No engines.
No wind.
Just silence.
Then a message arrived from my mother.
Come alone.
Bring Michael.
Leave Ethan.
I stared at the words.
Dad read over my shoulder.
“No.”
I looked at him.
“She has Noah.”
“I know.”
“She has Ethan.”
“I know.”
“She says to leave him.”
“No.”
I tightened my grip on the phone.
“What do we do?”
Dad looked at the road.
For the first time, he didn't have an answer.
Then Richard said:
“We open the door.”
I turned.
“What happens after that?”
He looked at me.
“You finally learn why your family was chosen.”
I held Noah's photograph in one hand.
The second key in the other.
And somewhere miles away, beneath the house where I had once believed my life was safe, a lock clicked.
Then another.
Then another.
Three doors.
Three children.
One family.
And a secret my father had spent twelve years trying to bury was finally waiting on the other side.
I looked at Dad.
“Let's go.”
He nodded.
But before we reached the car, his phone rang.
He answered.
A man's voice spoke.
Dad's face changed.
He looked at me.
Then he whispered:
“Camila…”
“What?”
“It's Ethan.”
I took the phone.
His voice came through, weak and frightened.
“Don't trust Leah.”
I closed my eyes.
“I know.”
“No.”
His breathing shook.
“You don't.”
“What do you mean?”
He whispered four words that made my blood turn to ice.
“She has Noah's blood.”
May you like
The call ended.
And behind us, somewhere in the darkness, another vehicle started its engine.
