Chapter 17 - Helen's Confession
We returned to Helen’s hospital room before dawn.
She looked weak.
But when I said the name Eleanor Hale, her eyes opened.
No denial.
No confusion.
Only defeat.
“How long?”
I asked.
She looked at Emma.
“Too long.”
“You founded Meridian?”
“Yes.”
My hands shook.
“You experimented on my mother.”
“I began the research.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Helen closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Luka stood beside me.
“And Matteo?”
“I opposed the pediatric trials.”
“Opposed?”
His voice sharpened.
“You owned the company.”
“By then, Victor controlled the board.”
“Your son.”
“Yes.”
Helen began coughing.
When it passed, she looked smaller.
“I created Meridian to treat my daughter.”
Mara frowned.
“You had a daughter?”
“Victor’s sister.”
Helen nodded.
“Rebecca.”
“She had a fatal blood disorder.”
“We found the Carter family marker.”
“Your grandmother agreed to experimental treatment.”
“What changed?”
“Rebecca died.”
Helen’s eyes filled with tears.
“Victor became obsessed with finishing what I started.”
“And you let him.”
“For years.”
Her answer was barely audible.
“Then I tried to stop him.”
I thought of my father.
“Daniel worked with you.”
“Yes.”
“He helped me move Elena.”
“And then he died.”
Helen looked away.
“Victor ordered the crash.”
My throat tightened.
“You knew?”
“I found out afterward.”
“And my mother?”
“I hid her.”
“Until Thomas found her?”
“Yes.”
Luka stepped closer.
“Where is Victor now?”
Helen looked at him.
“You still think this is about Thomas.”
“Thomas was a lieutenant.”
“Voss was a scientist.”
“Victor was the financier.”
“But none of them designed the current project.”
I stared at her.
“Who did?”
Helen looked at Ethan.
His face changed.
“No.”
She continued staring at him.
Ethan stepped backward.
“No.”
“What?”
I demanded.
Helen whispered.
“Ask your mother.”
Ethan’s face went white.
“My mother died when I was twelve.”
Helen shook her head.
“No.”
Ethan looked like he might collapse.
“Stop.”
“Her name is Rebecca Hale Cole.”
Silence swallowed the room.
Victor Hale’s sister.
Helen’s daughter.
Ethan’s mother.
The woman Meridian had supposedly been created to save.
“She died.”
Ethan repeated.
“No.”
Helen said.
“She survived.”
“How?”
“The first successful M-17 treatment.”
My heart pounded.
“Then why continue everything?”
Helen’s eyes closed.
“Because Rebecca’s cure was temporary.”
“She needed repeated treatment.”
“Over time, she stopped seeing people as people.”
“She saw carriers.”
“Donors.”
“Solutions.”
Luka’s voice became low.
“Where is she?”
Helen looked toward Emma.
“Closer than you think.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A woman spoke.
Her voice was calm.
Warm.
Almost maternal.
“Hello, Clara.”
Ethan heard it.
His face changed completely.
“Mom?”
The woman laughed softly.
“My sweet boy.”
Ethan started shaking.
“Where are you?”
“Preparing the final phase.”
“For what?”
“For my granddaughter.”
I clutched Emma.
“She’s not your experiment.”
Rebecca’s voice remained gentle.
“No.”
“She is my cure.”
Then she said one more thing.
“And Clara?”
“Yes?”
May you like
“Open Daniel’s final DNA envelope before midnight.”
“You deserve to know which man standing beside you is actually Emma’s father.”
