Chapter 19 - The Mother Who Built the Nightmare
Rebecca waited inside the abandoned hospital chapel.
She looked nothing like a monster.
She looked like Ethan.
Same dark eyes.
Same calm expression.
Same slight tilt of the head.
Ethan stopped when he saw her.
For a moment, he became a child again.
“Mom.”
Rebecca smiled.
“My beautiful boy.”
He walked closer.
“You watched me bury you.”
“I watched from across the cemetery.”
His face twisted.
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
“That sentence seems to excuse everything in this family.”
Rebecca’s smile faded.
Then she saw me.
“Clara.”
“Rebecca.”
“And Emma?”
“Safe.”
Her expression hardened.
“You promised.”
“I lied.”
Ethan said.
Rebecca looked at her son with disappointment.
“Your father made you weak.”
“My father made me useful to you.”
“He was necessary.”
“So was Clara?”
“Yes.”
The honesty shocked even Ethan.
“You arranged us.”
“I arranged an introduction.”
“You chose whether you loved her.”
Ethan swallowed.
“And I chose to betray her.”
“Yes.”
Rebecca looked at me.
“That part was entirely his.”
I appreciated the accuracy.
Luka and Mara entered through opposite doors.
Federal agents surrounded the building outside.
Rebecca noticed.
“You think arrest changes anything?”
Mara held up a drive.
“We recovered Lake Haven’s backup server.”
For the first time, Rebecca’s face changed.
“What?”
“Thomas didn’t know you mirrored the data.”
Luka smiled coldly.
“But Vanessa did.”
Rebecca’s composure cracked.
Mara continued.
“Patient records.”
“Illegal trials.”
“Payments.”
“Deaths.”
“Everything.”
Rebecca looked at Ethan.
“You did this?”
“Yes.”
“For her?”
“No.”
He glanced toward me.
“For my daughter.”
Rebecca laughed sadly.
“You think prison frightens me?”
“No.”
Ethan said.
“But failure does.”
He placed a small vial on the chapel altar.
Rebecca stared at it.
“What is that?”
“You know.”
Her eyes widened.
“Emma’s blood?”
I looked sharply at Ethan.
He had not told me about this.
Then he gave me the smallest shake of his head.
Fake.
Rebecca stepped forward.
Her restraint disappeared.
“Give it to me.”
Ethan picked up the vial.
“For twenty-five years, you hurt people for this.”
“Give it to me.”
“You killed Clara’s father.”
“Victor did.”
“You experimented on Matteo.”
“Voss did.”
“You let them.”
Rebecca stopped.
Ethan’s eyes filled.
“You keep saying you love me.”
“I do.”
“Then look at what your love became.”
He threw the vial onto the stone floor.
It shattered.
Rebecca screamed.
Not from grief.
From obsession.
She dropped to her knees.
Her fingers touched the spilled liquid.
Then she looked at Ethan.
“You ruined my only chance.”
He stared down at her.
“No.”
“You ruined it when you decided someone else’s child was worth less than your life.”
Federal agents entered.
Rebecca did not resist.
As they handcuffed her, she looked at me.
“You think this is over?”
“Yes.”
I said.
“No.”
She smiled faintly.
“There is still Grace.”
I turned toward Luka.
Rebecca continued.
“Ask Elena who Grace’s biological father really is.”
My mother went pale.
Luka stared at her.
“Elena?”
May you like
She lowered her eyes.
And I knew the final secret had not been revealed yet.
