Chapter 8: The Truth Hidden in the Files
The name on the screen burned into my mind.
*PROJECT LILY CREATED BY ADRIAN MORGAN.*
I looked at the man standing beside us.
Ethan’s father.
The man everyone said was gone.
The man who had apparently built an entire system around my daughter before she was old enough to understand the word danger.
My hands started shaking.
“You.””
Adrian looked at the screen.
Then at me.
“Claire.””
“No.””
My voice came out colder than I expected.
“You don’t get to say my name like you know me.””
His expression changed.
Not anger.
Not defensiveness.
Pain.
“I know what this looks like.””
“You have no idea.””
I pointed toward the screens.
“My daughter is on those monitors.””
Adrian looked down.
“I know.””
“You watched her.””
“Yes.””
The honesty made it worse.
A person who lies can be challenged.
A person who calmly admits something terrifying is harder to understand.
“How long?””
Adrian was silent.
“How long have you been watching my child?””
Ethan stepped closer.
“Claire—”
I turned toward him.
“No.””
My voice cracked.
“No more protecting people.””
Everyone went quiet.
“I want the truth.””
Ethan nodded slowly.
“You deserve it.””
Those words were almost painful.
Because they were the words I had been waiting for from the beginning.
I deserved it.
Not after everything went wrong.
Not after my daughter was put in danger.
Before.
Adrian walked toward the hidden room.
Mercy followed him.
The dog didn’t growl.
That surprised everyone.
Especially Ethan.
Adrian stopped at the entrance.
“He remembers.””
Ethan looked confused.
“What?””
“Mercy remembers who I was before everything happened.””
I looked at the screens.
“What is this place?””
Adrian answered quietly.
“A facility.””
“For what?””
He looked at Lily.
“To study children who showed unusual neurological patterns.””
My stomach turned.
“Children?””
Ethan immediately looked at him.
“Dad.””
Adrian’s face hardened.
“I never hurt them.””
“You monitored them.””
“Yes.””
“You tested them.””
“Yes.””
The anger in Ethan’s voice grew.
“And you told yourself it was acceptable because you were trying to help.””
Adrian didn’t deny it.
That was the worst part.
I stepped closer.
“Was Lily one of them?””
Adrian looked at me.
“Yes.””
My heart broke.
Not because I didn’t believe it.
Because I did.
And because suddenly every strange moment from Lily’s childhood came rushing back.
The way she cried before storms arrived.
The way she refused to enter certain rooms because she said they felt “wrong.””
The way she woke up from nightmares and described places she had never seen.
I had always called her sensitive.
I had always told people she had a big imagination.
But maybe there had been something else.
“What did you do to her?””
Adrian’s face changed.
“Nothing.””
“Nothing?””
“I observed.””
“That’s not nothing.””
He lowered his eyes.
“You’re right.””
For the first time, he looked ashamed.
“I made mistakes.””
Victor interrupted.
“Mistakes that cost lives.””
Everyone turned.
Victor stood near the entrance, watching the monitors.
“You’re leaving out the important part.””
Adrian looked at him.
“You don’t get to speak about morality.””
Victor smiled.
“Neither do you.””
I looked between them.
“What happened?””
Nobody answered.
So I walked into the room.
Everyone reacted.
“Claire.””
Ethan followed immediately.
But I kept moving.
Because fear had already taken enough from me.
I needed answers.
The room was colder than outside.
The walls were covered with screens.
Reports.
Photographs.
Data.
And then I saw it.
A folder.
With Lily’s name.
My hand froze above the keyboard.
“No.””
Ethan whispered.
“Claire, don’t.””
I looked at him.
“Why?””
He looked broken.
“Because I didn’t want you to see it.””
“That’s exactly why I need to.””
I opened the file.
The first page was a medical report.
*SUBJECT: LILY MORGAN*
My eyes moved down.
Then stopped.
There was a line that made my chest tighten.
*Primary guardian authorization: Ethan Morgan.*
I turned.
“You signed this.””
Ethan looked away.
“When?””
“Before she was born.””
My voice became a whisper.
“Before she was born?””
He nodded.
“I didn’t know what it would become.””
“Then what did you think it was?””
Ethan looked at Lily.
“I thought I was helping her.””
I looked back at the screen.
The next page showed brain scans.
Research notes.
Observations.
But then I saw something different.
A photograph.
A baby.
Lily.
But she wasn’t alone.
A small German Shepherd puppy was sitting beside her.
I looked at Ethan.
“Mercy.””
He nodded.
“He was part of it.””
“Why?””
“Because Adrian discovered something.””
Adrian spoke quietly from behind us.
“Animals can detect emotional and chemical changes humans miss.””
I looked at him.
“And my daughter?””
“She could do the same.””
“No.””
I shook my head.
“She is not a machine.””
Adrian looked at me.
“I never believed she was.””
“Then why create this?””
He looked at the screen.
“Because I believed the world would eventually try to exploit people like her.””
I laughed softly.
“You became the first person to do it.””
The words hit him.
Good.
Because they needed to.
Adrian looked down.
“You’re right.””
Nobody expected that.
Not even me.
“I thought I was building protection.””
He looked at Lily.
“But I created a target.””
The room became silent.
Then the monitors changed.
Every screen went black.
A new message appeared.
Everyone froze.
*REMOTE ACCESS DETECTED.*
David stepped forward.
“That’s impossible.””
Victor immediately looked toward the entrance.
“Who else has access?””
Nobody answered.
Then a video began playing.
A man appeared on the screen.
Not Adrian.
Not Ethan.
Someone else.
A younger man.
Wearing a company badge.
Ethan stared.
“No.””
I looked at him.
“You know him?””
Ethan’s face became pale.
“He worked with me.””
The man on the screen smiled.
“Hello, Ethan.””
His voice came through the speakers.
“I know you’re watching.””
Ethan stepped closer.
“Ryan.””
The man smiled wider.
“I knew you’d figure it out eventually.””
My heart started racing.
“Who is Ryan?””
Ethan didn’t answer.
The video continued.
“You always thought Adrian was the problem.””
Ryan laughed.
“You were wrong.””
Adrian’s face changed.
“What did you do?””
Ryan leaned closer to the camera.
“I finished what you started.””
The screen changed.
A new file appeared.
A project name.
One I had never seen before.
*PROJECT MERCY.*
Ethan whispered:
“No.””
Victor looked shocked.
Even Margaret looked afraid.
“What?”” I asked.
Nobody answered.
Then the video continued.
Ryan said:
“Lily was never the final stage.””
A pause.
“She was the beginning.””
The room went cold.
Ethan stepped toward the screen.
“Where is she?””
Ryan smiled.
“Where she belongs.””
My entire body froze.
Because suddenly I couldn’t hear anyone.
Not Ethan.
Not David.
Not the alarms.
Only Lily.
“Mommy?””
I turned.
She wasn’t beside me.
My blood ran cold.
“Lily?””
Everyone looked around.
The room erupted.
“Where is she?””
“Claire!””
I spun toward the door.
The German Shepherd was standing there.
Mercy.
And in his mouth was Lily’s pink backpack.
But Lily was gone.
My phone vibrated.
A message.
From an unknown number.
I opened it.
One sentence.
One picture.
The picture showed Lily sitting in a car.
Next to someone.
Someone she trusted.
Someone who should have been protecting her.
The message read:
*“You wanted the truth, Claire. Now come find your daughter.””*
And beneath it was the name.
May you like
The person who had taken her.
*Margaret.*
