Chapter 57 - ISABELLA FINALLY REVEALED WHAT HAPPENED TO MATEO—BUT THE MAN LISTENING BEHIND THE DOOR WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE ALIVE
Sofia stared at her mother.
For several seconds, the only sound was rain hammering against the windows.
"Mateo?" she repeated.
Isabella nodded.
Daniel moved closer.
"What does Mateo have to do with Meridian's first child?"
Isabella looked toward Noah and Claire.
"Not in front of them."
Sofia hesitated.
Her children were already frightened. Whatever Isabella was preparing to reveal would only make the night worse.
Daniel called Marcus, who arranged for two trusted security officers to escort Noah and Claire to the reinforced family suite.
Sofia kissed each child before they left.
Noah held her hand longer than usual.
"Mom?"
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"Are we going to be okay?"
Sofia forced herself to smile.
"That's what I'm working on."
When the children disappeared down the hallway, Sofia turned back toward Isabella.
"Talk."
Isabella lowered her eyes.
"Mateo wasn't born under the name Ramirez."
Sofia felt the words strike her chest.
"What?"
"He was registered under another name before Luis and I brought him home."
Sofia shook her head.
"No. Mateo is my brother."
"He is your brother."
"Then what are you saying?"
Isabella began crying.
"I'm saying the story we told you about how he came into our family wasn't complete."
Daniel folded his arms.
"Was Mateo adopted?"
Isabella nodded.
"Yes."
Sofia stared at her.
"You told me you gave birth to him."
"I know."
"Why would you lie about something like that?"
"Because the people who arranged his placement threatened to take him away if we told anyone."
Sofia stepped backward.
She remembered Mateo as a toddler, following her through their small apartment. She remembered helping him tie his shoes, teaching him to ride a bicycle, and defending him against older boys at school.
None of those memories had changed.
But the history beneath them suddenly had.
"Who arranged the adoption?"
Isabella swallowed.
"Charles Hawthorne."
Daniel went still.
"My father?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because Mateo had been taken from a Meridian facility."
Sofia closed her eyes.
"Another child."
Isabella nodded.
"Another child they wanted erased."
Daniel looked toward Charles's portrait hanging at the far end of the hallway.
"Was Mateo Subject Zero?"
"No."
Sofia opened her eyes.
"Then who was?"
Isabella hesitated.
"Mateo was connected to the first child. But he wasn't the first."
"Connected how?"
Isabella's expression changed.
"I don't know everything. Luis never told me all of it."
Sofia laughed bitterly.
"Of course he didn't."
Her mother flinched.
Sofia immediately regretted the cruelty in her voice, but she could not take back the exhaustion behind it.
For months, every answer had revealed another lie.
Every act of protection had demanded another sacrifice from someone who never agreed to make it.
"Where is Mateo now?" Daniel asked.
"At the foundation's medical center," Sofia answered. "He was helping review the records connected to the children."
Daniel took out his phone.
No signal.
He tried the secure line.
Nothing.
Marcus appeared at the top of the staircase.
"Mr. Hawthorne, the external phone lines are down too."
Daniel's expression hardened.
"Send a team to the medical center."
Marcus nodded.
Then a voice came from behind them.
"That won't be necessary."
Everyone turned.
A man stood near the doorway to the west wing.
Tall.
Dark coat.
Gray hair.
His face was partly hidden by the shadows.
Sofia recognized him from the Meridian archives.
Not from a recent photograph.
From an old photograph taken decades earlier.
"Dr. Samuel Kane?"
The man stepped into the flashlight beam.
"No."
Sofia's pulse accelerated.
He looked remarkably like Samuel.
But younger.
And there was a black star tattoo on his wrist.
Daniel moved protectively in front of Sofia.
"Identify yourself."
The stranger studied him.
Then looked at Isabella.
"You told them Mateo was adopted."
Isabella's face drained of color.
The stranger smiled sadly.
"That's a start."
Sofia stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Thomas Kane."
Daniel stared.
"Samuel Kane's son?"
"Yes."
Sofia looked toward the tattoo.
"And Meridian?"
Thomas lowered his sleeve.
"I was one of its first surviving subjects."
Silence filled the hallway.
Sofia could barely speak.
"Subject Zero?"
Thomas shook his head.
"No."
He looked directly at Isabella.
"Subject Zero was my older sister."
Sofia felt cold.
"Elizabeth?"
"No."
Thomas's eyes filled with tears.
"Her name was Elena."
Isabella covered her mouth.
Thomas continued.
May you like
"And she was the woman who brought Mateo into this world."
TO BE CONTINUED...
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