PART 10: The Woman Behind Genesis
PART 10: The Woman Behind Genesis
The words destroyed every last piece of certainty I had.
Before she was my grandmother…
She was the first director of Genesis.
I stared at Eleanor.
My mind replayed every moment.
Every hug.
Every missing year.
Every time I wondered why she never came.
Every time I blamed myself.
But now the answer was worse.
She wasn’t absent because she didn’t care.
She was absent because she knew exactly what she had been part of.
“You.”
My voice barely existed.
“You started it.”
Eleanor looked at me.
Her eyes were full of tears.
“Yes.”
The honesty hurt more than another lie.
I stepped backward.
My legs felt weak.
“My entire life…”
I swallowed.
“My entire life was because of you.”
She nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
My father looked at her in disbelief.
“Eleanor…”
She didn’t look at him.
“I was young.”
Damien laughed.
A cold, empty sound.
“You always say that.”
Eleanor turned toward him.
“You don’t get to judge me.”
His smile disappeared.
Because there was history between them.
A history none of us understood.
I looked at both of them.
“You worked together?”
Neither answered.
That was answer enough.
My grandmother sat down.
The powerful woman from earlier was gone.
Only someone broken remained.
“Genesis began as a medical project.”
She spoke quietly.
“We wanted to cure diseases.”
A pause.
“We wanted to prevent suffering.”
Claire crossed her arms.
“And then?”
Eleanor looked down.
“Then we became obsessed.”
The room was silent.
“With success.”
She continued.
“With proving we could change human biology.”
My stomach turned.
“And children became experiments.”
She closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
I hated the answer.
But I needed it.
“Why me?”
Eleanor looked at me.
“Because you were born with something rare.”
Damien interrupted.
“Not rare.”
Everyone looked at him.
“Unique.”
He stepped forward.
“Your mother’s genetics and your father’s created a combination we had never seen.”
I frowned.
“My father?”
Everyone froze.
I looked at Robert.
“You knew?”
My father looked away.
And I felt something inside me collapse.
Not again.
Not another secret.
“Dad.”
He whispered:
“Yes.”
The room became quiet.
“You knew?”
He nodded.
“Before you were born.”
My voice shook.
“And you never told me.”
“I couldn’t.”
“Why?”
His eyes filled.
“Because I was afraid.”
I laughed bitterly.
“That’s everyone’s favorite excuse.”
He looked at me.
“I was afraid they would take you.”
A pause.
“So I left.”
I froze.
“What?”
He looked broken.
“I left Genesis.”
My grandmother nodded.
“That’s why they hated him.”
My father looked at Eleanor.
“I tried to destroy the files.”
Damien smiled.
“And failed.”
The tension returned.
I looked at Damien.
“What do you want from me?”
His expression softened.
For a moment.
Almost like he cared.
“I want you to understand.”
“No.”
My answer was immediate.
“I want you to tell me the truth.”
He studied me.
Then nodded.
“Fair.”
He walked toward the table.
“Genesis discovered something.”
He picked up the old medical report.
“Your ability wasn’t just genetic.”
A pause.
“It was developing.”
My skin crawled.
“Developing how?”
Damien looked at me.
“You were changing.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
He continued.
“Your brain activity.”
“Your immune response.”
“Your recovery rate.”
A pause.
“All different.”
My grandmother stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Damien ignored her.
“Your mother wanted to remove you from the program because she believed you were still a child.”
A pause.
“She was right.”
The words surprised me.
He admitted it.
“You weren’t a weapon.”
Damien looked at me.
“You were a possibility.”
I hated that word.
Possibility.
Like I wasn’t a person.
Like I was a future result.
“So why come now?”
Silence.
Then Damien said:
“Because you’re eighteen.”
My blood froze.
My birthday.
Midnight.
The reason my mother told me to call my grandmother.
The reason everything happened tonight.
“What happens when I turn eighteen?”
Nobody answered.
Then Eleanor whispered:
“The final stage.”
I looked at her.
“What final stage?”
She looked terrified.
“The program was designed to activate at eighteen.”
I stared.
“That’s impossible.”
Damien shook his head.
“It’s already started.”
My body went cold.
“What?”
He looked at me.
“The headaches.”
I froze.
The strange headaches I had ignored.
The moments when sounds felt too loud.
The dreams.
The flashes.
The times I knew something before it happened.
I had thought I was stressed.
Normal.
But maybe not.
Damien continued:
“Your mother delayed it.”
My voice shook.
“How?”
“She changed your environment.”
A pause.
“She kept you away from Genesis.”
I whispered:
“She saved me.”
“Yes.”
Damien looked at me.
“She did.”
For the first time…
He sounded almost respectful.
Then suddenly—
A loud crash came from downstairs.
Everyone turned.
The guards moved.
Another security alarm.
Claire checked her phone.
Her face changed.
“What?”
She looked at us.
“We have a problem.”
My grandmother stood.
“What happened?”
Claire swallowed.
“The police are here.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
She looked at me.
“They received evidence.”
A pause.
“They think Eleanor Blackwood is responsible for everything.”
The room went silent.
My grandmother’s face went pale.
“No.”
Claire continued.
“They have an arrest warrant.”
My father stepped forward.
“For what?”
Claire looked at the papers.
“Illegal experiments.”
“Cover-up.”
“Financial crimes.”
A pause.
“And…”
She looked at me.
“Murder.”
My heart stopped.
“Murder?”
Claire nodded.
“Your mother’s death.”
Everyone looked at Eleanor.
She didn’t fight.
She didn’t deny.
She only whispered:
“I knew this day would come.”
The front doors opened.
Police officers entered.
And the man leading them…
Was someone I recognized.
Someone who had been standing quietly among my grandmother’s security.
Someone who had helped us all night.
Claire noticed him too.
Her face turned white.
“Wait…”
The man smiled.
Not kindly.
Not warmly.
Like he had been waiting for this moment.
Damien looked at him.
And laughed.
“You were always patient.”
I stared.
“Who is he?”
The man removed his jacket.
Underneath was a Genesis symbol.
A symbol I had seen on the files.
He looked at me.
“Hello, Emma.”
My blood froze.
“I’m the reason your mother died.”
The entire room stopped.
He smiled.
“And I’m the reason you will never be free.”
The lights went out.
Again.
But this time…
May you like
Everyone knew.
The real enemy had never left.
