Chapter 4 - The Genetic Key
The revelation sent a wave of icy cold through the room.
“What are you talking about?” Claire demanded, trying to sit up further despite the sharp pain in her stomach.
Marcus pulled up a medical diagnostic chart on his terminal and placed it in her lap. “Three months ago, you had routine prenatal blood work done at Whitmore Medical Technologies’ primary lab. Daniel personally requested an advanced genomic sequencing scan.”
“He told me it was standard procedure for high-risk pregnancies,” Claire recalled, her mind racing.
“It wasn't,” Marcus explained. “Your father’s bloodline carries a extremely rare genetic mutation known as the Vance Marker. It grants immunity to specific neurodegenerative diseases and accelerates cellular regeneration. Whitmore Medical Technologies has been trying to synthesize a cure for Alzheimer’s for five years. Their stock is tanking, their debt is over three hundred million, and they were thirty days away from bankruptcy.”
Arthur’s eyes turned to cold steel. “Daniel didn't just marry my daughter because he loved her. He married her because he knew who I was, and he suspected her DNA held the key to saving his dying company.”
“When the lab confirmed both twins inherited the Vance Marker in its pure form,” Marcus continued, “Vanessa and Daniel realized the babies were worth billions. Not as children... but as living biological patents.”
Claire choked back a gasp of horror. “They... they stole my babies to use them as lab rats?!”
“Worse,” Marcus said grimly. “They plan to announce a 'breakthrough discovery' in cellular therapy next month using synthesized stem cells derived from the infants. To cover their tracks, the children were registered as stillborn in official state records. As far as the world knows, those babies do not exist.”
Tears of rage washed over Claire’s face, but she wiped them away instantly with the back of her hand. The helpless, grieving mother vanished. In her place stood the daughter of Arthur Vance.
“Marcus,” Claire said, her voice dropping into an icy, measured tone. “Can you track every movement Daniel makes?”
“Real-time GPS, audio surveillance, and financial monitoring,” Marcus confirmed.
“Good,” Claire said, looking at her father. “Don't raid the facility yet.”
Arthur raised an eyebrow. “Claire, those are your children.”
“If you raid that facility now, Daniel will claim it was a rogue operation by Vanessa or the doctors,” Claire argued, her eyes burning with lethal intelligence. “He’ll use his lawyers, his corporate PR, and his influence to walk away clean while blaming everyone else. I don't just want my babies back, Dad. I want Daniel Whitmore and Vanessa Cole buried so deep in a federal penitentiary they never see daylight again.”
Arthur stared at his daughter for a long moment before a dark, proud smile touched his lips.
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“What’s the plan, sweetheart?” Arthur asked.
Claire clutched the red hospital bracelet in her fist. “We let them think I’m broken. We let them execute their grand unveiling. And then we strip everything from them.”
