Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN ABOVE THE BROTHERS
Margaret appeared in a live video sent to Rebecca Sloan.
She sat inside a private medical room wearing a white blouse and pearls.
No grave.
No illness.
No regret.
Behind her stood June Carter, one of the women listed as dead.
June looked sedated.
Margaret spoke directly to me.
“Emily, my sons lack discipline.”
She blamed Jason for excessive violence.
Ryan for careless documents.
Kyle for uploading evidence.
Not herself.
Never herself.
“The child was created for a purpose,” she said.
“My daughter is not a purpose.”
“She is genetically compatible with the Carter line.”
“For what?”
Margaret smiled.
“Longevity.”
The family carried a rare cellular mutation linked to accelerated tissue repair. It also caused reproductive complications.
Margaret believed combining Ryan’s sample with my genetic profile created a stronger female carrier.
My daughter could produce future embryos, tissue samples, and treatments.
She had been designed as the foundation of another generation.
My body was only the first container.
Margaret offered June’s freedom and the location of the remaining women if prosecutors released Ryan.
Rebecca refused.
Margaret ended the call.
Dr. Reed ordered my room disconnected from every external network.
Priya moved monitoring to a closed system.
Then my contractions began.
Too early.
My daughter’s heart rate dipped.
Blood tests showed traces of a labor-inducing drug.
Someone had administered it before my rescue.
Possibly through the chain wound.
A tiny puncture near my ankle did not match the metal links.
Jason had injected me while pretending to tighten the chain.
The attack had also been a delivery attempt.
If police had not arrived, I might have given birth in the basement.
The washing machine.
Dryer.
Water heater.
Concrete floor.
All of it had been prepared as a crude surgical site.
Investigators returned to the house.
Behind the dryer, they found a sealed infant transport case.
Inside were oxygen tubes, identification bracelets, and a refrigerated compartment.
One bracelet carried my daughter’s planned name.
MARGARET CARTER II.
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Then officers found another bracelet.
EMILY CARTER — DECEASED.
