Chapter 13 - THE LAKE HOUSE AGAIN
Federal agents surrounded the property before I entered.
I wore a wire.
Emma remained with Ethan and Rebecca under guard.
The lake house looked smaller than my broken memories.
Helen sat at the same dining table where the secret wedding photograph had been taken.
A ceramic mug waited across from her.
“Sit,” she said.
I remained standing.
“No.”
She smiled.
“You finally learned.”
I asked why she chose me.
Helen spoke with the calm certainty of someone who believed cruelty was intelligence.
My genetic marker came from my father’s family.
Dr. Vale believed children carrying it could produce rare cellular material worth enormous sums.
The first experiment was Emma.
The second was supposed to happen after Luke married me again.
When I failed to become pregnant, Helen changed the plan.
She would declare me incompetent and sell long-term access to my medical data and Emma’s.
“You reduced us to inventory.”
“I secured the future.”
“You murdered my father.”
“He refused to understand necessity.”
Helen slid a contract across the table.
It granted a company called Meridian Biosystems control over Emma’s samples and my future medical decisions.
My forged signature was already present.
The mug contained the drug they planned to use during the recorded signing.
I asked where the original evidence was.
Helen pointed toward the floor.
A trapdoor opened beneath the rug.
The basement contained servers holding every transaction.
Agents moved closer outside.
Helen heard something through an earpiece.
She knew.
She knocked the mug over and reached beneath the table.
I threw myself sideways.
A gunshot struck the wall.
Agents crashed through the doors.
Helen ran toward the basement.
I followed.
She reached the servers and held a lighter to a line of gasoline.
“Come closer and every name burns.”
I stopped.
“You won’t do it.”
“You still think I love the family.”
“No.”
I looked at her shaking hand.
“You love control. Burning the evidence means losing the only thing that makes people fear you.”
Her face changed.
That hesitation was enough.
Ortiz tackled her.
The lighter fell.
The gasoline did not ignite.
Helen screamed as agents handcuffed her.
Not from pain.
From humiliation.
Then one server monitor turned on.
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A live video showed Emma’s guarded hospital room.
The bed was empty.
