Chapter 9 - THE MOTHER WHO RAISED ME
Linda Reed raised me from infancy.
She attended school plays.
Held my hair when I was sick.
Taught me to drive.
Comforted me after infertility tests.
I believed she loved me without condition.
She was also Dr. Vivian Shaw, founder of Helix Crown.
Daniel had never known.
Our father believed Linda worked as a laboratory consultant.
Her company funded Mercer medical studies through shell corporations.
When confronted, Linda did not run.
She invited us into the same kitchen where I grew up.
“I protected you,” she said.
Those words had become the family anthem of every person who harmed me.
Linda admitted she selected me from the Mercer transfers because my genetic profile was unusually valuable.
At first, I was a research subject.
Then she became attached.
She ended the testing when I was six.
But she continued monitoring bloodwork through pediatric visits.
Diane contacted her years later.
The Mercer trust was failing.
Helix Crown needed a new genetic sample.
They arranged my marriage to Luke and the embryo implantation.
Linda claimed she believed I had consented.
“You altered my medical records.”
“I prevented dangerous disclosures.”
“You let me marry my brother.”
Her face crumpled.
“I didn’t know Robert was your father until later.”
“When?”
“Before the embryo transfer.”
Daniel stood from the table.
“You knew and still allowed it.”
Linda began crying.
“I was afraid Diane would take Claire back.”
“So you worked with her.”
“To keep control.”
Control again.
Always control.
Ortiz arrested Linda for conspiracy and medical fraud.
Before leaving, she gave me access to Helix Crown’s encrypted archive.
Eleanor had contacted her after discovering a missing Mercer daughter worked inside the company.
The woman was named Sarah Cole.
Age twenty-eight.
Genetically, she was my full sister.
Diane had given birth to twins.
Me and Sarah.
She kept neither.
Sarah worked as Helix Crown’s chief data analyst and had copied every file connected to the Mercer bloodline.
Then she vanished with Eleanor.
A video arrived on my phone.
Sarah and Eleanor stood inside a laboratory.
Behind them were twelve artificial womb chambers.
One contained a developing fetus.
The label read:
May you like
MERCER MALE SUCCESSOR — SUBJECT 12.
The family had already created the grandson Diane wanted.
