Chapter 31

The weeks after Henry's death were strange. Quiet. Peaceful. Empty. Alexander went to therapy. Lily's health improved. The triplets grew. And then, on a Sunday morning, the doorbell rang. Alexander was in the nursery. Martha was making breakfast. Lily was reading on the couch. I was nursing Nora — the smallest, the weakest, the fighter. "I'll get it," Martha said. She walked to the door. Opened it. And froze. "Who is it?" I called. No answer. "Martha?" She stepped aside. A woman stood in the doorway. Older. Grey hair. Eyes that looked familiar in a way I couldn't place. "Hello, Isabella," she said. "I'm your grandmother." --- The woman's name was Margaret. Margaret Vance. My father's mother. The woman who had disowned him when he married my mother. "I know I'm the last person you want to see," she said. "But I need to tell you something. Something about Henry. Something about the twins." "What about them?" "They're not Henry's." The room went cold. "What do you

Chapter 32

Geneva was cold.The mountains rose around us, indifferent and ancient. Alexander held my hand. I held my breath."The lab is under the hospital," he said. "We go in through the morgue.""The morgue?""No one questions the dead."---The hospital was quiet.Too quiet.We walked through the emergency room, past the waiting patients, past the tired nurses. No one looked at us. No one stopped us.The morgue was in the basement.Cold. Dark. Smelling of formaldehyde and secrets.Alexander pushed open the door.A man stood inside.Young. Blonde. Blue-eyed.William."I've been waiting for you," he said."You knew we were coming.""Margaret told me. She always tells me everything." He smiled — cold, cruel, familiar. "She's dying, you know. The condition. Just like Nora. Just like Lily. Just like everyone I've ever loved.""You don't love anyone.""I love him." William gestured to the wall.A tank.Filled with green liquid.And inside — a body.Henry.Younger. Healthier. Alive."You did it," A

Chapter 33

We flew home the next day.The triplets were waiting — Eleanor screaming, Henry Jr. watching, Nora sleeping. Martha was crying. Lily was smiling."It's over," Alexander said.But even as he spoke, his phone buzzed.He looked at the screen.His face went pale."What is it?" I asked.He turned the phone toward me.A text message. From William."You think you've won. You haven't. The clone wasn't the only one. There are others. Dozens. Hidden all over the world. And they're waking up."---Alexander stared at the phone."What does he mean, 'waking up'?""The clones. They're not just in Geneva. They're everywhere. Henry's been planning this for years.""Planning what?""Immortality."The word hung in the air."That's impossible.""He was a billionaire. He had unlimited resources. He had time.""Clones don't have memories. They don't have souls. They're just... bodies.""Bodies that look like him. Sound like him. Think like him." Alexander's voice cracked. "He wanted to live forever. And h

Chapter 34

The news spread quickly.Cloning scandals. Illegal laboratories. Henry Black's legacy of horror."We need to go to Siberia," Alexander said. "Before the rest wake up.""I'm coming with you.""No.""Alexander —""You have three babies who need their mother. I have a brother who needs to be stopped.""I'm not letting you go alone.""You're not letting me go at all. You're staying here. With them."He pointed to the nursery.Eleanor was crying. Henry Jr. was watching. Nora was sleeping."They need you," he said."And I need you.""I'll come back.""Promise me.""I promise."He kissed me.Then he walked out the door.---The flight to Siberia took fourteen hours.Alexander texted me when he landed."I'm here. The facility is thirty miles north. I'll check in when I can.""Be careful.""Always."He wasn't always.He was reckless. Impulsive. Desperate.I spent the next six hours pacing.---The facility was buried in ice.Underground. Hidden. Forgotten.Alexander walked through the corridor

Chapter 35

Alexander came home three days later.He was thinner. Paler. Broken. The babies didn't recognize him. Nora cried when he tried to hold her."What happened out there?" I asked.He didn't answer.Just walked to the bedroom.Closed the door.I followed."Alexander.""I killed them.""The clones?""They weren't alive. They couldn't feel. They couldn't think.""Then why do you look like you're grieving?"He turned to face me.His eyes were red."Because they had his face. His hands. His eyes. When they fell, I watched Henry die. Fifty times. And every time —" His voice cracked. "Every time, I felt something.""What did you feel?""Grief. Regret. Love.""For Henry?""For the father I never had."---I sat beside him on the bed.Took his hand."He was a monster.""I know.""He murdered your mother.""I know.""He tried to kill our children.""I know.""Then why do you still love him?"Alexander was quiet for a long time.Then: "Because he was my father. And no matter how much I hate him, I c

Chapter 36

The flight to Switzerland took eight hours.Alexander didn't sleep. Didn't eat. Didn't breathe. He just stared out the window, watching the clouds drift past."You're going to die," William's voice said from the speaker. "The only question is how."Alexander didn't answer.He just turned off the speaker.---The lab was hidden beneath a mountain.Alexander walked through the tunnels, his footsteps echoing off the walls, his heart pounding in his chest.And then — light.A room.Filled with computers. Monitors. Weapons."Welcome, brother."William stood in the center.Surrounded by screens.Each screen showed a city.London. Paris. Tokyo. New York."In twenty-four hours," William said, "these cities will burn.""You're insane.""I'm free.""Free from what?""Free from Henry. Free from his expectations. Free from his dreams.""So you're going to kill millions of people?""I'm going to change the world."Alexander walked toward him."You're going to die.""Maybe." William smiled. "But no