The man in the doorway did not look exactly like Matthew.
That was the first thing I noticed.
He had the same height, the same broad shape through the shoulders, the same dark hair and deep-set eyes. But Matthew’s face held a tired openness even when he was frightened. The stranger’s expression was controlled enough to feel rehearsed.
Claire made a sound from the bed.
Not a word.
A warning.
Matthew stepped between her and the doorway.
“Who are you?”
The man looked at him.
“You already heard her.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“My name is Julian.”
Matthew’s jaw tightened.
“Julian what?”
The stranger glanced at Michael.
“Vale.”
The room changed.
Michael went still.
Claire shook her head violently.
“No.”
Julian looked at her.
“You still hate the name.”
“I hate what he did to you.”
Something flickered across Julian’s face.
Not surprise.
Pain hardened by repetition.
Ortiz raised her weapon.
“Hands where I can see them.”
Julian lifted both hands slowly.
“I’m not armed.”
“That has not been an especially reassuring sentence in this family.”
Leah would have appreciated that.
Julian looked at me.
“You’re Daniel.”
“Yes.”
His eyes moved over my face.
Then to Matthew.
“Now I see it.”
Matthew stared at him.
“You knew about me?”
“For years.”
“How many?”
“Six.”
“And you never came.”
Julian almost smiled.
“I could say the same.”
Matthew’s anger sharpened.
“I didn’t know you existed.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t.”
Julian’s expression changed.
He understood.
He nodded.
“Fair.”
Claire whispered, “Julian, leave.”
He looked at her.
“I came because David is here.”
Ortiz’s posture tightened.
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect us to believe you walked into an active police search by coincidence?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because Matthew called Claire’s old number.”
Matthew frowned.
“I didn’t.”
Julian looked at him.
“Someone did from your phone.”
Every person in the room turned toward Matthew.
He took out his phone.
The call history showed nothing.
Michael said, “Could be spoofed.”
Julian nodded.
“Probably.”
Ortiz asked, “What did the caller say?”
“That Claire was dying.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Julian continued.
“And that if I wanted answers about my birth, I should come to Mercy General.”
“Who knew you would respond?”
“Harlan.”
“He’s in custody.”
Julian looked at Michael.
“So people keep saying.”
The resemblance between Michael and Harlan’s photographs was obvious.
But Julian carried something else.
A familiarity that made Michael stare.
“Do I know you?”
Julian looked at him.
“You’ve seen me.”
“Where?”
“Research conferences.”
Michael’s face changed.
“You’re Dr. Julian Voss.”
Claire shut her eyes.
Matthew looked between them.
“Voss?”
Julian nodded.
“My professional name.”
Michael stared.
“You presented at Toronto.”
“Yes.”
“Cellular senescence.”
“Yes.”
“You’re a geneticist.”
“Technically molecular pathology.”
Grace’s voice came from the corridor.
“Of course he is.”
She entered with Leah and two officers.
Ortiz looked furious.
“I said stay with Rachel.”
Grace pointed behind her.
“She is now surrounded by four armed officers and one very angry head nurse.”
Leah looked at Julian.
Then at Matthew.
Then back again.
“Oh, fantastic.”
Matthew frowned.
“What?”
“More surprise siblings.”
Julian looked at both women.
“Grace and Leah.”
Leah folded her arms.
“You know us too?”
“Yes.”
“Wonderful. I was afraid privacy still existed somewhere.”
Grace stared at Julian.
“If Claire carried you and Matthew, you have the same biological parents?”
Claire whispered, “No.”
Everyone turned.
Matthew looked at her.
“What?”
She began crying.
“Mom?”
Claire looked at him.
“You were not created from the same embryo set.”
Silence.
I felt something cold move through my chest.
“Explain.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Harlan lied about the transfer.”
Julian stood very still.
Matthew’s face drained.
“What did he tell you?”
“That I carried two embryos from the same donor couple.”
She looked at me and Rachel was not there, but I felt her absence sharply.
“One was Daniel and Rachel’s.”
Matthew.
“And the other?”
Claire looked toward Michael.
“Harlan’s.”
Michael’s face went white.
“With whom?”
Claire began shaking.
Anna moved to the bedside.
“Claire.”
Claire looked at her.
“You know.”
Anna’s expression changed.
“No.”
“You do.”
“Claire, I swear—”
“You were there.”
Anna’s face collapsed.
Michael whispered, “Mom.”
Anna looked at him.
“I didn’t know the second embryo was viable.”
Julian stared.
“Whose egg?”
Anna did not answer.
Claire did.
“Mine.”
Every person in the room froze.
Anna sat down slowly.
Julian looked at her.
Then Michael.
Then Claire.
“Harlan created an embryo with your egg.”
Claire nodded.
“And his sperm.”
“Yes.”
Julian laughed once.
The sound was empty.
“So Harlan Vale is my father.”
“Yes.”
Michael’s mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Because the implication was immediate.
Michael and Julian shared a biological father.
Half-brothers.
I looked at Matthew.
“And Matthew is mine.”
Claire nodded.
“With Rachel.”
“Yes.”
Julian turned toward Matthew.
“So we shared a womb.”
Matthew looked sick.
“But not parents.”
“No.”
Leah muttered, “Harlan really hated normal family trees.”
Grace shot her a look.
“What? I’m coping.”
Julian stepped into the room.
Ortiz blocked him.
“Stay where you are.”
He obeyed.
Claire looked at him.
“You shouldn’t have come.”
“Why?”
“Because he always wanted you back.”
“Harlan?”
“Yes.”
“He had me.”
“Not after you left.”
Julian stared at her.
“I left him.”
“When?”
“Seventeen.”
Claire looked confused.
“You lived with him?”
“Until boarding school.”
Matthew stared.
“Harlan raised you too?”
“Sort of.”
Michael looked at Julian.
“He never mentioned you.”
Julian smiled faintly.
“He never mentioned you either.”
That landed hard.
Two sons of Harlan Vale.
Each believing the other hidden.
Each used differently.
“What did he tell you about your mother?” Grace asked.
Julian looked toward Claire.
“That she died.”
Claire covered her mouth.
Matthew laughed bitterly.
“Apparently that was his favorite parenting technique.”
Julian looked at him.
“I did not know she was alive until four years ago.”
“What happened then?”
“I found research files under Voss subject numbers.”
Michael frowned.
“You were a subject.”
“Yes.”
“You knew?”
“Eventually.”
“And continued working in genetics anyway.”
Julian looked at him.
“That is not necessarily hypocrisy.”
Michael’s expression tightened.
“I didn’t say it was.”
Julian studied him.
Maybe he recognized another person who had inherited a field contaminated by the man who raised him.
I asked, “How does David fit?”
Julian’s face hardened.
“He contacted me two years ago.”
“Why?”
“He wanted access to my research.”
“What research?”
“Cellular repair.”
Grace’s eyes narrowed.
“VQ-17.”
“Related pathways.”
“Did you know about Grace and Leah?”
“Yes.”
“Before David?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Harlan.”
Leah laughed.
“So he handed out our biographies like party favors.”
Julian looked at her.
“I never used your samples.”
“That was not what I asked.”
“No.”
He accepted the correction.
“Harlan told me about you because he wanted me to work on what he called the completion generation.”
Grace’s face tightened.
“G3.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“I refused.”
“Immediately?”
Julian hesitated.
Leah barked a humorless laugh.
“There it is.”
Julian looked at her.
“I studied the model.”
“For how long?”
“Months.”
Grace stared.
“Why?”
“Because parts of it were scientifically significant.”
Leah’s voice sharpened.
“So was the Tuskegee study to people who ignored the victims.”
Julian flinched.
“Fair.”
Grace looked surprised.
He continued.
“I eventually understood the model depended on crimes that could not ethically be separated from the data.”
Michael watched him carefully.
“What did you do?”
“I copied everything I could.”
“Then?”
“Destroyed Harlan’s access to my lab.”
“Did he retaliate?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He ruined my grant funding.”
“Anything else?”
Julian looked at Claire.
“He told me she had died years earlier.”
Claire began crying again.
Julian’s face remained controlled, but his breathing changed.
He had built a life around a lie too.
I knew that look.
I had been wearing it for two days.
Ortiz asked, “Why didn’t you report Harlan?”
“I did.”
“To whom?”
“University ethics office.”
“And?”
“They investigated my conduct instead.”
Michael nodded bitterly.
“Harlan had donors everywhere.”
“Yes.”
“Police?”
“Without names or original records, I had no proof.”
“You had copied files.”
“Encrypted subject numbers.”
“Couldn’t decode them?”
“Not all.”
Grace looked at him.
“So you walked away.”
“No.”
“What did you do?”
Julian looked at her.
“I started finding subjects.”
Leah’s eyes narrowed.
“Us.”
“Yes.”
“Did you contact us?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because Harlan was monitoring communication.”
Leah almost laughed.
“Everyone has a reason not to tell us anything.”
Julian’s jaw tightened.
“I contacted David.”
Michael stared.
“That was your mistake.”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“That he wanted to expose Harlan.”
“And you believed him.”
“For a while.”
“How long?”
“Until he asked for access to RV-13.”
Grace’s face changed.
“So you knew about the drug.”
“I developed part of the repair-inhibition concept.”
Michael stared.
“You developed RV-13?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“The precursor.”
Grace went pale.
“So without your work, David couldn’t have dosed us.”
Julian did not defend himself.
“Possibly.”
Leah looked at him.
“That means yes.”
Julian nodded.
“Yes.”
Silence.
He continued.
“I designed a compound to study tumor resistance in consenting adult cancer patients.”
“David weaponized it.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know?”
“Not until eight months ago.”
“What did you do when you found out?”
“Tracked his supply chain.”
“And?”
“I found Sonia.”
Michael’s eyes narrowed.
“Sonia knew you?”
“Yes.”
“How well?”
“She trained in my lab for one year.”
That rearranged the network again.
Sonia was not merely Harlan’s old pharmacologist.
She had worked with Julian.
“Did she help David?”
“At first without understanding the full purpose.”
“And later?”
Julian’s mouth tightened.
“She understood enough.”
Grace asked, “Did you tell her to stop?”
“Yes.”
“Did she?”
“No.”
Julian looked toward Ortiz.
“That is why I gave your department the anonymous tip about Westbridge.”
Ortiz stared.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
“We got nothing actionable.”
“Because David moved material before you searched.”
“Who warned him?”
Julian looked at Michael.
Michael went still.
“I didn’t.”
“I know.”
“Then who?”
Julian hesitated.
Matthew spoke.
“Claire.”
Everyone turned toward the bed.
Claire began crying.
Matthew stared.
“Mom?”
She looked at him.
“I’m sorry.”
The sentence made him step back.
“What did you do?”
“I warned David.”
Julian closed his eyes.
He knew.
I asked Claire, “Why?”
She looked at Matthew.
“Because David had found him.”
Matthew’s face tightened.
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“You told me eight months.”
“He took me eight months ago.”
“But he found me earlier.”
“Yes.”
“What did he want?”
“Your DNA.”
Matthew stared.
“Did you give it to him?”
Claire could not answer.
“Mom.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
“You gave him my DNA.”
“He threatened you.”
“I was an adult.”
“You were my child.”
“That does not make my body yours.”
Claire began sobbing.
Matthew turned away.
The same wound again.
Protection becoming permission.
I looked at Julian.
“Did David use Matthew’s DNA?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
Julian’s expression darkened.
“He needed a naturally conceived sibling comparison.”
Grace frowned.
“Matthew wasn’t naturally conceived.”
“He was embryo-created but biologically from Daniel and Rachel.”
“Compared with us.”
“Yes.”
“You and Leah were naturally conceived from the same biological parents.”
Michael nodded slowly.
“So Matthew became another environmental and developmental control.”
Julian looked disgusted.
“That is how David described him.”
Matthew laughed once.
“At least I finally have a role.”
I stepped beside him.
“You are not a role.”
He looked at me.
We barely knew each other.
But I meant it.
Julian’s gaze moved between us.
Then to Claire.
“Harlan wanted Matthew and me raised together.”
Claire stared.
“What?”
“He wrote it in the original protocol.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Harlan told me you were supposed to be separated.”
“He changed the plan after implantation.”
“Why?”
Julian’s face tightened.
“He realized a shared womb with different parentage offered something rare.”
Michael understood.
“Prenatal environment control.”
Grace looked sick.
“Same uterus. Same pregnancy. Different genetics.”
“Yes.”
Leah stared.
“He turned Claire into the laboratory.”
Julian’s expression broke.
“Yes.”
Claire covered her face.
Matthew stood perfectly still.
For twenty-seven years, he had believed Claire saved him from Harlan.
She had.
But Harlan had still used every month of her pregnancy.
I asked, “Why separate the boys after birth?”
Julian looked at Matthew.
“Because Harlan wanted different childhood environments after identical prenatal exposure.”
The pattern.
Always separation.
Always comparison.
Always stolen lives turned into clean variables.
Ortiz asked, “Why did Harlan keep Julian?”
“Control group access,” Julian said.
“And Matthew escaped.”
“Yes.”
“With Claire.”
“Yes.”
Michael spoke slowly.
“So David’s recent work may compare Grace, Leah, Matthew, and Julian.”
Julian nodded.
“Four adults.”
Grace and Leah: identical twins, same biological parents, different childhoods.
Matthew: same parents as the twins, embryo-conceived, different prenatal context.
Julian: shared womb with Matthew, different biological parents, raised by Harlan.
A design monstrous enough to impress a man like Harlan.
Grace whispered, “That’s G3?”
“No,” Julian said.
“What?”
“That was Generation Two.”
The room went cold.
I looked at him.
“If our children were Generation Two—”
Julian nodded.
“Then Harlan’s G3 meant their offspring.”
We knew that.
But Julian continued.
“And David has already begun it.”
Grace went rigid.
“The embryo.”
“Yes.”
“Mine and Michael’s.”
“One.”
“What else?”
Julian looked toward Matthew.
Matthew’s face changed.
“No.”
Julian said, “David created an embryo from preserved cells linked to Matthew too.”
Matthew stared.
“With whose egg?”
Julian looked at Claire.
She shook her head.
“No.”
Then Julian looked at Leah.
The blood drained from her face.
Leah whispered, “Mine?”
“No.”
Julian’s eyes shifted.
“To another tracked subject.”
“Who?”
Before he could answer, the lights died.
Complete darkness.
Someone screamed from the corridor.
Then emergency lights flickered red.
Ortiz raised her weapon.
“Lock the room.”
An officer moved to the door.
Too late.
A sharp hiss came from the ventilation grate.
Michael looked up.
“Gas.”
Grace shouted, “Cover your mouth!”
Julian grabbed Claire’s oxygen mask.
Matthew pulled his shirt over his face.
I reached for the door.
My knees weakened.
The room tilted.
Leah fell first.
Grace caught her.
Ortiz fired once toward the corridor.
Then the weapon slipped from her hand.
I saw a shape enter.
White coat.
Mask.
David.
He looked at me through the haze.
Then at Julian.
“You came.”
Julian tried to move.
Failed.
David stepped over Ortiz.
He looked almost peaceful.
“Good.”
My vision darkened.
The last thing I heard was Matthew shouting.
Then David’s voice.
“Now I finally have all four.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 26: David Gathered Harlan’s Four Living Comparison Subjects in One Place and Revealed the Final Experiment Was Already Underway
Three Years After Our Divorce, Rachel Left Her Wedding Ring on My Pillow and Vanished Before I Woke
Part 25 of 43
