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Chapter 26 - Chapter 26 - The Man Who Watched Her Die  

The sound of Daniel's voice froze Emma in place.

It wasn't loud just calm, too calm, like he'd been expecting her all along.

Adrian's body went rigid beside her. He stepped forward first, shielding her slightly. "Show yourself," he said coldly.

Daniel emerged from the shadows wearing a long dark coat, his expression unreadable. His eyes, once soft and loyal, were now hollow.

"I told you not to come here," he said. "Now you've made things worse."

Emma's chest tightened. "Worse? You mean the truth?"

Daniel sighed, his gaze flicking between them. "The truth can burn more than fire ever could, Emma."

Adrian took a step closer. "You were part of Project Lazarus, weren't you?"

Daniel didn't deny it. "I was the one who found her body that night."

Emma's breath hitched. "You… what?"

He looked at her with something like guilt or maybe pity. "The fire should've killed you, Emma. But your heart… it didn't stop right away. There was still a chance. So I called them."

"Who?" Adrian demanded.

Daniel's eyes darkened. "The ones who funded Lazarus. The people who wanted to bring her back for reasons you don't understand."

Emma's hands trembled. "You called them? You gave me to them?"

"I saved you," he said sharply. "You were dying. They said they could help. I didn't know what they'd do to you."

Her voice cracked. "And you believed them?"

Daniel's jaw clenched. "You don't understand, Emma. I thought I was saving your life. But then I found out the experiments, the cloning attempts, the memory mapping…"

Adrian's eyes widened. "Cloning?"

Daniel nodded slowly. "Project Lazarus was never about saving lives. It was about creating replacements perfect replicas with implanted memories."

Emma's blood ran cold. "Are you saying I'm… not real?"

"No," Daniel said quickly, stepping forward. "You are Emma. Your soul, your thoughts everything that makes you who you are it's still you. But they used something unnatural to bring it back."

Adrian's voice was low. "Who's behind it?"

Daniel hesitated. "Your father, Adrian. And hers."

The silence that followed felt like a thunderclap.

Emma stumbled back. "No… My father would never—"

"He did it for you," Daniel said softly. "He was dying, and he wanted to save his only child. So he turned to Knight Industries to your father's technology."

Adrian's eyes hardened. "My father used her like a lab experiment."

Daniel's voice shook slightly. "And now someone else is continuing what they started. Lazarus wasn't shut down. It went underground."

Emma pressed a hand to her temple. "So my rebirth wasn't fate… it was a deal between two dying men."

Adrian took her hand gently, but she pulled away. "Don't," she whispered. "Your family did this. Mine helped."

He tried to speak, but Daniel cut in sharply. "There's more you need to know. The fire wasn't an accident."

Emma's eyes snapped up. "What?"

Daniel's face was grim. "Someone set it to cover up the experiment. They wanted you dead before the transfer could happen."

"Who?" Adrian demanded.

Daniel's voice dropped. "Knight Senior."

The words landed like a blade.

Adrian's body went still. His face was unreadable, but his eyes cold, furious, broken said everything.

"My father…" he whispered.

Emma's vision blurred. "You mean… he tried to kill me?"

"To erase the evidence," Daniel said. "You weren't supposed to wake up again."

Adrian's fists clenched. "And now?"

Daniel took a slow breath. "Now they know you're alive. And they'll do anything to finish what they started."

A thunderclap shook the building, echoing like a warning.

Emma stepped closer to Daniel, her voice trembling. "Why tell us now?"

"Because I'm done running," he said quietly. "And because there's something you need to see."

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small black device another flash drive.

"This contains the list of everyone involved in Lazarus. But once you open it, there's no turning back."

Adrian's voice was steady but cold. "What's the catch?"

Daniel looked at Emma and for the first time, his eyes softened. "The catch is that you'll finally know what you became that night. But you might not like the answer."

Emma met his gaze, her voice low and fierce. "I stopped liking answers a long time ago."

 

Outside, lightning split the sky. The old lab seemed to shake under the storm's fury.

Daniel turned toward the door. "I'll distract the guards. You two get out and don't trust anyone, not even me."

Before either could stop him, he slipped into the hallway and vanished into the darkness.

Emma stood frozen, the flash drive burning in her palm.

Adrian touched her shoulder gently. "Emma…"

She looked up at him, tears mixing with anger. "If your father really did this… I'll destroy him."

Adrian's voice was quiet, almost pained. "Then I'll help you."

For the first time, she saw the fire in his eyes not coldness, not control, but a vow.

Together, they turned toward the storm, leaving the ruins of their past behind.

But in the shadows of the lab, a single red light blinked on recording everything.

And far away, in a hidden office, a man's voice spoke through a monitor:

"She's awake. Begin Phase Two."

 

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