Chapter 101 The Surrogate’s Secret

Chapter 101 The Surrogate’s Secret

MIRA

“Sophie?” I gripped the phone tighter. “Where are you right now?”

“I don’t know. A motel. Somewhere outside Seattle.” Her voice shook. “They’ve been following me for weeks. Ever since your mother went public.”

“Who’s following you?”

“Men in black cars. They don’t say anything. Just watch. But tonight one of them knocked on my door. Said I had one hour to come with them quietly or they’d make it painful.”

“Where are you exactly? I’ll send help.”

“No! They’ll see. They’re watching the building right now.” She was crying. “I shouldn’t have called. I’m putting you in danger too.”

“Sophie, listen to me. You carried my children. You’re part of this family whether you planned to be or not. I’m not leaving you to die.”

“Your children?” She laughed bitterly. “They’re not yours. That’s what everyone is saying on the news. That you didn’t know. That you were lied to.”

“They’re mine in every way that matters. And I need you alive to tell me the truth about what happened.”

“The truth is worse than you think.”

“Then tell me. Right now. Before someone tries to stop you.”

She was quiet for a moment. I could hear her breathing hard. Deciding.

“Your mother didn’t just pay Zane to have children with me. She designed us. Me and Zane both. Genetically modified us before we were born.”

My blood went cold. “What?”

“We’re experiments. Created in a lab thirty years ago. Your mother wanted perfect genetics for her perfect grandchildren. So she created the perfect parents.”

“That’s insane.”

“Is it? Think about it. How else would two random people have exactly the markers she needed? It wasn’t luck. It was design.”

“Zane doesn’t know about this.”

“Of course he doesn’t. Neither did I until last week. I found my medical records. Birth records. All of it. We were both made in the same facility. Project Genesis. Designed to produce the next generation of powered individuals.”

I sat down hard. “Do you have proof?”

“Yes. I have copies of everything. That’s why they want me dead. I know too much.”

“Send them to me. Now. Everything you have.”

“If I do that, they’ll trace the message. They’ll know exactly where I am.”

“Then we don’t have time to waste. Send everything. I’ll have people there in twenty minutes.”

“You can’t get here that fast.”

“Watch me.”

I hung up. Ran to find Zane. He was in his office. Staring at nothing.

“We need to talk. Now.”

“Mira, I know you’re angry but…”

“This isn’t about us. This is about Sophie. The surrogate. She just called me.”

He stood up fast. “What? Why?”

“Because someone is trying to kill her tonight. And she has information about both of you. About something called Project Genesis.”

His face went white. “Project Genesis?”

“You know about it?”

“No. But I’ve heard the name before. Years ago. Your mother mentioned it once when she first approached me about the surrogacy. I thought it was just a code name for the program.”

“It’s more than that. Sophie says you were both created in a lab. Genetically designed to produce powerful children.”

“That’s impossible.”

“Is it? Can you prove where you were born? Who your real parents were?”

He opened his mouth. Closed it. “I was adopted. I never knew my biological parents.”

“Exactly. Because you didn’t have biological parents. You had scientists.”

He sat down slowly. “This can’t be real.”

“Sophie is sending proof. But right now she needs extraction. Someone is coming to kill her in less than an hour.”

“Where is she?”

“Outside Seattle. I don’t have an exact address yet.”

My phone buzzed. Files coming through. Dozens of them. Medical records. Birth certificates. Lab reports.

And photos. Of a facility. Of children in pods. Of scientists working on genetic modification.

One photo made me stop breathing. A young Zane. Maybe five years old. In a medical gown. Surrounded by equipment.

“Zane. Look at this.”

He took my phone. Stared at the photo. His hands started shaking.

“That’s me. I remember that room. I thought it was a hospital. After my adoption. They said I was sick. Needed treatment.”

“It wasn’t treatment. It was programming.”

Another file came through. Sophie’s location. A motel address.

“I’m going,” I said. “Right now.”

“Not alone you’re not.”

“Zane, you need to process this. Figure out what this means for you.”

“What it means is that we were both used. Both manipulated. Both turned into tools for your mother’s plan.” He grabbed his jacket. “And I’m not letting another person die because of her schemes.”

We left immediately. Took a helicopter. Faster than driving.

Kade and Delilah insisted on coming too.

“You need backup,” Kade said. “And we’re not letting you walk into danger alone.”

Twenty minutes later, we landed near the motel. An old building. Run down. Perfect place to hide.

Room 14. Sophie had said room 14.

We approached carefully. Guns drawn. Ready for anything.

The door was open. Hanging loose on its hinges.

“No,” I whispered.

We went inside. The room was destroyed. Furniture overturned. Blood on the walls.

But no Sophie.

“They took her,” Delilah said. “Look. Drag marks leading to the parking lot.”

We followed them outside. Fresh tire tracks. Leading away.

“How long ago?” Kade asked.

“Minutes. Maybe less.” Zane was already calling his security team. “Track every vehicle that left this area in the last ten minutes. Find them.”

While he coordinated, I looked around the room more carefully. Sophie had been here. Had been fighting.

But she’d also been prepared.

Under the bed, I found a phone. Hidden. A backup.

I turned it on. One video file. Recorded an hour ago.

Sophie’s face appeared. Bruised. Scared. But determined.

“If you’re watching this, they got me. But I’m not going quietly. I’m going to tell you everything I know. Everything they don’t want you to know.”

She took a deep breath.

“Your mother didn’t just create powerful children. She created weapons. The twins, Luna and Sol, they’re not just powered. They’re designed to be controlled. There’s a trigger word. A phrase that activates complete obedience to whoever knows it.”

My heart stopped.

“The phrase is Omega Protocol. When they hear it, they become soldiers. Perfect soldiers who can’t refuse any command.” Tears ran down Sophie’s face. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know when I agreed to carry them. I just wanted the money. But they’re innocent. They deserve better than this.”

The video cut to static.

I played it again. And again. Trying to process what I’d heard.

“Omega Protocol,” I whispered. “My children can be controlled.”

Zane was beside me. “We don’t know if it’s true. This could be misinformation.”

“Or it could be exactly why my mother wanted them created in the first place.”

Delilah spoke quietly. “We need to test it. Find out if it’s real.”

“Absolutely not. I’m not risking my children like that.”

“Then we find Sophie. Make her explain everything.”

Zane’s phone rang. His security chief.

“We found the vehicle. Heading north on Highway 5. Do you want us to intercept?”

“Yes. But don’t engage directly. Just follow. Report their destination.”

We piled back into the helicopter. Followed the signal from a distance.

The vehicle led us to an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Seattle. Heavily guarded. Professional security.

“This isn’t some random kidnapping,” Kade observed. “This is organized.”

“My mother’s people,” I said. “Has to be.”

“Or someone else who wants Sophie silenced.”

We watched for an hour. Guards changing shifts. Lights in certain windows.

Then a car arrived. Someone important stepping out.

I grabbed binoculars. Focused on the figure.

And my blood turned to ice.

“That’s impossible.”

“What?” Zane asked.

“That’s my father. My real father. The one who supposedly died when I was ten.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’d know him anywhere. He’s alive. And he’s here.”

Everything clicked into place. My mother faking her death. My father faking his. Both of them working together this whole time. Creating children like weapons. Building an army.

“They planned all of this,” I said slowly. “Every single piece. The twins. The experiments. My marriage to Zane. Everything was designed.”

“For what purpose?” Delilah asked.

“I don’t know yet. But we’re going to find out.”

We waited until dark. Then moved in carefully. Kade and Zane taking one entrance. Delilah and I taking another.

The warehouse was massive inside. Rows of equipment. Medical facilities. And people. Dozens of them.

Children.

All of them in medical pods. Sleeping. Being monitored.

“What is this place?” Delilah breathed.

“A nursery. For designed children. Just like Luna and Sol.”

We found Sophie in a room at the back. Tied to a chair. Bleeding but alive.

“Mira?” She looked shocked. “You came.”

“Of course I came. Let’s get you out of here.”

I started cutting her restraints. But then I heard it.

Footsteps. Lots of them.

We were surrounded.

My father stepped into view. Older but definitely him. Smiling.

“Hello, sweetheart. I was wondering when you’d figure it out.”

“Figure what out?”

“That your mother and I never stopped working together. That everything we’ve done was building to this moment.”

“What moment?”

“The activation. Tomorrow at noon, we activate every designed child simultaneously. Including your twins. And they become what they were always meant to be.”

“Soldiers.”

“Leaders. Protectors. The next evolution of humanity.”

“They’re children. Not weapons.”

“They’re both. And soon the world will see what we’ve created.” He gestured to the guards. “Take them all. Put them with the others.”

Guards grabbed us. Delilah fought. So did Kade. But there were too many.

They dragged us to a holding cell. Locked us in.

Through the small window, I could see the pods. The children. All sleeping. All waiting to be activated.

Including mine.

Because my father had Luna and Sol too. In pods across the room.

“No,” I whispered. “When did they take them?”

My father appeared at the window. “An hour ago. From your palace. While you were chasing Sophie. We have people everywhere, remember?”

“You can’t do this. They’re innocent.”

“They’re necessary. And tomorrow, you’ll understand why.” He smiled. “Your mother will be here for the activation. A family reunion. Won’t that be nice?”

He walked away.

I turned to Zane. “We have twelve hours. To get out. To stop this. To save our children.”

“How? We’re locked in. No weapons. No communication.”

Delilah was examining the walls carefully. “There might be a way. This building is old. The ventilation system connects to the main room.”

“Can we fit through?”

“Maybe. If we’re desperate enough.”

“We’re beyond desperate.”

We started working immediately. Prying open the vent cover. Testing the shaft.

It was tight. But possible.

“I’ll go first,” I said. “I’m smallest.”

“Mira, if you get stuck…”

“Then you pull me back. But we have to try.”

I crawled into the shaft. Inch by inch. The metal cutting into my skin.

Behind me, I heard Delilah whisper to Kade. “If we die here, I want you to know I love you. That marrying you was the best decision I ever made.”

“We’re not dying here. We’re getting out. Getting married. Growing old together.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

I kept crawling. Toward the main room. Toward my children.

The shaft opened above the pods. I could see Luna and Sol below. Sleeping peacefully.

And I could see the activation timer. Counting down.

Eleven hours. Fifty-three minutes.

I had less than twelve hours to save my children and stop my parents from creating an army.

But first, I had to figure out how to get out of this air shaft without falling twenty feet and breaking my neck.

I looked down. Assessed the drop.

And then the shaft beneath me gave way.

I fell. Fast. Straight toward the concrete floor.

This was going to hurt.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​