Chapter 10 - Harris Signed the Dead Trust The signature belonged to
Dr. Harris.
Nora stared at him.
Harris did not run.
He did not deny it.
“Yes.”
Victor stepped forward.
“You signed a trust in my dead grandson’s name?”
“I signed a medical verification.”
“That is not what this says.”
Harris looked sick.
“I was told Ethan had survived.”
Adrian stood.
“What?”
Harris explained.
Seven years earlier, after the chaos at St. Catherine’s, Reeves told him
Ethan had been transferred under protective custody.
The death record, Reeves claimed, was a security measure.
Harris was young.
Afraid.
Already suspicious that hospital records were being manipulated.
He signed documents confirming Ethan’s genetic identity.
“I thought I was helping protect a living child.”
Adrian’s face twisted.
“You never checked?”
“I tried.”
“Not hard enough.”
Harris nodded.
“No.”
Again, responsibility without excuse.
The trust used Ethan’s identity to hold BrightPath shares anonymously.
Who controlled the trust in practice?
A trustee named Miriam Cole.
Adrian stared.
“Melissa.”
Harris frowned.
“What?”
“Melissa Cole’s real name was Miriam.”
The guardian who had raised Ethan briefly and taken Sophie into custody
had never disappeared.
She had changed names.
And she controlled BrightPath.
Nora looked at Adrian.
“You trusted her?”
“At first.”
“What happened?”
“After Ethan died, she told me Reeves had taken Sophie.”
“But you found her.”
“Two years later.”
Nora stared.
“You didn’t have Sophie the whole seven years?”
“No.”
Adrian’s story unfolded.
For two years after Ethan’s death, he searched.
Miriam moved Sophie between private facilities.
Adrian eventually found them.
Miriam claimed she was protecting Sophie.
Then Adrian discovered BrightPath.
He took Sophie and disappeared.
Miriam had been searching ever since.
Victor looked at the archive.
“So Reeves wasn’t the only one continuing Lantern.”
“No.”
Adrian’s voice hardened.
“Miriam commercialized it.”
BrightPath sold predictive genetic screening to private insurers and
wealthy families.
Some programs were legitimate.
Others used questionable historical data from Lantern.
Nora felt nauseated.
“What does Emily have to do with this now?”
Harris found the answer.
BrightPath’s newest product depended on validating the Kane marker
across siblings.
Sophie’s data existed.
Emily’s did not.
The vials in Victor’s case were meant to provide fresh family samples.
Victor.
Nora.
Emily.
Three generations and branches.
Nora looked at the hidden recording device.
“They wanted us talking while they collected biological samples.”
Harris nodded.
“To authenticate chain of identity.”
Victor stared.
“And the brass key?”
“Needed to access the original dataset.”
Adrian looked toward Emily.
A seven-year-old had accidentally interrupted a corporate theft.
Then Nora’s phone rang.
A woman’s voice spoke.
“Miriam Cole.”
Nora put it on speaker.
Miriam sounded composed.
“I assume Adrian has told you I’m a monster.”
Nora looked at Adrian.
“He’s told me very little about you.”
“Typical.”
Miriam continued.
“I want to meet.”
“No.”
“You should.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian still hasn’t told you who Sophie’s biological father
is.”
Nora froze.
Adrian’s face changed.
Miriam heard the silence.
“Yes,” she said softly. “Ask him.”
Nora turned toward Adrian.
“Who is Sophie’s father?”
Adrian looked at Victor.
Then at Nora.
Finally he whispered, “Me.”
The room went silent.
Nora stared at him.
May you like
Her missing daughter had been raised by her own biological father.
And Nora had never known she and Adrian had created her.
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