The word escaped Ariana's lips like a broken breath.
Her knees nearly gave out, but she forced herself to remain standing. Her entire body felt numb as she stared at the man in front of her, desperately searching his face for signs of deception.
"Tell me you're lying," she whispered.
The man remained silent for a moment.
Then he said the one thing she didn't want to hear.
"I wish I was."
Ariana shook her head repeatedly. "She's just a little girl… she laughs, she cries, she gets scared—she's human."
"She is human," he replied calmly. "But she was born under controlled circumstances."
Adrian stepped forward, fury radiating from him. "Speak clearly."
The man exhaled slowly.
"Years ago, powerful people funded a classified program. Their goal was simple—create children with exceptional intelligence, emotional adaptability, and leadership traits. Children who could eventually control industries, governments, criminal empires… anything."
Ariana's breathing turned uneven.
"No…"
"You were chosen without your consent," he continued, looking directly at her. "Your pregnancy was monitored. Modified."
Adrian's entire body went rigid.
"What did you do?" he asked through clenched teeth.
The man's expression darkened slightly. "I didn't create the program. I worked inside it."
Ariana felt sick.
"Modified how?"
He hesitated.
Then answered.
"Genetic intervention. Experimental treatments during your pregnancy."
Ariana covered her mouth as tears spilled down her face.
All those hospital visits.
The mysterious doctor.
The strange medications.
The secrecy.
It suddenly made horrifying sense.
"You used me…" she whispered.
The man looked away briefly.
"Yes."
Adrian grabbed him by the collar violently and slammed him against the wall.
"You touched her life for profit?"
The man coughed but didn't fight back.
"It stopped being about profit a long time ago."
Adrian pressed harder. "Then what?"
The man looked directly at him.
"Your mother."
Silence.
Adrian slowly loosened his grip.
"What?"
"She took over the project after the original investors failed," the man said. "She saw bigger potential."
Ariana's heart pounded painfully.
"She wanted Lia?"
The man nodded.
"She believed Lia would become the ultimate heir—someone powerful enough to control both your empire and the syndicate."
Adrian stepped back slowly, disgust written all over his face.
"She used her own granddaughter…"
"She sees bloodlines as assets," the man replied.
Ariana's tears stopped.
Not because the pain disappeared—
But because rage replaced it.
"Where is Lia?"
The man looked at her quietly.
"There's one final facility."
"Take me there."
He didn't move.
"If you go there—there's no turning back."
Ariana laughed bitterly through tears.
"You think there's anything left to go back to?"
The room fell silent.
Then—
Alarms suddenly started blaring throughout the facility.
Red lights flashed.
Adrian looked around sharply. "What now?"
The man's face changed completely.
"She found out I told you."
Ariana's stomach dropped. "Who?"
Before he could answer—
A familiar voice echoed through the speakers.
Cold.
Elegant.
Terrifying.
Adrian's mother.
"I truly expected better from all of you."
Ariana froze.
The voice continued.
"You wanted answers. Now you have them."
Screens all around the room suddenly turned on.
And there—
Lia appeared.
But this time—
She was strapped to a medical chair.
Crying.
Terrified.
"Mom! Dad!"
Ariana screamed, "LIA!"
Adrian's fists clenched violently.
"What are you doing?" he shouted.
His mother's voice remained calm.
"Completing what should've been finished years ago."
Ariana's entire body shook.
"Let her go!"
A soft chuckle echoed.
"No."
Ariana looked at the screen and saw doctors preparing equipment around Lia.
Machines activated.
Needles.
Monitors.
Lia was crying harder now.
"Mom please…"
That broke Ariana completely.
She turned toward the man.
"Where is she?!"
He gave her coordinates.
"Underground facility. Twenty minutes from here."
Adrian immediately grabbed the keys.
"We move now."
But before they could leave—
His mother spoke one last time.
"Oh… and Ariana?"
Ariana froze.
"If you fail…"
A pause.
"She dies tonight."
The screen went black.
Silence.
Then—
Ariana wiped her tears.
Her eyes became ice cold.
"No," she whispered.
She turned toward Adrian.
Then said—
"We're bringing our daughter home."
Cliffhanger:
👉 As they rush out—
the man quietly whispers:
"There's something else you still don't know about Lia…" 😈
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