Chapter 4 – The Woman Behind the Screen
The room remained silent long after the monitors went black.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
My father slowly lowered his hand from the keyboard.
"Trace the signal."
Three analysts began typing furiously.
"Nothing."
"It vanished."
"It never should have existed."
My father stared at the empty screen.
"She wanted us to see her."
I felt my hands shaking.
"She said she chose me."
He finally turned toward me.
"Emily... before Daniel entered your life, did you ever participate in any medical studies?"
I searched my memory.
College.
Doctor appointments.
Routine physicals.
Nothing unusual.
"No."
He nodded slowly.
"Then someone volunteered your information."
The room grew colder.
One analyst finally spoke.
"Sir..."
A hidden folder had appeared.
No password.
No encryption.
Almost as if someone had opened it for us.
Inside were hundreds of photographs.
Every stage of my life.
Elementary school.
High school graduation.
College.
My first apartment.
My wedding.
Every image had notes beside it.
Emotional stability.
Genetic profile.
Stress tolerance.
Reproductive compatibility.
I wasn't reading a biography.
I was reading an inventory.
May you like
Someone had spent years studying me.
And I had never known.
