Chapter 5 – Daniel Finally Speaks
Hours later, the secure detention facility confirmed Daniel had regained consciousness.
"I need to see him," I said.
My father hesitated.
"You may not like the answers."
"I need them anyway."
Daniel sat alone behind reinforced glass.
His confident smile was gone.
He looked exhausted.
Broken.
The moment he saw me, tears filled his eyes.
"I'm sorry."
I didn't answer.
"Were you ever real?" I finally asked.
He closed his eyes.
"I loved you."
"That's not what I asked."
A long silence followed.
"I was recruited when I was twenty-six."
"By who?"
"I never knew her name."
"The woman on the screen?"
He nodded.
"They called her Director."
"What was Project Lazarus?"
Daniel swallowed hard.
"They wanted children."
My heart stopped.
"Children with specific genetic combinations."
"And me?"
"You were selected years before I met you."
"You married me because they ordered you to."
He looked away.
"I thought I could protect you."
"You lied every single day."
"I know."
He looked genuinely devastated.
"But somewhere along the way..."
His voice broke.
"I stopped pretending."
For the first time...
I believed him.
May you like
And somehow...
That hurt even more.
