CHAPTER 30 — SUBLEVEL FOUR
Khloe entered the elevator before anyone could stop her.
Marcus, Gabriel, Dr. Reed, and the tactical team followed.
The elevator descended beneath the known foundations of the hospital.
Level B1.
B2.
B3.
Then the display went dark.
A final symbol appeared.
A red crown.
The doors opened onto a silent corridor lined with glass rooms.
Old hospital beds stood inside.
Children’s names had been scratched into the walls.
Some dated back thirty years.
Others were recent.
Khloe walked forward, calling Hope’s name even though the baby could not answer.
A speaker crackled.
“Welcome home, Khloe.”
Dr. Monarch’s voice echoed through the corridor.
They reached a laboratory filled with frozen samples, birth records, and photographs of children raised inside some of the most powerful families in the world.
Marcus found his own childhood file.
Gabriel found a video of himself signing adoption papers while heavily sedated.
Dr. Reed discovered records proving dozens of infants had been switched at birth.
Then Khloe heard a baby crying.
She ran toward the sound.
At the end of the corridor stood Celeste.
Blood stained her sleeve.
She held Hope against her chest.
“Mom!”
Celeste lifted one finger to her lips.
“Quiet.”
“Where is Isabella?”
Celeste looked toward a steel door behind her.
“With Dr. Monarch.”
“Give me my daughter.”
Celeste hesitated.
Khloe’s heart stopped.
“Mom.”
“The baby is safe,” Celeste whispered. “But there is something you need to know before you take her upstairs.”
“What?”
Celeste looked down at Hope.
“This child was not switched during the blackout.”
Khloe stared at her.
“What are you saying?”
“The baby Dr. Reed delivered was never Hope.”
Dr. Reed stepped forward.
“That’s impossible. I delivered her myself.”
Celeste’s eyes filled with tears.
“Khloe was implanted with two embryos.”
Khloe could no longer breathe.
“One survived inside her.”
“And the other?” Marcus asked.
Celeste turned toward the steel door.
A lock released.
The door slowly opened.
Inside, Isabella lay on an operating table.
Beside her were two incubators.
One held Khloe’s missing daughter.
The other held a second newborn baby girl.
Dr. Monarch stood between them.
She smiled at Khloe.
“One is your daughter,” she said.
“One is the legal heir to the Thorne empire.”
Khloe moved forward.
“They are the same child.”
Dr. Monarch shook her head.
“No.”
She pressed a button.
A large screen illuminated behind her.
Two names appeared.
HOPE COLE THORNE
SUBJECT H-3
Khloe looked from one infant to the other.
Dr. Monarch’s smile widened.
“Now choose which baby leaves this hospital.”
The steel door slammed shut behind them.
May you like
The lights went out.
And in the darkness, one of the babies stopped crying.
