Chapter 15 - Project N
Project N contained one hundred seventy-three pages.
Most were technical.
Naomi spent the night reading them.
By morning, she understood enough to be afraid.
“They were building a personalized version of Velorin.”
She explained.
“For Nico.”
Matteo stood beside the hospital window.
“Why?”
“His genetics.”
“His bloodline.”
“His enzyme profile.”
She shook her head.
“They believed they could adjust the drug to prevent the rebound pain.”
Liana looked at Nico sleeping in the crib.
“So they kept hurting him to see whether the new version worked.”
“Yes.”
Matteo’s jaw tightened.
“And Sofia?”
“They used her DNA as the maternal baseline.”
Silence.
“They kept her alive to collect samples.”
Naomi continued.
“When they had enough…”
She didn’t finish.
She didn’t need to.
Matteo turned away.
Liana looked at the paperwork.
One page contained a projected trial date.
Six weeks from now.
Another contained the initials R.C.
Richard Calder.
Another had D.V.
Damian Varric.
And one unknown set:
E.K.
Emily Kerr.
Helen stared at it.
“She wasn’t just cleanup.”
Naomi nodded.
“She helped design Project N.”
Liana felt anger.
Emily had stood in Calder’s study pretending to be a damaged daughter turning against her father.
Maybe some of that had been true.
But she was still involved.
Helen located Emily in custody.
“She’s requesting a deal.”
Matteo laughed without humor.
“Of course.”
“Do we listen?”
Liana asked.
Helen nodded.
“We always listen.”
Emily sat behind glass in an interview room.
No wig.
No maid uniform.
No fear.
She looked at Liana.
“I wondered when you’d come.”
“You helped experiment on Nico.”
Emily’s expression tightened.
“I monitored him.”
“That is not what I said.”
“I never gave him Velorin.”
“Who did?”
“A contracted technician.”
“Name.”
“Marcus Dane.”
Helen wrote it down.
“Where is he?”
“Probably gone.”
“Probably?”
Emily looked tired.
“My father burns people when they become inconvenient.”
“Your father is in custody.”
“For now.”
Helen stared at her.
“You think he’s getting out?”
Emily smiled sadly.
“You have no idea how many people he owns.”
Matteo leaned toward the glass.
“That sentence used to impress me too.”
Emily looked at him.
“Then you know I’m right.”
“No.”
Matteo said.
“I know believing it makes you lazy.”
She frowned.
“My father convinced himself no one could touch him.”
Matteo continued.
“My father did the same.”
“They’re both dead or caged because eventually somebody kept the receipts.”
Liana almost smiled.
Emily looked away.
Helen asked.
“Why Project N?”
Emily’s face became guarded.
“Funding.”
“From where?”
“No.”
“You want a deal.”
Emily looked at Helen.
“Protection.”
“For you?”
“For someone else.”
Silence.
“Who?”
Emily swallowed.
“My son.”
Liana stared.
“You have a child?”
“He’s seven.”
“Where?”
“Safe.”
“Does Calder know?”
Emily’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
The room changed.
“He used him too?”
Liana asked.
“Not medically.”
Emily whispered.
“As leverage.”
Like Nolan’s son.
Like Sofia’s child.
Like everyone.
Control through family.
The same pattern.
“What do you want?”
Helen asked.
“Witness protection.”
Helen said nothing.
Emily leaned closer.
“In exchange, I give you the complete Calder network.”
“Names?”
“Names.”
“Accounts?”
“Yes.”
“Clinics?”
“Yes.”
“Deaths?”
Emily closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Liana stared at her.
“Ava?”
Emily opened her eyes.
“I can tell you exactly who administered her final dose.”
Liana stopped breathing.
Matteo looked at her.
Helen remained silent.
Liana’s voice came out thin.
“Who?”
Emily looked toward the recorder.
“Turn it on.”
Helen did.
Emily spoke.
“Dr. Adrian Vale ordered it.”
Liana closed her eyes.
“Registered nurse Marcus Dane administered it.”
“Why?”
“Ava’s neurological reaction was worsening.”
Emily continued.
“Vale believed another dose would determine whether the response was reversible.”
Liana felt sick.
“He knew she might die.”
“Yes.”
“And did it anyway.”
“Yes.”
“Who approved it?”
Emily looked down.
“My father.”
Liana breathed through the pain.
There it was.
Not a mysterious disease.
Not bad luck.
Not something she failed to prevent.
A decision.
Three adults.
A doctor.
A technician.
A billionaire.
They chose to risk Ava’s life without her mother’s permission.
And Ava died.
Liana wiped tears from her face.
“Thank you.”
Emily looked surprised.
“Why are you thanking me?”
“For giving me names.”
Liana stood.
“I hope you tell every family.”
“I will.”
“You better.”
Outside the room, Matteo waited.
Liana walked past him.
He followed.
“Liana.”
She stopped.
“I thought knowing would feel different.”
“How?”
“I thought I’d feel relief.”
Matteo understood.
“But it doesn’t bring her back.”
“No.”
“It just gives the pain an address.”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
She looked at him.
“Is that what happened with Moretti?”
His face changed.
“You found an address for your pain.”
Matteo looked away.
“And destroyed the wrong house.”
“Yes.”
Liana stood quietly.
Then her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She almost ignored it.
Something made her answer.
“Hello?”
A man whispered.
“Liana Graves?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Marcus Dane.”
Her blood went cold.
Matteo saw her expression.
Dane continued.
“I was at Bellmore.”
Liana could barely breathe.
“I know who you are.”
“I need to talk to you.”
“Why?”
“Because Emily Kerr is lying.”
Liana looked toward the interview room.
“About what?”
“Who gave Ava the last dose.”
Her fingers tightened around the phone.
“She says you did.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“I was in the room.”
He said.
“But I wasn’t the one holding the injector.”
Liana felt cold.
“Who was?”
A pause.
Then Marcus answered.
“Sofia Varric.”
Liana stared at Matteo.
Impossible.
Sofia had tried to save Ava months before her own death.
The timeline didn’t fit.
Unless—
Marcus added.
“Not the mother.”
“The other Sofia.”
Liana frowned.
“What other Sofia?”
The line disconnected.
Matteo stared.
“What did he say?”
Liana looked toward the glass where Emily sat.
“There’s another woman.”
She whispered.
May you like
“And somebody has been using Sofia’s name.”
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