Chapter 7 - WHAT CLARA NEVER TOLD ME
I confronted Clara before sunrise.
She didn't deny it.
“I knew about the trial.”
My voice was barely controlled.
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“Did you know Dante was going to stop Sofia's treatment?”
She began crying.
“I knew he was trying to manipulate the trial.”
“That's not what I asked.”
“Yes.”
The word hit harder than a bullet.
“You knew.”
“I didn't know he would let her die.”
“You knew he was capable of it.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you stay silent?”
She looked at Ellie sleeping on the couch.
“Because I was afraid.”
“You let me bury my daughter while you were afraid.”
“I was afraid for my daughter too.”
Silence.
Then Clara reached into her coat.
She removed a letter.
“I wrote this the day Sofia died.”
I didn't take it.
“Why didn't I receive it?”
“Dante intercepted it.”
“What did it say?”
“I told you everything.”
“Why didn't you send another?”
“Because Dante showed me a photograph of Ellie.”
My anger disappeared for one second.
He had threatened a child.
Clara continued.
“He told me that if I spoke, Ellie would disappear.”
I looked at my brother's network of files.
For the first time, I understood how he had controlled people.
Not with guns.
With fear.
Fear lasted longer.
“What about Dr. Reed?”
“He tried to expose Dante.”
“What happened?”
“He vanished.”
I knew what that meant.
But then Clara said:
“He wasn't killed.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“He escaped.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
A phone rang.
Not mine.
Clara's.
She looked terrified.
She answered.
A man's voice said:
“Tell Vincent to go to the old pediatric clinic.”
The line went dead.
We went.
The clinic had been abandoned for years.
Behind the building was a small chapel.
Inside, Dr. Reed was waiting.
Older.
Thinner.
Alive.
He looked at me with unbearable guilt.
“I should have told you seven years ago.”
“Yes.”
“I was afraid.”
“I know.”
He handed me a folder.
“The treatment wasn't experimental in the way Dante told you.”
“What was it?”
“A targeted therapy.”
“Would it have saved Sofia?”
He swallowed.
“We don't know.”
I stared at him.
“That's not an answer.”
“No.”
He looked down.
“But we know this.”
He opened the file.
“Sofia was responding.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“Her markers improved.”
“Then why did you tell me she wasn't responding?”
“Because Dante ordered me to change the report.”
I couldn't speak.
“He wanted the trial classified as a failure.”
“Why?”
“Because a successful trial would have exposed his financial scheme.”
Dr. Reed looked at Clara.
“She tried to stop him.”
Clara nodded.
Then Reed said something unexpected.
“There was another patient.”
“Who?”
“A little girl.”
He gave me the name.
Ellie.
I looked at Clara.
“What?”
Clara began shaking.
“Ellie was tested for the same genetic marker.”
My mind raced.
“Why?”
“Because Dante wanted a replacement subject.”
“For what?”
“Lantern.”
The room seemed to tilt.
Dante hadn't abandoned the research.
He had continued it.
And my maid's daughter had been part of his plan.
Not because she was special.
Because she had the same genetic marker.
May you like
Ellie wasn't the reason Dante feared Clara.
Ellie was the reason he still needed her alive.
