Chapter 13 - the brother Peter erased
His name was Paul Moore.
Peter’s identical twin.
Julia laughed when Detective Brooks first told her.
Not because it was funny.
Because after everything else, another hidden relative seemed absurd.
But the records were real.
Peter and Paul had been born in Norfolk.
At age nine, Paul was removed from the household after a family court case.
The file was sealed.
Peter never mentioned him.
By adulthood, Paul had changed his surname.
Paul Mercer.
A biomedical investor.
Julia recognized the name immediately.
Mercer Capital had funded Riverton Medical Research.
The conspiracy had not merely used Peter’s credentials.
His own brother had financed it.
“Why would Peter hide a twin from me?”
Brooks had obtained part of the sealed childhood record.
Their father had been violent.
Paul was repeatedly hospitalized.
Peter testified during the custody case, and Paul was placed with relatives.
The brothers did not speak for years.
As adults, they reconnected secretly.
Peter believed he could repair the relationship.
Instead, Paul became involved with Malcolm Voss.
Julia watched an old recording from Peter’s archive.
Peter sat across from a man whose face was almost identical to his own.
Paul.
“You need to stop funding him,” Peter said.
Paul smiled.
“You don’t understand what Malcolm built.”
“He stole my daughter.”
“He gave Lucy a life.”
“He stole her from Julia.”
“She doesn’t even know Lucy exists.”
“She will.”
Paul’s smile disappeared.
“Then you destroy everything.”
The recording ended.
Julia closed her eyes.
Peter had intended to bring Lucy home.
Paul had wanted the experiment protected.
Detective Brooks searched Mercer Capital’s current holdings.
One company owned the private laboratory that manufactured M-04.
Another funded the school wellness program.
Another provided the software used to forge Julia’s consent.
Paul had been the invisible structure beneath Lydia and Raymond.
“Where is he?” Julia asked.
Brooks looked at her.
“We’re searching.”
“You know what that means.”
“He may already know we found him.”
Clara’s condition worsened that afternoon.
A sudden increase in contractions sent the medical team rushing into her room.
Julia stood outside while Dr. Hale and specialists worked.
She felt useless.
Clara was thirteen.
Her body had been forced into a medical condition she had never chosen.
Whatever happened next would be decided around her needs—not the research, not the embryo, not anyone else’s agenda.
After nearly an hour, Dr. Hale emerged.
“She’s stable.”
Julia exhaled.
“For now?”
“For now.”
“Can the pregnancy continue safely?”
“We’re reassessing continuously.”
Julia nodded.
“Whatever Clara wants.”
“Yes.”
Inside, Clara looked exhausted.
“Mom?”
“I’m here.”
“I heard the nurses talking about Lucy.”
“What did they say?”
“That she might stay in Richmond.”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Can she visit me?”
Julia smiled faintly.
“If she wants.”
Clara closed her eyes.
“I want one normal sister conversation.”
“What do normal sisters talk about?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never had one.”
That evening, Lucy visited.
She stood awkwardly beside Clara’s bed.
“You’re shorter than me.”
Clara opened one eye.
“I’m lying down.”
Lucy smiled.
Within ten minutes, they were arguing about music.
Julia watched from the doorway and imagined Peter seeing them.
Two daughters he had tried to protect.
Together at last.
Her phone rang.
Detective Brooks.
“We found Paul Mercer.”
Julia stepped into the hall.
“Where?”
“At his house.”
“Arrest him.”
“He’s gone.”
“You said you found him.”
“We found his security system.”
The home had been abandoned hours earlier.
But Paul left a video message.
Brooks played it.
A man with Peter’s face looked into the camera.
“Julia, I imagine this will be difficult.”
She hated him instantly.
“Peter was sentimental. He believed family belonged to the people who loved them.”
Paul smiled slightly.
“I believe biology belongs to whoever understands how to use it.”
Julia’s hands curled into fists.
He continued.
“Malcolm lacked discipline. Lydia lacked courage. Raymond lacked imagination.”
“Where are you?” Julia whispered at the screen.
Paul seemed almost to answer.
“Clara proved the primary hypothesis.”
Julia stopped.
“What hypothesis?”
“The gestational compatibility worked.”
Dr. Hale, standing nearby, heard it.
Paul continued.
“But Clara was never the final subject.”
Julia’s blood ran cold.
A photograph appeared behind him.
Lucy.
Then another.
Megan.
Then a third image.
A newborn infant.
The timestamp was current.
Julia stared.
Brooks froze the frame.
“Who is that baby?”
Paul’s voice continued.
“M-05.”
Julia nearly dropped the phone.
There was another embryo.
Another child.
Created from biological material stolen from Julia and Peter.
But this time, Paul said something that changed everything.
“M-05 was not gestated by a research subject.”
A woman stepped into the recording.
Lydia Crane.
Except Lydia was already in police custody.
Julia stared.
The woman looked almost identical.
Paul smiled.
May you like
“Meet Lydia’s sister.”
👉 Paul revealed that the conspiracy had another newborn Moore child—and Lydia had an identical sister who had remained hidden inside the program.
