“That's impossible.”Jace's voice broke through the silence.Nobody moved.Lilith stood in the doorway, looking at Jack as if the rest of the room no longer existed.Jack couldn't take his eyes off her.His biological mother.The words didn't fit inside his head.They were too large.Too absurd.Too dangerous.He looked at Elena.“Mom?”Elena's face crumpled.Jack had seen his mother frightened before.He had seen her angry.He had seen her exhausted.But he had never seen her look at him like this.Like she was watching something she had spent seventeen years trying not to lose.“Jack,” she whispered.He swallowed.“Is she my mother?”Elena didn't answer.Jack's voice became firmer.“Is she?”Marcus stepped forward.“Jack, listen to me.”“No.”Jack raised a hand.“Not yet.”His father stopped.Jack looked at Lilith.“If you're my mother, prove it.”Lilith's expression didn't change.“Fair.”She reached into the pocket of her coat and removed a small metal pendant.She held it between

Marcus ran down the stairs.Jack followed immediately.“Dad!”The others came after them.The staircase was narrow and steep, forcing them to move carefully. The old concrete walls were damp, and water dripped somewhere in the darkness.Marcus didn't slow down.He knew where he was going.That frightened Jack more than anything else.His father had spent weeks telling him there were things he didn't know.Now Jack was beginning to understand that Marcus didn't simply have missing pieces.He had entire memories he had deliberately buried.The crying came again.“Dad…”Marcus stopped.Everyone nearly collided with him.At the bottom of the stairs was a small corridor.A single door stood at the end.There was a faded number painted across it.17.Marcus stared at it.Jack came beside him.“What is this?”Marcus didn't answer.He walked toward the door.Jack followed.“Dad.”Marcus placed his hand against the door.His fingers trembled.“I've seen this room before.”Jace stepped closer.

The floor cracked again.Jack grabbed Amy's arm and pulled her backward.“Move!”Everyone scattered.A jagged line split through the concrete, running from beneath the empty chamber toward the center of the room.Dust dropped from the ceiling.The lights flickered.Then the floor opened.Something moved beneath it.Jace stepped in front of Ethan.“Stay behind me.”Ethan shook his head.“I can help.”“I know.”Jace looked at him.“But you're still staying behind me.”Ethan frowned.Before he could argue, a hand appeared through the opening.Jack froze.The fingers were thin.Human.They gripped the edge of the broken concrete.Then another hand appeared.Someone was climbing out.Daniel stepped backward.For the first time since Jack had met him, the man looked genuinely afraid.“No.”Jack noticed.“You know him.”Daniel didn't answer.The figure pulled himself higher.A head appeared.Dark hair.Pale skin.A familiar face.Jack stared.It looked like him.Not exactly.Older.Perhaps t

“My name is Caleb.”The young man stood in the doorway, watching Jack with an expression that was difficult to read.“And you're the brother they erased.”For several seconds, Jack said nothing.He had learned that reacting too quickly to a revelation was usually a mistake. Every time someone claimed to know the truth about his family, another hidden room appeared, another recording surfaced, or another person admitted that they had lied.He was tired of being surprised.“Prove it,” Jack said.Caleb's expression barely changed.“That's fair.”Jack glanced at Thomas.“You said there were four children. You also said you told the Council there were only three. Now this guy appears and claims to be the fourth.”“I know what I said.”“Then explain why I should believe either of you.”Thomas lowered his eyes.“You shouldn't believe us simply because we're standing here.”“Good. Because I'm not.”Jace moved closer to Caleb, studying his face.“How old are you?”“Seventeen.”“Your birthday?”

Jack read the message again.THE WOMAN WHO RETURNED YOU TO ELENA WAS NOT YOUR MOTHER.A second message sat beneath it.SHE WAS TRYING TO RETURN YOU TO THE PERSON WHO GAVE BIRTH TO YOU.He lowered the phone.Across the storage room, Elena was staring at him.She hadn't asked to see the messages. She hadn't asked who sent them. She was looking at him as though the words had opened a door inside her mind and revealed something she had spent years trying to forget.“Mom?”Elena blinked.“Who was the woman at the hospital?”Her lips parted, but no answer came.Jack waited.He had promised himself he would stop accepting silence as an explanation. But he also knew that pushing his mother until she said something—anything—wouldn't necessarily bring them closer to the truth.He took a breath.“I'm not asking you to remember something you can't remember. I'm asking whether the message means anything to you.”Elena looked down at her hands.“Yes,” she whispered.Marcus moved closer.“Elena?”Sh