FRACTURED FAMILY

The sound of the gunshot echoed long after it should have faded. Adelina lay on the cold ground of the observatory, her body trembling, her vision a mess of light and shadow. Somewhere nearby, someone was screaming—Elena, or maybe it was her. Her ears rang.

Then darkness.

She woke in her bed.

Not in a sterile facility or an underground cell, but her own room at the Blackstone estate. The familiar scent of lavender linen and cedar furniture surrounded her, almost cruel in its comfort. But her chest ached. Not just physically, but with the weight of what she'd seen, what she'd remembered.

She sat up. The tablet was gone.

Footsteps. The door opened before she could gather her thoughts.

Natalia.

She was still dressed in a sleek navy suit, her heels sharp against the hardwood floor. She looked tired but composed, her face carved in stone.

"Mother," Adelina said hoarsely.

Natalia looked at her for a long time. Then closed the door behind her.

"You're lucky Viktor only hit Elena," she said coolly. "You could have been killed."

Adelina stared. "She's alive?"

"For now. We're handling it."

"You mean you're covering it up."

Natalia ignored the jab and walked to the window. Rain again. Of course.

"I warned Nathan not to let her back into your orbit. She was never going to let this die."

"You knew?" Adelina asked, her voice rising. "You knew about Elena this entire time?"

Natalia turned, her expression tight. "Of course I did. I've known since the beginning."

The betrayal hit harder than expected. "And you said nothing?"

"There was nothing to gain by dragging you through blood and ashes," Natalia said. "You had a future. Elena was always the past."

"That wasn't your decision to make."

Natalia's voice softened slightly. "You were unstable, Adelina. You were—"

"Not human?" Adelina finished. "A prototype? A weapon?"

Natalia winced. "You were fragile. And you needed to believe in the illusion. So we gave you one."

The words sliced deeper than any truth Elena had shown her.

Downstairs, chaos simmered under civility.

Sebastian, Nathan's elder half-brother, was already holding court in the dining hall. He stood near the fireplace, one hand on a crystal decanter, his voice too loud, too smooth.

"With all due respect, Nathan's judgment has always been a liability," Sebastian said. "This whole Elena situation proves it. He put the family at risk."

"Careful," Natalia said, descending the stairs behind Adelina. "That's still your brother."

Sebastian didn't flinch. "Brother or not, he let a known asset breach containment. And now the media's sniffing around. Someone leaked something, and unless we spin it fast, it'll be front-page by morning."

"What's the angle?" Adelina asked quietly.

Sebastian turned, his smile slick. "That you had a breakdown. Emotional trauma. Your 'episodes' are hardly a secret among staff. It's easy enough to paint this as a delusion."

Adelina's blood ran cold. "You want to erase her again. This time from public memory."

"It's damage control," Sebastian said.

"It's erasure," she snapped.

"Welcome to family business, darling."

Nathan entered then, face pale, shirt sleeves rolled, and a tension in his jaw Adelina hadn't seen before. He didn't greet anyone. His eyes went straight to her.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked softly.

She didn't move.

"Alone," he added.

Reluctantly, she followed him into the study.

The door shut behind them.

Nathan ran a hand over his face. "I didn't know Viktor would do that. I swear."

"You let him point a gun at her."

"I didn't let anything happen. He's out of control."

"And you're not?" she shot back. "You kept me in the dark. You let me think she was the danger when you were hiding the worst parts of what you did to me."

He sat down heavily on the edge of the desk. "You weren't ready."

"I was never going to be ready, Nathan. That was your excuse for everything."

He looked up at her, eyes raw. "I'm done lying. I'll show you everything. But I need time."

"You said that before."

"I mean it now. Tomorrow morning, I'll take you to the vault. The original logs. The clean files. No filters. No manipulation. The full truth."

Adelina crossed her arms. "What changed?"

"You did," he said. "You opened the last file. I can't protect you from it anymore. But I can help you make sense of it."

A silence stretched between them.

"I'm so tired of everyone deciding what I should know," she whispered.

"I know," he said. "Just one more night. Please."

She stared at him for a long time.

Then finally, she nodded.

But in her heart, she wasn't sure she believed him.

That evening, the Blackstone estate felt more like a war bunker than a home. Men in suits walked in and out with briefcases and hushed voices. Security had been doubled. The press was circling like vultures, though the gates kept them at bay—for now.

Adelina sat alone on the rooftop terrace, the wind tugging at her hair. She could see the skyline from here. So many lives, so many lights, and hers felt like a construct. Synthetic. Curated.

She pulled out a burner phone from her coat pocket. One Elena had given her as backup.

The screen flickered on. A single unread message.

They know everything. Do not trust the vault. - E

Her hands trembled.

Then came another ping.

If he shows you the clean files, ask to see the REDACTED ones. There's one labeled "A.EXT.0" — it's about the override protocol.

She stared at the screen.

Override protocol.

Before she could respond, the door behind her creaked.

It was Nathan.

"Can't sleep either?" he asked.

She tucked the phone into her pocket. "Too many ghosts."

He leaned on the railing beside her. "You'll get answers tomorrow. All of them."

She glanced at him. "Even the ones you tried to erase?"

He hesitated.

"Yes," he said.

But something in his voice told her: not if he could help it.

Later that night, when the house was finally still, Adelina sat at her desk, staring at her reflection in the dark window.

Was she really ready to see what they'd done to her?

The door opened again.

This time, it wasn't Nathan.

It was Viktor.

"You shouldn't be up," he said.

She stood. "You shot her."

"She was compromised. So is Nathan."

Adelina took a step back.

Viktor's eyes were cold. "Tomorrow is too late. You've already been triggered."

"I don't understand."

"You were never supposed to wake up this far. That final file—it unlocked more than you realize."

He pulled something from his coat. A syringe.

She gasped.

"Don't fight it," he said.

Adelina backed against the wall. "What are you doing?"

"Ending the experiment."

He lunged.

Darkness again.