Chapter 3 - The Unmasking
I reached the jet just as the pilot tried to slam the boarding door. I threw my shoulder against it, the force of my momentum sending him reeling back. He drew a sidearm, but before he could aim, a suppressed shot from my unit took him down.
I didn't care about the combat. I moved past the fallen men, my eyes scanning the cabin. There, in the back, sat the incubator.
I approached it as if I were stepping into a temple. I unlatched the lid, my hands trembling. Inside, a tiny infant lay wrapped in a thermal blanket. She looked up at me with those same piercing eyes—my eyes. She was so small, so fragile.
"I've got you," I whispered, the words choking me. "Daddy’s here."
As I lifted her, I felt a cold metal press against the back of my skull.
"Put her down, Rowan," a voice purred. It was Tessa. She had arrived, her evening gown stained with oil and dirt, her hair disheveled, but her eyes burning with a manic, desperate rage.
She wasn't wearing her jewelry anymore. She held a pistol with a steady, practiced hand. "Do you have any idea how much money, how much time, went into this project? My father is dying. He needs a perfect match, and that little girl is the only one in the world who can save him."
"You destroyed a family for a kidney?" I asked, my voice deadly calm.
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"I secured a legacy," she corrected, stepping closer. "You were just a tool, Rowan. A brilliant, successful tool. I married you because your genes were perfect. You were just a donor who thought he was a husband."
I realized then that I wasn't just facing a woman; I was facing a monster who had calculated every step of my life for her own gain. But she had forgotten one thing: she wasn't facing the CEO anymore. She was facing the man who had been trained to survive the impossible.
