He Came Home Early and Found a Pet Collar Around His 6-Year-Old Son’s Neck. His New Wife Called It “Discipline”—Until Her Own Mother’s Phone Revealed What They Had Planned Before the Party Even Began. / Chapter 38 / 80

Chapter 38 - The Voice Across the Radio

Emily closed her eyes, hot tears spilling over her grime-streaked cheeks. "I know. God help me, Daniel, I know. Every single day I stayed away was a nail driven through my soul."

"Why?!" Daniel yelled, stepping forward, his voice cracking with volcanic fury. "Why make him a target?! Why put that thing inside his chest?!"

"Because it was the only way to keep him breathing!" Emily cried out, taking a step toward them, ignoring the gun leveled at her heart. She dropped to her knees on the cold stone floor, looking directly at Mason, who was peeking out from behind Daniel’s legs.

"Victor Sterling didn't want the drive, Daniel," Emily whispered, her voice shaking with unspeakable horror. "The drive *is* the lock. Victor's syndicate runs a global human genetic market. When Mason was born, Victor had him mapped. Mason’s bone marrow carries a rare immunological mutation—a biological sequence Victor’s scientists needed to patent an exclusive cellular longevity therapy for twenty of the most powerful, depraved oligarchs on the planet."

Daniel lowered the gun by an inch, the sheer monstrous scope of the truth settling onto his shoulders like lead. "A genetic farm."

"Mason wasn't an heir to Victor; he was an ingredient," Emily choked out. "I faked my illness using chemotherapy-mimicking toxins. I stole the synthetic encryption sequence and locked the legal ownership of all Sterling bio-patents into a quantum drive. I grafted it to Mason’s clavicle using a ceramic shield that dissolves only when he turns eighteen. As long as the drive stays intact inside him, Victor cannot touch his marrow without destroying the patent lock. If Mason died, the patent became public domain, bankrupting the entire Sterling network."

"So Victor hired Diane and Vanessa to get close to him," Daniel whispered, connecting the final, horrific pieces of the puzzle. "They weren't trying to raise him. They were trying to extract the drive without damaging the genetic tissue."

"Yes," Emily sobbed. "Diane was promised immunity and twenty million dollars. But Vanessa became obsessed with breaking Mason’s spirit. She thought if she degraded him, if she treated him like an animal, his psychological trauma would cause an immune collapse, making the surgical extraction easier without triggering the drive's self-destruct failsafe."

Suddenly, the tactical radio on Daniel's belt crackled to life.

The voice that came through was not Victor’s. It was cold, smooth, and shockingly familiar.

*"Daniel. Emily. How touching to see the family reunited under the house of God."*

Daniel’s blood ran cold. He pulled the radio from his belt. "Who is this?"

A cold laugh echoed through the speaker. *"You really thought Diane Vance was acting alone from her cell, Daniel? Check the visitor log of the state penitentiary one more time. Who do you think paid for Julian's private military contractors? Who do you think cleared the airspace over Blackwood Hollow?"*