Chapter 8 - THE CHILDREN WITHOUT NAMESThe Haven facility looked like a private school.
Inside were seventeen children.
Lucy had been number seventeen.
No names.
Numbers.
Medication.
Behavior conditioning.
Victor's men secured the facility.
I found a baby in Room Three.
For one horrible second, I thought it was Ethan.
It wasn't.
But I held him anyway.
The children were rescued.
The servers were copied.
Haven's network began collapsing.
Judges resigned.
Doctors were arrested.
Executives fled.
But Celeste escaped custody during a prison transfer.
Marcus took the failure personally.
Victor did not blame him.
That surprised everyone.
Victor was changing.
Or perhaps we were finally seeing the man beneath the reputation.
At home, Ethan recovered.
He started using his arm again.
The first time he reached for Victor, Victor cried.
Quietly.
He thought nobody saw.
I did.
I looked away.
Some moments belong to fathers and sons.
That night, Victor found me packing.
“Where are you going?”
“My apartment.”
“Why?”
“Because the danger is ending.”
“No.”
I laughed.
“You really need new words.”
He stepped closer.
“Ethan asks for you.”
“I'll visit.”
“I ask for you.”
The room went silent.
Victor looked almost angry that he had said it.
I whispered, “That's different.”
“I know.”
He kissed me.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Like he was asking a question.
I kissed him back.
For one minute, Haven did not exist.
Then the nursery alarm sounded.
We ran.
Ethan was safe.
May you like
On his pillow sat a white rose.
Celeste was inside the mansion again.
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