Chapter 4 - The Bloodline
I refused to accept the terrifying reality staring back at me from the computer screen.
I grabbed my cell phone from the table and dialed the only person I trusted.
I called my mother in Ohio.
The phone rang three times before an automated voice told me the number had been disconnected.
Julian watched my face crumble as the truth finally began to set in.
"Whoever created you did a flawless job hiding your existence," Julian said quietly.
He pulled a thick manila folder from his jacket and tossed it onto the table.
"Those are the coroner's photographs of my dead wife," he told me.
I hesitated, but my trembling hands eventually reached out and opened the folder.
The woman in the photographs was undeniably dead, but her face was a perfect mirror of my own.
Julian pointed to a specific photograph showing the back of Isabella's neck.
There was a distinct, crescent-shaped birthmark resting just below her hairline.
Julian slowly walked around the couch and stood directly behind me.
He gently brushed my dark hair over my shoulder.
His warm fingers traced the exact same crescent-shaped birthmark on the back of my own neck.
"Identical twins share DNA, but they do not share identical birthmarks," Julian whispered.
I stared at the photos, my mind spiraling into absolute chaos.
"If I am not a twin, then what am I?" I asked, my voice cracking.
May you like
Before Julian could answer, the heavy steel doors of the penthouse elevator hissed open.
Julian's head of security stepped out, aiming a suppressed assault rifle directly at Julian's head.
