Chapter 3 - The Secret Photograph
I stared at the glowing screen, completely paralyzed by the terrifying implications of the message.
The "subject" had to be Rowan, and my mother was actively trying to silence him.
I needed to show this evidence to Mark immediately so we could go to the police together.
I unlocked the bathroom door and rushed into our bedroom, but Mark was already standing there.
He was holding the birthday gift box that I had hidden under the bed.
"Sarah, what is this?" he asked, his voice shaking with an emotion I couldn't quite identify.
"I found it on the porch today, Mark, and I think my mother is involved in something horrific," I rushed to explain.
I expected him to look confused or angry on my behalf.
Instead, he reached into the box and pulled out a photograph that I hadn't seen when I first opened it.
He slowly turned the picture around so I could see it.
It was a recent, high-resolution photograph of a teenage boy standing in a sterile, white medical room.
The boy had the exact same curly dark hair and piercing green eyes as Leo and Max.
He was a perfect, undeniable carbon copy of our twins.
"Why do you have a picture of Rowan, Sarah?" Mark asked, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
"I didn't put that in there, he must have sent it to prove he is alive!" I cried out.
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Mark looked at me with a cold, calculating expression that made him look like a complete stranger.
"You really shouldn't have opened this box, Sarah," he said quietly as he pulled a syringe from his pocket.
