CHAPTER 50 — THE SECOND CLAIRE
Claire dropped the photograph.
“No.”
Miriam walked around the table.
“The infant in the picture was called C-Three.”
Claire looked at the birth date again.
“It can’t be me.”
“You are correct.”
Sarah stood quickly.
“Miriam, stop.”
Claire faced her.
“You knew?”
Sarah looked away.
Rose moved beside Claire.
“What is she saying?”
Miriam pointed toward Lily.
“Claire Bennett was selected as an identity, not a child.”
Margaret shook her head.
“She is my daughter.”
“She carries your blood,” Miriam said. “But the woman you call Claire was not the baby you brought home.”
Claire felt the room narrowing around her.
“Where is the real Claire?”
Miriam pressed another control.
A section of the wall became transparent.
A woman stood in the room beyond it.
She looked almost exactly like Claire.
Her hair was longer. A scar crossed her forehead.
But her face was unmistakable.
Lily clutched Claire’s hand.
“Mommy?”
The woman behind the glass looked at Lily.
Then at Claire.
“My name is Claire Bennett,” she said.
Mason raised his gun toward Miriam.
“What did you do?”
“We tested whether a constructed identity could become more authentic than the original.”
The woman behind the glass struck the barrier.
“She stole my life!”
Claire could barely breathe.
Margaret approached the glass.
The woman looked at her.
“Mom.”
Margaret’s legs weakened.
The woman placed a hand against the barrier.
“You stopped visiting me.”
Margaret began crying.
“I thought you died.”
“No. You chose her.”
Claire stepped away from everyone.
Her memories of birthdays, school, Thomas, Margaret—all of them suddenly felt unstable.
Lily held her tighter.
“You’re my mommy.”
The other Claire heard her.
Her face filled with rage.
“That child should have been mine.”
The glass door unlocked.
Miriam smiled.
May you like
“Only one Claire Bennett can leave Blackwater.”
The woman stepped into the room holding a knife.
