CHAPTER 51 — TWO MOTHERS
The other Claire charged.
Mason caught her wrist before the knife reached Claire.
She fought with desperate strength.
“Get off me!”
Claire pulled Lily behind the table.
“I didn’t steal your life.”
“You lived in my house!”
“I didn’t know you existed.”
“You had my mother. My father. My name.”
Margaret stepped between them.
“Stop!”
The other Claire looked at her.
“Which one of us are you protecting?”
Margaret could not answer quickly enough.
The woman laughed bitterly.
“That is what I thought.”
Sarah took the knife from Mason.
“Miriam kept you isolated. Everything you believe came from her.”
The other Claire touched the scar on her forehead.
“She came every day. She told me what my family was doing without me.”
Miriam poured another cup of tea.
“I told her the truth.”
Rose overturned the table.
“No more games.”
The children outside reacted immediately.
Their bracelets began flashing.
Four-B raised a weapon.
Sarah aimed at Miriam.
“Disable them.”
Miriam smiled.
“They are not controlled by me anymore.”
Olivia’s monitor emitted the same rhythm as the bracelets.
The unborn Anchor had taken control.
Olivia stared at her stomach.
“My baby is doing this?”
“Not consciously,” Elias said. “The network is interpreting the heartbeat as commands.”
Rebecca adjusted the monitor.
“The baby’s heart rate is rising.”
Every child raised a weapon.
Claire’s double moved closer to Lily.
“She belongs to the original Claire.”
Lily kicked her leg and ran back to Claire.
“I choose my mommy!”
The words silenced the room for one second.
Then the iron bell rang violently.
Elias pointed toward the floor.
“The Core is waking.”
Cracks spread through the house.
Ocean water burst through one wall.
Miriam grabbed the Vane registry.
Thomas’s submarine began pulling away from the platform.
Miriam ran toward it.
Sarah pursued her.
Claire’s double grabbed Lily.
Claire caught the woman’s coat.
The platform beneath all three of them collapsed.
They fell into the black water.
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Only two hands broke the surface.
Both women were holding Lily.
