Sebastian's POV
The hotel room was dim and silent, the kind of silence that pressed against your chest like a weight. Olivia wasn't here—thank God. She didn't need to hear this yet.
Vince sat on the edge of the bed, back hunched, face shadowed under the yellow light of the lamp. He looked older than usual. Not just tired—haunted.
He lit a cigarette with trembling fingers and gestured toward the chair across from him. "Sit, Sebastian. This… isn't something I can explain standing up."
I dropped into the chair, arms crossed, trying to pretend I wasn't still furious from earlier. "Start talking."
He exhaled smoke slowly. "This is not what you think. It's more than what you think."
"No kidding."
Vince leaned back and exhaled like the weight of years had just landed on his shoulders. "Project ECHO," he said, voice low, "started as a government-funded psychological experiment. It was supposed to help children affected by trauma—to rehabilitate them. That's what they said. But that was a lie. A cover."
I didn't move. Just stared.
"Your father," he continued, "was one of the original architects. He's not just a participant—he's the damn puppeteer. He twisted the whole thing into something darker. Something horrifying."
My blood ran cold.
"They started recruiting kids who'd been through hell—loss, abuse, abandonment. You and Evelyn? You weren't just patients. You were test subjects. The program wasn't meant to heal. It was meant to push. To see how far a person could be broken before they stopped being human."
My stomach turned. "What…?"
"They isolated you. Manipulated your emotions. Controlled your environment. You weren't growing up—you were being studied. Every outburst. Every breakdown. Every scar—physical or emotional—it was all part of the research."
I backed away from him, chest tightening. "He did this to us?"
"Yes," Vince said, standing now, his voice sharper. "And he's done worse."
Then his expression changed. Like he was falling into a memory.
He took a long breath, eyes glassy now, like he was seeing another world.
"I used to work with them," he said. "I was one of their golden boys. Young. Smart. Naïve. I thought we were changing the world. Helping children survive trauma by studying their limits. That's what they told me. And I believed them. God help me, I did."
He paused, and I saw his hand curl into a fist. His voice dropped, thick with emotion.
"Then I met her. Maya."
There was a beat of silence, the kind that said her name still hurt to say.
The girl I loved. We were young… stupid. But we saw what was happening. We weren't part of the higher levels, but I found out. I saw the files. The schedules. What they were doing to kids."
His hands trembled. "We tried to run. She made me promise… 'If anything happens to me, you protect the ones left behind.' She said that the night before we were going to escape. But he found us. Your father. And he made an example out of her."
"What… what do you mean?" I asked, voice shaking.
He looked me straight in the eye.
"They tortured her, Sebastian. For days. Not just to punish her—but to warn me. She screamed my name until her voice gave out. And when they were done… he made me watch."
I nearly fell forward. The nausea in my throat was unbearable.
"I begged him to stop. I offered myself instead. But she—" Vince's voice cracked, "—she smiled at me through the pain. And mouthed, 'Run.'"
Silence. His shoulders crumbled under the weight of it.
"She died so I could live. So I could keep my promise. I wanted to die after that. But instead, I did the only thing I could—I went back. I became one of them. I got deep enough to collect names, files, proof. And I watched every damn second of what he did to you."
Tears burned my eyes. "You watched and didn't stop him?"
"I was under surveillance. Every breath I took was monitored. You think I didn't try? You think I didn't scream into pillows every time I saw you with new bruises? I couldn't blow my cover. Not until I had everything. I had to let you suffer—because I couldn't lose another person before I brought this down."
He stood up now. His face was raw with rage and guilt.
"I knew your mom," Vince said softly.
My head snapped up.
"She was bright. Kind. But when she found out what was going to happen to you and Evelyn and every other kids... she snapped. Your father didn't want to stop the tests. She begged him.
I froze.
My chest tightened. My mother—she ran. She left."
He flinched. "No. She tried to take you and Evelyn. She planned everything down to the hour. But he was two steps ahead. I found her files. Travel history. Medical records. She never made it out of the county, Sebastian."
My throat closed. "No…"
"She found out what he was doing to his own children to everyone. She begged him to stop. Pleaded. When that didn't work, she threatened to go public. And that night… she vanished. Your father told everyone she ran so he killed her. But no I'd bet my life he silenced her."
The walls felt like they were closing in. My nails dug into my palms.
"She loved you," Vince said. "She loved you enough to risk everything. Don't let him rewrite that."
I wanted to scream. To tear this room apart.
"Project ECHO never ended. It just went underground. New funding, new names, but the same purpose. Weaponized children. Olivia… she was one of the external test subjects. Her parents volunteered her for a long-term profiling test. That's why they've kept her so controlled. They never loved her—they studied her."
My jaw tightened. "They're trying to take her back."
"Of course they are. She's valuable. And now that she's breaking away? That makes her dangerous. Just like Maya was. Just like your mother."
I couldn't breathe.
Vince stepped forward. "That's why I'm here. I've been collecting data, names, files. There's a facility on Paradise Island. South Sector. Remote, unregistered. It's where they move the subjects they can't 'control.' If they take Olivia, that's where she'll go."
"Then we hit them first," I said. "We get her out. We burn everything down."
He looked at me—worn, wary. "You don't know what you're stepping into, Sebastian."
"I don't care."
"No, Sebastian. You don't get it. Once you step into this—once you fight back—there's no going back. You won't be safe again. Not you, not Evelyn, not Olivia. They'll come for you."
He looked older than I'd ever seen him. Not physically—spiritually. Like he'd been through war and was still carrying every body.
"That's why I didn't tell you earlier," he said. "That's why I stayed in the shadows. I wanted to protect you. To find a way to dismantle this without dragging you into it."
I stepped forward. "You think I want your protection? You think I can live with this and just do nothing? You saw what he did to Olivia. What he did to me. And you expect me to stand on the sidelines while they decide if she lives or dies?"
His voice dropped, full of anguish. "I watched your mother die because she couldn't play the long game. I won't watch it happen to you."
I pointed to my chest, to the invisible scars. "Then maybe you should've stepped in sooner. Maybe someone should've chosen me before it was too late."
Vince recoiled slightly, as if the words actually hit him.
I kept going, voice shaking now. "You said Maya made you promise. To protect the ones left behind. That wasn't just about watching. That was about fighting. You don't get to back out now."
He stared at me.
I stared back.
"Let me fight for her," I said. "Let me protect her, the way you couldn't protect Maya. Or my mom. Don't take this from me."
Something shifted behind Vince's eyes. Regret. Fear. Hope.
He finally nodded, slow and heavy. "Okay. Okay, kid. We do this. But on my terms. You follow my lead."
The silence that followed wasn't heavy like before. It was sharper. Focused. Like the calm before the explosion.
Then Vince reached for a folder tucked beneath the bed. Worn. Thick. Bound with a rubber band. He tossed it on the table between us.
"Here's what we do."
"We get her out. We fake her disappearance, wipe her trail. A cabin, maybe—off-grid. Then we leak the files. Blow this whole goddamn thing apart. But if we do this…"
He locked eyes with me.
"You can't go back to being a kid, Sebastian. This ends childhood for all of us."
"I never had a childhood," I muttered.
Vince looked away like the words hurt more than I meant.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "About everything."
I nodded slowly. "Then let's finish it. For Maya. For my mom. For all the kids who is on this experiment"
He gripped my shoulder. "Then get ready. Because the storm's already here."