Page 134 of G.O.D.S Omnibus
“What do you get out of this?”
“I just want my half of the company back. You’re free to hold the rest of the shares.”
“Okay, but how does it benefit me or mine to give them to you? With all due respect, I don’t know you or what you plan to do.”
“I want it to run how it was originally intended.” He shifts slightly in his chair. “I still believe in what he does, just not how he goes about it. Olympia was created to help, and the medical advancements were supposed to be used for good, but my brother has always been greedy. He felt lining his pockets with cash was more important than the greater good.”
“And how can I trust you?”
“I thought you would say that. Let me show you something.”
He stands from the table and motions for us to follow him. Brennan and I share a look but get up and trail after him. He leads us through the house and down into the basement, where a lone door sits ominously. He pushes it open and steps aside. My mouth hangs open, stunned, as we enter an underground house.
“Melinda, honey.”
I stumble as my mirror image enters the room. Brennan’s arm comes around my waist and catches me before I can fall.
“I...” I don’t understand. How is she alive?
My mother is alive and staring back at me. My body shudders and sweat beads my brow as she steps up beside Ziyon. This can’t be real, can it?
“Hi, I’m Melinda,” she says, offering me her hand.
“Jolie.”
I look at Ziyon for answers. “Melinda... Jolie is your daughter.”
“My daughter?” She frowns. “When did I have a child?” she asks, turning to gaze up at my uncle.
“Eighteen years ago,” he says. “Let me explain.”
He leads us over to a sofa and we all take a seat. Brennan sits next to me, intertwining our fingers and lending me his strength. Melinda sits beside my uncle, and he places his hand on her knee, squeezing it in reassurance.
“A few days before your birth, Jolie, Melinda told my brother she wanted a divorce. He couldn’t handle that and flipped out. She called me crying, afraid for her life. Zacari had told her he would kill her after she gave birth, and he would take the baby and raise it without a mother. There is no way he would have let her come to me, even without you.” He shakes his head. “We had to work fast to make sure she was safe. I still had a few friends within the organisation at the time, so I called the doctor and explained to him what was happening. For the right price, he agreed to induce labour while Zacari was out of town. Melinda was under the watch of a handful of guards when she went to her eight-month checkup, but the doctor was able to excuse them for privacy reasons. Once they left, he explained to Melinda what was going to happen: he was going to induce labour and Zacari would get a call that his wife and child had died. The plan was in place, but what we didn’t know was that he returned early and had a plan of his own. He couldn’t bear to kill her, the guilt of that was obviously eating at him, so instead he wipedher memories. Back then, the drug wasn’t stable, and so far we haven’t found a way to reverse the damage.
“Neither the doctor nor I knew of the memory loss at this stage. At the checkup, the doctor gave Melinda a drip under the guise that she was dehydrated, and labour began. The guards called my brother and when he turned up, the doctor was obviously shocked and called me. We still went along with the plan, only we had no way of taking you without him knowing. My brother was there when you came out, and he whisked you away before we had a chance to stop him. Melinda lost a lot of blood and needed surgery to repair the damage that was done. While she was in the operating theatre, the doctor informed my brother that she didn’t make it. After cutting a deal with the morgue, they wrote a report indicating that they had cremated her. That is why I had this house built, so we could live here away from him and the danger he represents.”
We sit in silence, my mind reeling. What the hell is wrong with Mr Z? We can’t wait much longer; he needs to be taken down, and fast. They have until the end of the year or I’m going to take matters into my own hands. Someone as deranged as him needs to disappear.
“I have a daughter,” Melinda whispers, tears in her eyes. “I’ve always wanted a child.”
“Melinda had some complications with the bleeding after you were born, and she was unable to have any more children.”
“Would you boys mind giving me and Jolie a moment to talk?” Melinda asks, patting my uncle’s hand. Ziyon nods and stands, motioning for Brennan to follow him.
“I’ll give Brennan a tour of our underground paradise.”
Once they leave the room, Melinda moves closer to me and reaches out to take my hand. “This must be a huge shock—I know it is for me.”
I laugh ruefully. “You can say that again. So, you don’t remember anything?”
“I remember waking up after surgery and Ziyon was there. My heart skipped a beat when he first walked into the room, but I didn’t know who he was. He explained I was in danger and he needed to take me to safety. I was sceptical since I had no memory of even meeting him before, so he showed me videos and pictures of us together. One look at the smile I was directing towards him in those photos, and I just felt like I could trust him. I have all the memories from then until now, but what I really want is to know about you and your life. Give me the quick version.” She giggles softly. “And I hope we can spend more time together and get to know each other.”
“For you to fully understand, I’ll have to work backwards for my story. A few months ago, I was brought back into this world, but”—I wave my hand—“that’s a story for another day. As a young teenager, I lost my memory and was hidden away from Mr Z. Before that, I was raised at Olympia and trained to be in his super team. There isn’t much else to tell, really.”
“Were you happy?”
“I think I really was before my memory was taken from me. I was raised by nannies, but my team was always around.”
