Page 42 of Mate to the Alpha Of All Alphas
"Yes. She has no memories whatsoever of the last four months of her life. Everything that has to do with the lab—down to her stay in the hospital, her young mind forgot everything about it as a way for her to cope with the trauma of what she went through." He stopped pacing, coming in front of Simon, "Children's minds are an amazing thing, don't you think?"
"It is, indeed." Simon had to admit.
"The only part she has memories of, are her check-up visits to the hospital afterwards. Amelia had to tell her that it's because she's sick—she was all too happy to spare her child the details of what she went through."
A pause. "Till today, Hazel has no idea about what she went through when she was eight years old. The poor girl has no womb, and she has no idea about it. But then again, she is alive and well today. No thanks to the Facility." Hector finished, throwing a killer glare to his prisoner.
Simon was trying to wrap his head around everything. "Okay. Let's say that everything you just said is true. How did Hazel Smith become Ismena Cranes, and what about her sister?"
He shrugged, "Amelia and I wanted a fresh start. After I married her, we relocated from New York to this place and started a new life with a change of identities. I took up the surname, Cranes. Amelia changed her name from Claro to Amelia and changed Hazel's own from Hazel to Ismena Cranes."
He added, "She got pregnant with Valentina six months after our marriage. If you did your research well, you'd know that that girl is barely sixteen years old while the events of the lab was eighteen—almost nineteen—years ago."
"No." Simon shook his head, "No, I'm having a hard time believing all these. That child in there is Hazel's child and she belongs to the Facility! You're only lying to protect your so-called fami—"
He cut off suddenly when Hector turned away, walked to a cupboard and pulled out a drawer in search of something. "What are you doing?"
"I expected you to be this way, Simon. Which is why I brought this here when you were still unconscious..." he withdrew a white paper document, "...just in case you might need some convincing."
He got in front of Simon and flipped the paper open to his face. "Read it."
Simon did. His eyes widened unbearably.
It was a paternity test between Hector and Valentina Cranes. The match was 99.9%.
"She is your child..." He admitted, his eyes widened to unbearable degrees. Finally, it made sense why the ring never glowed when they found Valentina Cranes, like Dr. Beloca had said it would.
It only glowed, pointing at the lobby, because of the changeling. "She is not a changeling's child."
Hector gave a nod and withdrew the paper from his face. He put it away. "So, it is extremely annoying to see you...the Facility...sneaking around my child. My children." A pause, "It doesn't matter though, I will always kill each and every one of you to keep my family safe."
Simon laughed nervously, "You truly can't possibly mean what you said about killing me, did you?"
Hector did not return the laugh. Instead, he arched his brows. "I wonder what would have given you the impression that I was bluffing, Simon."
Fear was beginning to set in pretty well inside Simon. "B-But, you told me all this...! Come on man, killing me is n-n-not really the best i-idea.Surely, s-someone has to deliver the message that Valentina Cranes is not the child we're looking for—"
Hector was already shaking his head. "I won't take the risk of leaving you alive, Simon, no matter how much I want the Facility to know that. After all, there is no guarantee that they'll leave my family alone even after they know that."
A smile crossed Hector's lips, "Which is why I'm happy that Ismena is under the protection of the changelings now, even though I have no idea why. But at least, she'll be safe with them—safe from the Facility. It makes me relieved."
"Wait. She is with the changelings?" It made sense, why he has been unable to find the girl since he stared searching, Simon thought.
"Yes, she is. She came to the hospital today, with the changeling that killed all your men." He answered easily.
Simon was speachless. Scared and speachless.
"So, why are you telling me all this?" He asked at last.
"It was a good opportunity to finally tell this story to someone. It's not easy to live with such a dark secret for the past eighteen years, you know." His tone was sad, filled with pain. "Especially since I know you'll literally take all of them to your grave...just like I know I will too.
"Please, don't k-kill me. Please, let's work things out, huh? Please?" Simon pleaded.
Unconcerned, Hector reached into his pocket and withdrew the gold-colored ring. "In the meantime, I'll keep this safe and find the perfect opportunity to give it back to the cvhangelings. That way, the Facility won't be able to use it try looking for my family again."
That said, he pocketed the ring. Then, he reached behind him, raised his shirt up and withdrew a knife.
Simon's eyes widened. He started tugging at his restraints fanatically. "Please, don't! Don't do it!!! SOMEBODY HEEEELP!!!! SOMEBODY—"
