CEO loves me with all his soul.-Chapter 139. A call to Past.

The fire crackled in the stone hearth, throwing flickering light across the grand library. A storm loomed in the distance again, but Ethan barely noticed. His sleeves were rolled to his elbows, and documents, case files, and old digital logs covered the oak desk before him.

Most of them were over twenty years old—faded, incomplete, fragmented.

But it was the name that kept appearing in the margins of every report that haunted him:

Dr. Naehr.

Ethan clenched his jaw and tapped through another encrypted file. "There’s something missing," he murmured.

The data didn’t add up. There were too many redacted files, too many connections hidden behind aliases and fake institutions. Naehr wasn’t just another rogue scientist—he had help. Infrastructure. A history no one wanted to expose.

And the more Ethan looked, the more he realized: the real story didn’t begin twenty years ago. It started much earlier.

He reached for his communicator and scrolled down his contact list until he found the name: Cain Sebanil.

Adrian’s father. The head of the Sebanil family.

He hesitated for a moment, then pressed call.

The line connected after several rings.

"Ethan?" Cain’s voice sounded tired but warm, like someone who had stayed up too many nights and still answered the phone with kindness.

"I’m sorry to call late," Ethan began, eyes scanning another blurry archive photo, "but I think I’m missing something. I’ve gone through every file I could find on Doctor Naehr’s past activities. But something feels older than twenty years. Something deeper."

There was a pause.

Then Cain sighed.

"I was wondering when you’d ask."

Ethan sat up straighter. "You know something."

"It doesn’t start twenty years ago," Cain said quietly. "It started thirty-eight years ago. The day I found Jesper."

.

.

"I was younger than you are now," Cain said over the comms. "I was out in the northern forests near Rhenwood Lake. Our family had a cabin there."

Ethan imagined the quiet Cain spoke of. Trees older than cities. Silence broken only by wind.

"I was alone that night. There’d been storms for days. I went to check the trails and... I heard something. No—someone."

Cain’s voice dropped slightly. "He was running. Covered in blood. Half-naked. His eyes... I’ll never forget those eyes."

Ethan’s fingers paused above the keys.

"I thought he was dying," Cain continued. "But he wasn’t injured—not badly. The blood wasn’t his, or not all of it. He was shaking. Like a terrified animal. He collapsed in my arms and didn’t speak for hours. Just... trembled. At the slightest sound. Even the wind scared him."

Ethan’s breath caught. "Jesper?"

"Yes," Cain confirmed. "That was how I met Jesper."

Cain was quiet for a moment, as if the memory hurt to touch.

"I took him to the cabin, tried to patch him up. He didn’t remember who he was at first. Or maybe he didn’t want to. He had fragments—flashes. But it took weeks before he started talking. Months before he stopped flinching at every sound."

Ethan closed his eyes. Jesper, Adrian’s gentle, artistic father. Always smiling. Always humming when he cooked or painted. He had lived through this?

"I couldn’t leave him alone," Cain said. "And somewhere in that time... we fell in love. He was soft, kind. But so broken."

"Did you know then? That he was an Atop?"

Cain exhaled. "No. I didn’t care. When he got pregnant... I was shocked. Scared, honestly. But he was terrified of being rejected. I didn’t let him see it. I told him we’d make it work."

Ethan leaned forward, listening intently.

"Isaac," Cain continued. "He was our first. Jesper loved him. He used to sing to him every night, even before he was born."

Ethan smiled faintly.

"But after Isaac was born, he was... taken."

Ethan’s head snapped up. "Taken?"

"Someone took him from the hospital. I had Jesper sedated because the labor had been too much for his body, and in that time... Isaac vanished. We were told he died of complications. But I knew better."

Cain’s voice shook, even after all these years.

"I searched everywhere. Paid everyone. Investigated privately. I traced it to a facility in the east—one no one admitted existed. Secret. Controlled. And connected to someone named Naehr."

Ethan felt his blood chill.

"Jesper shattered when I told him. He broke. Like glass. Couldn’t paint. Couldn’t sleep. Just cried. And after months of therapy... I did something I still struggle with."

Cain hesitated. "I asked my cousin, who’d just had a child... to let me adopt the boy for Jesper. Just to hold something in our arms. Even if it wasn’t Isaac."

Ethan’s eyes widened. "You... replaced him?"

"Not forever," Cain said quickly. "Jesper stabilized. But I never stopped looking. And a year later, we returned the boy. Jesper got better, slowly. We had Diana, then Yuin, and later Jaya. But he was... different after that. Always afraid something would happen again."

Ethan rubbed his temple. "That explains the overprotectiveness. Why he kept them so close. Why Adrian... was hidden."

Cain’s voice lowered again.

"When Jesper got pregnant again—this time with Adrian—we were stunned. We thought it was a miracle. But twenty-two years ago... they came for him again."

Ethan stiffened. "The organization?"

"Yes. They took him while he was six months pregnant. I was away that day. When I returned, the house was trashed and Jesper was gone. I nearly lost my mind."

"Adrian was born in a different hospital, right?" Ethan asked.

"Yes," Cain confirmed. "Two years later, we found their hideout. Jesper had been held underground for months—experimented on. He had escaped once, been recaptured, and again fled. When I found him... he didn’t even recognize me at first."

The line was silent for a few moments.

"Did he ever tell you what happened there?" Ethan asked gently.

"No," Cain said. "Only bits. Most of it was locked away in trauma. But his brother—Jael—helped us vanish afterward. We erased all trails. Moved cities. Changed identities for the kids’ protection. But I think Naehr never stopped watching."

Ethan’s heart pounded. The pieces were beginning to align—too well.

Doctor Naehr had been after Jesper. For his genes. His pregnancy. His brain. And when Jesper escaped... he hunted the children instead.

And Adrian...

Adrian was the last.

Ethan swallowed hard. "Uncle Cain... Uncle Jesper is okay now?"

Cain was silent for a long time.

Then, softly: "No."

Ethan’s stomach dropped.

"He doesn’t talk anymore. Paints sometimes. Stares at the same tree outside the window every day. He never recovered fully. But he’s alive. And I love him still."

Ethan’s voice cracked. "I’m sorry."

"Don’t be. Just protect Adrian. And prepare for what’s coming. Because whatever Naehr started back then... I don’t think he ever intended to stop."

Ethan’s eyes drifted to the files in front of him.

One name was circled over and over again.

J.S.Subject: Adaptive Male Host (Viable)Specimen: Child 001 – RecoveredStatus: Success

The file’s timestamp?

Twenty-two years ago.

He closed his eyes.

And whispered, "What the hell did he do to Adrian?"

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