2.A Single Father Thought He Was Saving Strangers From the River Until the Little Girl in His Arms Called Him Daddy

The sudden deluge of water threw the room into chaos. The server racks began to spark, short-circuiting as the emergency fire-suppression system took over.

Ethan lunged forward, tackling the armed guard to the ground before he could aim his weapon. The gun skittered across the wet tile floor.

The second guard lunged at Ethan, but Ethan used his training—built from years of wrestling heavy equipment in burning buildings—to throw the man over his shoulder and into a server rack. The impact knocked the guard unconscious.

Dr. Vance panicked, turning to flee through the door.

Ethan was faster. He grabbed Vance by the lapels of his expensive tuxedo, slamming him against the wall.

"The firewall didn't stop the upload, Vance," Ethan growled, water dripping from his hair. "I didn't upload it to your servers. I used an independent satellite uplink Tommy installed on the roof. The press in the ballroom is reading Sarah's journal right now."

Downstairs, the sound of shouting and panic began to echo from the ballroom.

Through the open doors of the server room, Ethan could hear the hotel's public address system. But instead of an evacuation announcement, Grace’s voice was broadcasting over the speakers.

"My name is Grace Miller," her voice echoed through the entire hotel. "And what you are about to see is the truth about Vanguard Biologics."

On the massive projection screens in the main ballroom, where Vance was supposed to give his keynote address, Sarah’s letters, the genetic maps of Lily, and the internal documents proving the illegal cloning project began to scroll in front of hundreds of journalists, politicians, and shareholders.

Flashbulbs began to go off in the ballroom as the media realized they were witnessing the scientific scandal of the century.

Dr. Vance's face went completely white. "You've ruined us," he whispered.