Chapter 7: The Blueprint of Cruelty
Sitting in Sarah’s secure apartment, Jack watched as Sarah cataloged the evidence. The database on the flash drive contained over two hundred files on children who had passed through Eleanor’s ""correctional"" retreats over twenty-five years. Many had grown into detached, emotionally numb adults; others had simply vanished from public records.
""Your mother isn't just a rogue psychologist, Jack,"" Sarah said, pointing at an organizational chart on her monitor. ""She’s funded by a private foundation called The Sovereign Child Project. They lobby for legislative changes to give parents unlimited authority over youth re-education.""
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Jack rubbed his tired eyes. He remembered his own childhood—the strict quiet hours, the cold stares, the total absence of hugs or comforting words. Eleanor had tested her early theories on him, but he had fought back, eventually walking away at eighteen. He had assumed she had simply been a cold mother. He never realized he was prototype zero.
""She tried to do to Lily what she couldn't finish with me,"" Jack realized, a chill running down his spine. ""She wanted to rebuild me through my daughter.""
