Chapter 14 - The sentence destroyed the room.I turned toward Daniel.
“My real father?”
He said nothing.
My aunt laughed.
“You never told her.”
Daniel lowered his weapon.
“Stop.”
“She deserves the truth.”
“What truth?”
My aunt smiled.
“Daniel Carter isn't your biological father.”
The floor seemed to move beneath me.
I looked at Daniel.
He couldn't meet my eyes.
“Is it true?”
“Yes.”
My throat tightened.
“Then who is?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Michael.”
I stared.
“No.”
“He is your biological father.”
Everything became silent.
Michael was alive.
Elias was alive.
My aunt was alive.
Everyone had lied.
My entire life had been constructed from secrets.
I turned toward the doorway.
Michael stood there.
Blood ran down his face.
He looked at me.
“Avery.”
I couldn't move.
“You are my daughter.”
I shook my head.
“You killed my father.”
“Daniel raised you.”
“You murdered him.”
“No.”
Michael's voice was almost gentle.
“He chose to disappear.”
My aunt stepped closer.
“The entire Carter story was created to protect you.”
I looked at Daniel.
He finally spoke.
“Your biological father belonged to The Crown.”
“So did you?”
“No.”
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I wanted you to have a chance to become someone else.”
I laughed bitterly.
“And now?”
“Now they know who you are.”
Michael held out his hand.
“You don't have to join them.”
I stared.
“Then what do you want?”
“You.”
“No.”
He frowned.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
I looked at my mother.
At Vanessa.
At Dominic.
At Daniel.
All of them had lied.
But one thing remained mine.
My choices.
I stepped toward Michael.
He smiled.
Then I punched him.
Hard.
He staggered.
“You don't get to call yourself my father.”
I hit him again.
He fell.
My aunt raised a weapon.
Dominic tackled her.
Elias tried to run.
Vanessa stopped him.
The next few minutes became chaos.
Sirens.
Footsteps.
Gunfire.
People fleeing through tunnels.
The Crown collapsed from the inside.
But Michael disappeared.
And my aunt escaped.
Daniel remained.
He was bleeding from the abdomen.
I knelt beside him.
“You're not dying.”
He smiled.
“I've survived worse.”
“Tell me everything.”
“I will.”
“Everything.”
“Yes.”
He reached into his coat.
Pulled out another letter.
“For after.”
I took it.
“What does it say?”
“Your future.”
Then he closed his eyes.
I called for help.
He survived.
Barely.
Three days later, the newspapers exploded.
Dozens of arrests.
Frozen accounts.
Government officials resigning.
Businesses collapsing.
The Crown had existed for decades.
Now it was bleeding.
Dominic returned to his mansion.
But the place felt different.
Empty.
Too quiet.
Vanessa disappeared.
My mother moved to a secure residence.
I visited Daniel every day.
He refused to tell me one thing.
Where Michael had gone.
Then one night, I opened the final letter.
My father's handwriting filled the page.
Avery,
You were never meant to inherit this world.
But you were trained to survive it.
There is one final truth.
The Crown was not created by your aunt.
She inherited it.
The person who created it died twenty years ago.
I stared at the next sentence.
I knew him.
Then:
Dominic Moretti's father.
I read it twice.
Then a third time.
My hands went cold.
Dominic's family had created The Crown.
Dominic hadn't been fighting an empire.
He had inherited it.
And the next line was worse.
Dominic knows.
My phone rang.
Dominic.
I answered.
His voice was quiet.
“Avery.”
“What did you do?”
Silence.
Then:
“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
“Why?”
“Because the person who started this is coming back.”
“Who?”
Dominic took a breath.
Then whispered:
May you like
“Your grandfather.”
The line went dead.
