Chapter 11 - The Daughter of the KingI had spent my whole life believing I was nobody
Richard stood beneath the warehouse lights.
Every armed man in the room watched him.
I could barely breathe.
“My daughter?”
He nodded.
“My blood.”
I looked at my mother.
She was crying.
“Tell her.”
My mother shook her head.
“No.”
Richard smiled.
“You're still protecting her.”
“You don't deserve to call yourself her father.”
“I made you a promise fourteen years ago.”
“I know.”
“That I would find her.”
Maxwell stepped between us.
“You're not touching her.”
Richard laughed.
“You've spent fourteen years pretending to be my obedient son.”
“You were never my son,” Maxwell said.
Richard's smile vanished.
“You were useful.”
“And you were a monster.”
One of Richard's men raised a gun.
Richard stopped him.
“No.”
He looked at Maxwell.
“Let him speak.”
Maxwell stared at his father.
“What happened to the real Maxwell?”
Richard answered calmly.
“He died because he was weak.”
Elena cried.
“You killed him.”
Richard didn't look at her.
“He betrayed me.”
“He was nineteen!”
“He was a liability.”
My mother stepped forward.
“And Anya?”
Richard finally looked at her.
“Also a liability.”
The room seemed to shrink.
Maxwell's hand tightened around his gun.
I looked at him.
“Anya was your mother.”
He nodded.
Richard sighed.
“You see, Martha, there was a time when I thought you could inherit everything.”
“Why me?”
“Because you're the only surviving child who carries the right blood.”
“I don't want your empire.”
“You don't get to choose.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You think I'm going to become like you?”
“No.”
Richard's expression softened.
“I think you're going to become worse.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“You survived what I built.”
“You want me to run it?”
“I want you to own it.”
He motioned to Victor.
Victor stepped forward carrying a metal case.
He opened it.
Inside was a bloodstained ledger.
“The original records.”
Richard looked at me.
“Your mother believed she could destroy me.”
“She was right.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“She underestimated the price.”
Victor put the ledger on a table.
“Open it.”
I didn't move.
Richard nodded toward my mother.
A man grabbed her.
I lunged.
Maxwell stopped me.
“Don't.”
Richard smiled.
“Blood is a language you understand.”
“Let her go.”
“Open the ledger.”
I stepped toward the table.
The lock had a biometric panel.
“Touch it.”
I placed my hand on the scanner.
The device beeped.
The case opened fully.
Inside was a second document.
A birth certificate.
My name.
Father: Richard Rourke.
Mother: Klara Kovak.
Date of birth: fourteen years before the fire.
My hands trembled.
I turned.
“How old was I?”
My mother couldn't answer.
Richard did.
“You were older than you were told.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“Your age was changed.”
“Why?”
“Because your existence could not be traced.”
I felt sick.
“You erased my identity.”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
“To hide you.”
“From whom?”
Richard smiled.
“From people who wanted my bloodline dead.”
Maxwell stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Richard looked at him.
“You've always had one weakness.”
“What?”
“You think saving people makes you good.”
Maxwell raised his gun.
Richard pointed to Elena.
“Shoot me, and she dies.”
Maxwell stopped.
Richard looked at me.
“Now you understand.”
Power was not the gun.
Power was deciding who the other person could not afford to lose.
He leaned closer.
“You have until midnight.”
“For what?”
“To choose whether you become Rourke.”
“And if I refuse?”
Richard looked at Maxwell.
“Then everyone you love dies.”
A phone rang.
Victor answered.
Then handed it to Richard.
Richard listened.
His face changed.
“What?”
He looked toward the door.
“That's impossible.”
Victor moved closer.
“What is it?”
Richard whispered:
“Gideon Vale is alive.”
Maxwell froze.
A second later, every light in the warehouse exploded.
May you like
Darkness swallowed us.
Then the first gunshot came from inside Richard's own men.
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