Chapter 7 - Nobody spoke for several seconds.My heart hammered.
“Lucas is alive?”
Daniel nodded.
“I believe he is.”
Alexander stared at him.
“You should have told me.”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“For years.”
Alexander shook his head.
“Why didn’t you come to me?”
“Because your own board was compromised.”
Daniel reached into his coat and pulled out another document.
“Lucas discovered that someone in Sterling International was controlling information from inside.”
Alexander read the page.
His expression changed.
“Ethan.”
Daniel nodded.
Ethan Sterling.
Alexander’s cousin.
The executive who had been managing international operations for six years.
The man Alexander trusted.
“The betrayal comes from inside your family,” Daniel said.
I sat down.
Everything was getting worse.
My father.
Marcus.
Chloe.
Lucas.
The shares.
The missing years.
“What exactly did my father do?”
Daniel answered carefully.
“He created a network of companies that quietly purchased shares from vulnerable shareholders.”
“And Marcus?”
“Marcus helped disguise the transfers.”
I remembered Marcus mocking me during our marriage.
Calling me useless.
Telling me I didn’t understand business.
It suddenly sounded different.
He had known.
He had been watching me.
Maybe from the beginning.
Alexander looked at me.
“We’re going to get ahead of this.”
I shook my head.
“You don’t know where my father is.”
“No.”
“Neither do I.”
A security officer entered.
“Mr. Sterling.”
Alexander turned.
“We found something.”
He handed Alexander an envelope.
“Inside your daughter’s school bag.”
My blood froze.
Mia had gone to school yesterday.
I opened it.
A photograph fell out.
It showed Lucas.
Alive.
Standing outside a remote building.
The date was yesterday.
On the back was a message.
HE WANTS TO SEE HIS DAUGHTER.
My eyes filled with tears.
Alexander stared at the photograph.
“Where is this place?”
Daniel looked at it.
He inhaled sharply.
“The old St. Vincent facility.”
“What is that?”
“A private hospital.”
I frowned.
“Why would Lucas be there?”
Daniel looked toward me.
“Because that is where they kept him.”
Alexander’s face hardened.
“Kept him?”
Daniel nodded.
“He survived the accident.”
I covered my mouth.
“For how long?”
“Years.”
“Why didn’t he come home?”
Daniel looked down.
“Because he couldn’t.”
“Why?”
Daniel’s voice lowered.
“Because they told him his family had abandoned him.”
My heart broke.
“They lied to him?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“Your father.”
I stood.
“Then take me there.”
Alexander grabbed my hand.
“No.”
“I need to see him.”
“We don’t know who is waiting.”
“He’s the father of my child.”
Alexander looked at me.
Pain flickered in his eyes again.
Then he nodded.
“I’m coming.”
We reached St. Vincent just before midnight.
The building was abandoned.
Or supposed to be.
A light burned on the third floor.
We went inside.
Every corridor smelled of dust and old chemicals.
Then I heard a voice.
“Claire?”
I froze.
A man stepped from the darkness.
Older.
Thinner.
A scar across his jaw.
But the eyes were unmistakable.
Lucas.
My daughter’s father.
He looked at me.
Then at Alexander.
His expression shattered.
“You actually found me.”
I took one step forward.
“You’re alive.”
Lucas smiled sadly.
“Barely.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“Why?”
He whispered the answer.
“Because five years ago, your father gave me a choice.”
“What choice?”
Lucas looked at me.
“Die quietly…”
He paused.
“…or let him believe I was dead.”
I shook my head.
“What did he threaten?”
Lucas’s eyes filled with something darker.
“Your life.”
I went still.
“And Mia’s.”
Then a gun cocked behind us.
A familiar voice whispered:
“Very touching reunion.”
Chloe stepped into the corridor.
May you like
She was holding a gun.
And beside her stood Marcus.
Related Stories
