Chapter 6 - THE FATHER I NEVER KNEW
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The room beneath the harbor was enormous.
Stone walls.
Antique chandeliers.
A private medical wing.
A library filled with records spanning generations.
And at the center—
a man in a wheelchair.
I recognized him immediately.
Even though I had never seen his face before.
The shape of his jaw.
The color of his eyes.
My eyes.
Silas stopped beside me.
His expression turned to stone.
“My father.”
The man looked at him.
“Silas.”
Silas's hand tightened around his weapon.
“You're supposed to be dead.”
“I wanted you to believe that.”
Silas looked at my mother.
“You knew.”
She nodded.
My father—our father—looked at me.
“Elena.”
I couldn't speak.
He smiled.
“I've waited a long time.”
“You knew me?”
“Every year.”
“How?”
“I watched.”
The answer made my stomach twist.
“You watched me marry Julian.”
“Yes.”
“You watched him hurt me.”
His eyes filled with regret.
“Yes.”
“And you did nothing.”
He looked down.
“I was afraid that helping you would reveal your identity.”
“Then you chose hiding over my life.”
“No.”
His voice became stronger.
“I chose keeping you alive.”
I laughed bitterly.
“My daughters almost died in the sleet.”
He looked at them.
“And now they are safe.”
“Because Silas saved them.”
My father turned toward him.
“Then I owe him my life.”
Silas said nothing.
Julian stepped forward.
“Enough family reunion.”
I looked at him.
“Why did you marry me?”
He smiled.
“I didn't.”
I frowned.
“We were legally married.”
“Yes.”
“But the marriage was conditional.”
My mother stiffened.
Julian continued.
“Your father agreed to give me control of the Croft shipping network if I brought you back.”
I couldn't believe him.
“So I was a transaction.”
“Yes.”
I felt something inside me die.
Then Julian looked toward the babies.
“But when they were born, everything changed.”
“Because they're heirs.”
“Because they can unlock something much bigger.”
Margaret stepped forward.
“The Covenant doesn't merely control money.”
She pressed a hand against an old console.
The walls illuminated.
Thousands of names appeared.
Corporations.
Banks.
Political committees.
Ports.
Government agencies.
“This is the private infrastructure that secretly connects half the Northeast economy.”
Silas looked stunned.
My father nodded.
“If activated, Elena's blood can redirect ownership across the entire network.”
I stared at the screens.
“And Julian wants that.”
“Everyone does,” my father said.
Margaret smiled.
“That's why you were never allowed to know who you were.”
I looked at the babies.
“Then why have children?”
My mother answered quietly.
“Because the Covenant requires descendants.”
Julian smiled.
“And now you have two.”
He turned toward me.
“All you need to do is sign.”
A document appeared.
A transfer of the entire Ross-Mercer trust.
I looked at it.
Then at Silas.
He shook his head.
“Don't.”
Julian pulled a small remote.
“If you refuse, the nursery loses oxygen.”
I froze.
Margaret looked toward the hallway.
My daughters were inside a sealed chamber.
One minute.
One minute of oxygen remained.
Silas stepped toward Julian.
“I'll kill you.”
Julian smiled.
“You can't.”
He pressed the remote.
A red light began flashing.
My mother screamed.
I grabbed the pen.
Silas whispered:
“Elena.”
I looked at him.
He spoke only two words.
“Trust me.”
I signed.
Julian smiled.
Then the lights went out.
A gunshot echoed.
When the emergency lights returned—
May you like
Julian was on the floor.
And Silas was holding the remote.
