Chapter 14 - THE LAST LIE
Robert Harlan had not betrayed Daniel Vale once.
He had built his career on Daniel’s death.
The proof came from one final recording buried inside the Vale Protocol.
Daniel’s voice.
Robert’s voice.
An argument.
Daniel accusing Robert of secretly cooperating with Victor.
Robert threatening him.
Then one sentence:
“If you take this to a grand jury, Daniel, Emily grows up without a father.”
Natalie listened twice.
She did not cry.
Not yet.
Adrian stood beside her.
“Where is he?”
Gabriel answered.
“Mercer family estate.”
Adrian frowned.
“Why?”
“Victor took Evelyn.”
Adrian went cold.
Again.
Another parent.
Another hostage.
Natalie took his hand.
“We finish it.”
The Mercer estate sat dark beneath falling snow.
Robert waited inside the ballroom.
Victor stood near the fireplace.
Evelyn sat beside him, wrists bound.
Robert held a gun.
“You came.”
Adrian looked at him.
“You’re my biological father.”
Robert’s face twisted.
“Apparently.”
“You knew?”
“For years.”
“And said nothing.”
“I thought Victor was your father in every way that mattered.”
Victor laughed.
“Touching.”
Natalie stepped forward.
“You killed my father.”
Robert looked at her.
“I made a choice.”
“No.”
Her voice remained steady.
“You made yourself important enough to justify everyone else’s suffering.”
His jaw tightened.
“Daniel would have destroyed everything.”
“He tried to expose murderers.”
“He was naïve.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“That’s enough.”
Robert aimed at him.
Evelyn screamed.
Victor moved.
The shot went off.
Adrian staggered.
Natalie’s world stopped.
“Adrian!”
He fell.
She ran to him.
Blood spread across his shoulder.
Not his chest.
Alive.
Robert turned the weapon toward Natalie.
Victor suddenly struck him.
The two men crashed into a table.
Gabriel’s team burst through the doors.
Evelyn ducked.
Robert fired wildly.
Victor went down.
Gabriel tackled Robert.
Seconds later, Robert Harlan was in handcuffs.
Natalie pressed both hands against Adrian’s shoulder.
“Stay with me.”
He grimaced.
“It’s a shoulder wound.”
“I don’t care.”
“You’re crying.”
“Shut up.”
He almost smiled.
“You’re very bossy.”
“You’re rubbing off on me.”
Paramedics arrived.
Victor was alive too.
Barely.
As they carried him past Adrian, Victor looked at the man he had raised.
“I loved you.”
Adrian stared at him.
“I believe you.”
Victor’s eyes filled.
“That doesn’t erase what I did.”
“No.”
For the first time, Victor had nothing to say.
He was taken away.
Robert followed.
Evelyn survived.
Adrian recovered.
And three weeks later, the federal government announced indictments against forty-seven people connected to the network.
Natalie thought the nightmare was finally finished.
Until Claire came to Adrian’s townhouse carrying a small envelope.
“I found this in Daniel’s things.”
Natalie opened it.
Inside was a photograph of her father.
On the back, Daniel had written:
Emily,
If you ever find someone who makes you feel safe without making you smaller, don’t run from him just because you learned how to survive alone.
Natalie began crying.
Then she noticed a second line.
P.S. Victor Mercer owes me fifty dollars.
Adrian looked over her shoulder.
“For what?”
Claire laughed through tears.
“A bet.”
“What bet?”
Claire smiled.
“Daniel once told Victor that if their children ever met, they’d either try to kill each other…”
May you like
She looked at Natalie and Adrian.
“…or fall in love.”
