Chapter 7 - THE MAN WHO CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD
Three knocks.
Slow.
Heavy.
Everyone inside the farmhouse froze.
Adrian looked at Marcus.
The color had disappeared from the attorney’s face.
“Who is it?”
Nobody answered.
Lena immediately pulled Emma and Mia closer.
Her hands were shaking.
Adrian noticed.
“Lena.”
She looked at him.
“Take the children upstairs.”
“No.”
Her voice was firm.
“I’m not running anymore.”
That sentence surprised him.
For seven years, Lena had lived in fear.
But now she stood there like someone who had finally decided she had nothing left to lose.
The knocking came again.
Three more times.
Adrian stepped toward the door.
Marcus grabbed his shoulder.
“Don’t.”
Adrian looked back.
“You told me the truth was waiting outside.”
His eyes hardened.
“Now I’m opening the door.”
Before anyone could stop him, Adrian unlocked it.
The door slowly opened.
And the man standing outside made Adrian forget how to breathe.
Gray hair.
Dark coat.
A familiar face.
A face he had seen in old family photographs.
A face he had buried three years ago.
“Dad?”
The man looked at him.
“Hello, Adrian.”
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Adrian stepped backward.
“This isn’t possible.”
His father, Richard Cross, walked inside.
The same man whose funeral Adrian attended.
The same man whose ashes were placed in the family cemetery.
The same man everyone said was gone.
“You’re dead.”
Richard looked tired.
“According to everyone.”
Adrian’s anger exploded.
“You let me believe you were dead?”
Richard didn’t answer.
“You let me believe Lena abandoned me.”
Still silent.
“You let me believe my children never existed.”
Richard looked at Emma and Mia.
For a moment, something like regret crossed his face.
Then it disappeared.
“I did what I had to do.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“You destroyed my life.”
“I protected it.”
“No.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“You protected your empire.”
Richard’s eyes narrowed.
“You don’t understand the danger.”
“Then explain.”
Richard looked around the room.
At Lena.
At Marcus.
At the children.
Then he said:
“Because someone in this family wanted you dead.”
Silence.
Lena’s face changed.
“What?”
Richard looked at her.
“You were never the target.”
Adrian frowned.
“Then who was?”
Richard looked directly at him.
“You.”
The room became completely silent.
Adrian shook his head.
“Who?”
Richard took a breath.
“Someone close to you.”
Adrian immediately thought of Daniel.
But Richard shook his head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
Richard looked toward the door.
“Someone you never suspected.”
Suddenly, a loud crash came from outside.
Everyone turned.
The window shattered.
Lena screamed.
Adrian pushed her down.
A second later, the lights went out.
Darkness covered the house.
Emma started crying.
“Daddy!”
Adrian grabbed her hand.
“I’m here.”
Footsteps moved outside.
Someone was approaching.
Richard whispered:
“They found us.”
Adrian looked at him.
“Who?”
Richard’s voice became barely audible.
“The person who started this entire nightmare.”
A shadow appeared near the doorway.
Then a voice spoke.
“Adrian.”
Everyone froze.
Because Adrian recognized that voice.
It belonged to someone who had been smiling at him only hours earlier.
May you like
Victoria.
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