Chapter 13 - THE FATHER I THOUGHT I LOST
For years, I believed my father was gone.
Dead.
A memory.
A photograph hidden in an old box.
A voice I could barely remember.
But now...
His voice was inside my head.
Tell my daughter I'm proud of her.
I couldn't move.
I couldn't speak.
Everyone was watching me.
Stellan.
The guards.
Even the air felt like it was waiting for my reaction.
"No."
I shook my head.
"No, that's impossible."
Stellan picked up the recording device.
His face was serious.
"Selene..."
"My father died."
My voice became louder.
"He died when I was twenty."
Nobody answered.
Because nobody knew how to explain a ghost.
Stellan looked at the device.
"Maybe you were lied to."
I looked at him.
"Everyone has been lying to me."
The pain in my voice surprised even me.
"I don't know who to believe anymore."
Stellan stepped closer.
"Believe this."
I looked at him.
"Fern is yours."
His eyes softened.
"She is ours."
Those words should have comforted me.
Instead, they scared me.
Because "ours" meant Stellan was no longer just a stranger.
It meant he was part of my life.
Part of Fern's life.
And I wasn't ready.
A guard suddenly rushed in.
"Boss."
Stellan turned.
"What?"
"We found the location of the tunnel exit."
"And?"
The guard hesitated.
"It's connected to an abandoned Cross property."
Stellan's face changed.
"Which one?"
The guard swallowed.
"The old family estate."
Silence.
The estate.
The place where everything began.
The place where Theodore Cross built his empire.
The place where Adrian disappeared.
Stellan grabbed his coat.
"I'm going."
I stood.
"So am I."
He looked at me.
"No."
I walked toward him.
"You don't get to lock me away anymore."
"Selene—"
"No."
My voice was firm.
"You spent two years making choices for me."
I looked him directly in the eyes.
"This time, I choose."
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then he nodded.
"Stay beside me."
I almost smiled.
"That's the first reasonable thing you've said."
Thirty minutes later, we arrived at the old Cross estate.
The building looked abandoned.
Broken windows.
Dead trees.
A place that felt like it was holding secrets.
Stellan moved carefully.
His hand stayed near his weapon.
I carried Fern against my chest.
"Are you sure this is safe?"
"No."
The honesty surprised me.
"But I'm here."
Before I could answer...
the front door opened by itself.
A voice came from inside.
"Stellan."
We froze.
That voice.
Older.
But familiar.
A man stepped into the light.
My heart stopped.
Because I knew him.
Not from memory.
From photographs.
From stories.
From a life I thought was over.
"Dad?"
The man smiled.
"Hello, Selene."
My knees nearly collapsed.
He looked older.
Different.
But it was him.
My father.
Alive.
"You died."
He smiled sadly.
"I had to."
The anger came before the tears.
"You let me believe you were dead?"
"I was trying to protect you."
I laughed.
A broken laugh.
"Of course."
I looked at Stellan.
"Everyone protects me by destroying my life."
My father looked at Fern.
His expression changed.
"She's beautiful."
Stellan stepped between them.
"Don't come near her."
My father looked at him.
"Still protecting what belongs to you?"
Stellan's face became cold.
"What do you want?"
My father smiled.
"The same thing I wanted twenty years ago."
He looked at Fern.
"To restore what was stolen."
I shook my head.
"No."
My father looked at me.
"You don't understand."
"Then explain."
His eyes became darker.
"Your grandfather didn't leave the Cross empire to Theodore."
He looked at Stellan.
"He left it to the child of his first son."
Stellan froze.
"What?"
My father smiled.
"And that child was never Theodore's."
The room went silent.
I looked at Stellan.
"What is he saying?"
My father answered.
"Theodore Cross stole everything from his own brother."
A pause.
"And your daughter carries the blood that proves it."
I held Fern tighter.
"No."
My father stepped forward.
"Selene, I don't want to hurt you."
"Then stop."
His expression changed.
"I'm sorry."
Then the lights went out.
A gunshot exploded through the room.
And when emergency lights returned...
May you like
my father was gone.
But Fern was gone too.
