Chapter 14 - THE LAST WAR OF THE CROSS FAMILY
"Fern!"
My scream tore through the estate.
The world disappeared.
There was no mafia.
No secrets.
No inheritance.
No revenge.
Only my daughter.
Stellan grabbed me before I collapsed.
"Selene."
"She took her."
My voice broke.
"She took my baby."
Stellan's face became something I had never seen before.
Pure rage.
Not controlled anger.
Not calculated violence.
A father's fury.
"Lock down every exit."
His men moved instantly.
I grabbed his arm.
"Find her."
His eyes met mine.
"I will."
"No."
My tears fell.
"You promise me."
The hardest man in Chicago looked at me.
And for the first time...
he looked like Adrian.
"I promise."
We searched the estate.
Room by room.
Hall by hall.
Until we found the hidden basement.
A place nobody knew existed.
Inside...
we found the truth.
Documents.
Photos.
Records.
Everything.
The entire history of the Cross family.
And one video.
Stellan played it.
Theodore Cross appeared on the screen.
Older.
Cold.
"The problem with families..."
His voice echoed.
"...is that blood creates weakness."
I watched.
He continued.
"Stellan was always too emotional."
A pause.
"He loved too easily."
My heart hurt.
Because he was talking about me.
"And Adrian was worse."
The screen changed.
A younger Stellan.
Me.
The night we met.
My breath stopped.
Theodore continued:
"The woman was supposed to be leverage."
I felt sick.
"But she became the reason my son betrayed me."
Stellan's hands tightened.
Then the video showed Adrian being taken.
The night he disappeared.
I covered my mouth.
I had been right.
He didn't leave.
He was taken.
Theodore's voice continued.
"And the child..."
The screen showed newborn Fern.
"...was the final mistake."
I couldn't watch anymore.
Stellan turned off the video.
Silence.
Then a sound.
A baby crying.
My heart stopped.
Fern.
We followed the sound.
Through another hallway.
Down another staircase.
And there she was.
Evelyn stood in the center of the room.
Holding Fern.
But she wasn't hurting her.
She was crying.
"I never wanted this."
Stellan raised his weapon.
"Give me my daughter."
Evelyn looked at him.
"Your daughter?"
A bitter smile.
"Do you know what my father did to me?"
Nobody spoke.
"He made me disappear."
She looked at Fern.
"He used me as a child."
Her voice broke.
"And now everyone wants to use her."
I lowered my weapon.
"Then help us."
Evelyn looked at me.
Surprised.
"You still trust people?"
I looked at Fern.
"No."
A pause.
"I just know what it feels like when nobody saves you."
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
Then a gunshot came from behind.
Everyone froze.
My father stood in the doorway.
Holding a gun.
"I knew you would all come here."
Stellan moved.
But my father was faster.
He pointed the gun at Fern.
Everything stopped.
"Give me the child."
"No."
I stepped forward.
My father looked at me.
"I'm doing this for you."
"You are threatening my daughter."
"I'm saving her."
"From what?"
His answer was quiet.
"From becoming like us."
A second later...
Stellan moved.
May you like
The gun fired.
And the entire world went silent.
