Chapter 7 - THE ENEMY INSIDE THE FAMILY
"The same person who tried to take your daughter."
Stellan's words hit me harder than any attack could.
I stared at him.
"Who?"
He didn't answer.
I hated that about him.
Every time I got close to the truth, he pulled away.
"Who took Adrian?"
His jaw tightened.
"Selene—"
"No."
I stepped forward.
"Not this time."
My voice shook.
"I spent two years believing the man I loved abandoned me."
My eyes burned.
"I hated him."
A pause.
"I hated myself for missing him."
Stellan looked down.
"And now you're telling me he was taken?"
"Yes."
"Then tell me who did it."
Silence.
That silence was an answer.
My heart sank.
"You know."
Stellan looked away.
"You know who hurt him."
His hands curled into fists.
"Yes."
"Who?"
He didn't speak.
"Stellan."
Finally, he said:
"My father."
The room went completely still.
I blinked.
"Your father?"
Stellan nodded slowly.
"Theodore Cross."
I had heard the name.
Everyone in Chicago had.
Theodore Cross was a legend.
A man who built an empire before his son inherited it.
A man people feared more than Stellan.
Because Stellan was dangerous.
But Theodore?
People said Theodore Cross was where dangerous people learned how to become monsters.
"No."
I shook my head.
"Why would your father take Adrian?"
Stellan's expression changed.
"Because Adrian was me."
I froze.
"What?"
He looked at me.
"Adrian was the name I used when I wanted to escape."
My breathing stopped.
"From my family."
The room felt smaller.
"The night we met, I wasn't Stellan Cross."
His voice became quieter.
"I was just a man who wanted one night where nobody knew my name."
I remembered.
The mask.
The rain.
His broken smile.
The way he held my hand like he was afraid I would disappear.
"I loved that man."
The words escaped before I could stop them.
Stellan closed his eyes.
"I know."
"No."
I looked at him.
"You don't."
My voice cracked.
"Because that man was the only person who ever made me feel safe."
Something painful crossed his face.
"I know."
"Then why didn't you come back?"
His silence returned.
And this time...
it hurt more.
Finally, he answered.
"Because my father found out about you."
I froze.
"He threatened you."
A chill moved through me.
"What did he say?"
Stellan looked at Fern.
"He said if I contacted you, he would make sure you and the baby disappeared."
My hands went cold.
"So you believed him?"
"I saw what he did to people who crossed him."
His voice became darker.
"I knew he wasn't bluffing."
I looked at Fern.
Everything suddenly made sense.
The fear.
The secrets.
The missing records.
Someone had been controlling my life from the shadows.
But one question remained.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Stellan looked at me.
"Because I thought staying away was the only way to protect you."
"And was it?"
His eyes dropped.
"No."
The honesty surprised me.
"No?"
"I was wrong."
A long silence.
Then something happened.
Something I never expected.
Stellan Cross apologized.
Not as a mafia boss.
Not as a powerful man.
As Adrian.
"I'm sorry, Selene."
My heart hurt.
Because I had waited two years to hear those words.
And now that I heard them...
I didn't know what to do.
Before I could answer, a loud crash came from downstairs.
Both of us turned.
Stellan moved instantly.
The gun appeared in his hand.
"Stay here."
"No."
He looked at me.
"Selene."
"I am done staying behind while people decide my life."
For a second, surprise crossed his face.
Then something almost like pride appeared.
"Fine."
He moved closer.
"But you stay beside me."
We walked downstairs.
The mansion was chaos.
Security guards moved through the halls.
A window was shattered.
Someone had broken in.
Stellan's men searched every room.
Then one guard ran toward us.
"Boss."
"What?"
"We found the intruder."
"Where?"
The guard hesitated.
"In the old library."
Stellan's face changed.
The old library.
Something about that name scared him.
He walked there slowly.
I followed.
The door was open.
Inside...
someone was waiting.
Not an attacker.
Not a stranger.
A woman.
An elderly woman with gray hair.
Blood on her clothes.
My heart stopped.
Because I knew her.
"Mrs. Thornbury?"
She looked at me.
And tears filled her eyes.
"Selene..."
Stellan raised his gun.
"Don't move."
She ignored him.
She looked only at me.
"I am so sorry."
I felt confused.
"Sorry for what?"
Her lips trembled.
Then she said the words that changed everything.
"Because I was there the night Fern was born."
I froze.
"What?"
She looked at Stellan.
Then back at me.
"And I know why they changed the blood test."
The room went silent.
"Because the baby they wanted..."
She swallowed.
"Wasn't just Stellan's daughter."
May you like
My heart stopped.
"She was the key to destroying the entire Cross family."
