Chapter 8 - THE FATHER WHO NEVER STOPPED WAITING
Claire couldn't move.
The man standing on the staircase looked older than she remembered from photographs.
But she knew his face.
She had seen it in the sealed adoption file.
Thomas Doyle.
Her father.
The man everyone said had died before her adoption.
He walked slowly down the stairs.
Nora stared.
“Dad?”
Thomas stopped.
Tears filled his eyes.
“My little girl.”
Nora ran to him.
He held her tightly.
Claire watched.
Part of her wanted to run.
Part of her wanted to scream.
Instead, she stood frozen.
Thomas looked at her.
“Claire.”
She finally spoke.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you find me?”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“Because every time I tried, they came closer.”
“You let me believe you were alone.”
“I thought you were safer without me.”
Claire's voice broke.
“You all keep saying that.”
Thomas nodded.
“You have every right to hate me.”
“I don't hate you.”
Thomas looked surprised.
“I don't know you.”
That hurt him.
But he accepted it.
Luca stepped forward.
“Where is Marcus?”
Thomas's expression changed.
“He's coming.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
“Why?”
Thomas looked at Ivy.
“Because he knows the girls are together.”
Luca's security chief entered.
“Boss.”
Luca turned.
“What?”
“We have movement.”
Thomas whispered:
“He's here.”
The lights went out.
A gunshot shattered the window.
Everyone dropped.
Luca moved like lightning.
He pushed Claire and Ivy behind a stone wall.
Nora grabbed her father.
Ethan fired toward the hallway.
Then silence.
Too much silence.
Luca whispered:
“Everyone stay down.”
A voice came through the darkness.
“Luca.”
Marcus.
Luca stood.
“Show yourself.”
A light flickered.
Marcus appeared at the end of the hall.
He looked tired.
Not monstrous.
Not wild.
Just exhausted.
“You ruined everything.”
Luca stared.
“No.”
Marcus smiled.
“You think you're better than me?”
“No.”
“You took everything from me.”
Luca lowered his weapon slightly.
“What did I take?”
“My family.”
Thomas stepped forward.
“You betrayed us.”
Marcus looked at him.
“You abandoned us.”
Thomas shook his head.
“I protected the girls.”
“You protected yourself.”
Marcus looked toward Nora.
“I raised her.”
Nora's voice shook.
“You lied to me.”
“I kept you alive.”
“You kept me imprisoned.”
Marcus looked wounded.
“You would have died without me.”
Nora stared at him.
“I would have lived without you.”
Marcus raised his weapon.
Luca immediately aimed.
“Don't.”
Marcus looked at Ivy.
“She is the key.”
Claire stepped in front of her daughter.
“She is a child.”
“She is extraordinary.”
“She is my daughter.”
Marcus smiled sadly.
“And that is exactly why you don't understand.”
Luca moved closer.
“What do you want?”
“The ledger.”
Luca's eyes narrowed.
“You want the names.”
“I want the names destroyed.”
“Why?”
“Because they will come for me.”
“You created the list.”
“I created it to survive.”
Marcus looked at Thomas.
“Your father sold information.”
Thomas shook his head.
“He was threatened.”
Marcus laughed.
“Everyone was threatened.”
He lowered the gun.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then he said:
“I never wanted Ivy dead.”
Claire's expression hardened.
“Then why poison Luca?”
“I didn't.”
Silence.
Luca frowned.
“What?”
Marcus shook his head.
“The gala attack wasn't mine.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“Then whose?”
Marcus looked toward the window.
“Kenji Sato.”
Luca's expression changed.
“Why?”
“Because Kenji wants control of the network.”
Marcus looked at Ivy.
“He knew about her ability.”
“So why target Luca?”
“To make it look like I did it.”
Luca understood.
A third player.
Someone manipulating everyone.
Marcus reached into his coat.
Claire tensed.
He removed a flash drive.
“The evidence.”
Luca stared.
“What's on it?”
“Everything.”
“The network?”
“Yes.”
“The people who ordered the attacks?”
“Yes.”
“Ethan's disappearance?”
“Yes.”
“Claire's mother?”
Marcus nodded.
“And the reason Ivy was targeted.”
Luca reached for it.
Marcus stopped him.
“First promise me something.”
“What?”
“Protect Nora.”
Nora began crying.
Marcus looked at her.
“I didn't know how to be a father.”
Nora whispered:
“You could have learned.”
Marcus lowered his eyes.
Then handed Luca the drive.
At that exact moment, another gunshot came from outside.
Marcus turned.
A bullet struck him.
He collapsed.
Nora screamed.
Luca caught him.
“Marcus!”
Marcus looked at him.
“It's not over.”
Then he pointed toward the door.
A man stood outside.
Kenji Sato.
He smiled.
“You should have killed Marcus when you had the chance.”
Luca raised his weapon.
Kenji disappeared.
Security chased him.
Claire looked at Marcus.
Blood spread across his shirt.
“Is he going to die?”
Luca shook his head.
“Not if we move now.”
They rushed Marcus to a private hospital.
Hours later, a surgeon came out.
“He'll survive.”
Nora collapsed into a chair.
Claire hugged her.
For the first time, they cried together.
Sisters.
Not strangers.
Across the hall, Luca stood beside Ethan.
“You knew.”
Ethan looked at him.
“Knew what?”
“That Claire's mother had evidence.”
“I suspected.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I thought you were protecting the wrong people.”
Luca looked toward Claire.
“I was.”
Ethan smiled faintly.
“No.”
“You don't understand.”
“You loved her.”
Luca froze.
Ethan continued.
“You always did.”
Luca looked away.
“She deserved a normal life.”
“She deserved the truth.”
Luca nodded.
“Yes.”
He walked toward Claire.
She looked at him.
“Marcus survived.”
“I know.”
“Kenji escaped.”
“I know.”
Claire held the flash drive.
“This ends tonight.”
Luca nodded.
“We need to take it to the authorities.”
Claire frowned.
“What about the names?”
“We don't decide who is guilty.”
Claire looked at him.
“And what about us?”
Luca's expression softened.
“That part is up to you.”
Claire stared at him.
Then looked at Ivy.
Ivy was asleep against Nora's shoulder.
Claire smiled.
For the first time in seven years, she felt something she had almost forgotten.
Hope.
But outside the hospital, a black car waited.
Inside sat Kenji.
He opened his phone.
A photograph appeared.
Claire.
Ivy.
Nora.
And Luca.
Kenji smiled.
“One family.”
He deleted the photograph.
May you like
Then whispered:
“Let's see how much it costs to break them.”
