Chapter 19 - The Father Who Never DiedNobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
The man standing in the doorway looked older.
Different.
But impossible to mistake.
Daniel Sterling.
Ethan’s father.
The man who was supposed to be dead.
The man whose death had shaped their entire family.
Ethan felt his entire body freeze.
His memories collided.
The funeral.
The photographs.
The years of grief.
All of it.
A lie?
Daniel looked at his son.
And tears appeared in his eyes.
“Ethan.”
The sound of his name almost broke him.
Ethan stepped backward.
“No.”
His voice shook.
“No, this is impossible.”
Daniel moved forward.
“I know.”
“You have every right to hate me.”
Ethan stared.
“Hate you?”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
Daniel lowered his head.
“Yes.”
Clara started crying.
“Dad…”
Daniel looked at her.
And the pain on his face was unbearable.
“I am sorry.”
Victoria remained frozen.
But unlike everyone else.
She looked angry.
“You are alive.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Yes.”
For twenty years.
She had carried guilt.
Fear.
Regret.
And now the person at the center of everything was standing in front of her.
“You abandoned us.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“No.”
“I saved you.”
Victoria laughed bitterly.
“You destroyed us.”
Daniel looked around.
At the evidence.
At the files.
At the broken family.
“I know.”
Silence.
Then Ethan asked the question everyone needed answered.
“Why?”
Daniel looked at his son.
“Because if I stayed…”
“I would have died.”
The room became silent.
“Your grandfather’s people were watching me.”
“Marcus was not the only one involved.”
Ethan looked toward Marcus.
Marcus became nervous.
Daniel continued.
“There was someone higher.”
Someone higher.
Everyone froze.
“Who?”
Daniel looked at Victoria.
And whispered.
“The person Victoria has been protecting for twenty years.”
Victoria’s face turned pale.
Because she knew.
The secret she buried.
May you like
The secret that started everything.
Was finally coming back.
