Chapter 15 - THE FINAL CHOICE
Victor's message arrived ten minutes later.
A photograph.
My father tied to a chair.
Alive.
Bruised.
Terrified.
Underneath it were six words:
Come alone or he dies.
I stared at the screen.
Alessandro immediately shook his head.
“No.”
“He has my father.”
“He wants you to come.”
“I know.”
“It's a trap.”
“I know.”
“Then don't go.”
I looked at my daughter's room.
The tiny girl sleeping beneath medical lights.
“I have spent my entire life running from men like Victor.”
Alessandro watched me.
“I am done running.”
We found Victor at an abandoned warehouse outside the city.
I entered alone.
At least, that's what he thought.
My father was tied to a chair.
Victor stood behind him.
He looked exhausted.
Desperate.
“Where's the ring?”
I raised my hand.
“Here.”
He smiled.
“Good.”
“You let my father go.”
He laughed.
“You're still giving orders.”
“I learned from you.”
His smile disappeared.
I stepped forward.
“Take the ring.”
Victor approached.
He reached for it.
Then I pulled my hand away.
“You first.”
“What?”
“Let my father go.”
Victor stared.
Then he cut the rope.
My father fell forward.
I rushed toward him.
Victor grabbed the ring.
For one second, he smiled.
Then he looked at it.
“It's fake.”
I froze.
“What?”
He turned it over.
The biometric component was gone.
I smiled.
“It's a replica.”
Victor's face twisted.
“You—”
Police lights exploded outside.
Victor looked toward the doors.
Alessandro's voice came over the speakers.
“Victor Hale, step away from them.”
Victor grabbed my arm.
My father shouted.
Victor pulled me toward him.
“Back off!”
Alessandro stepped into the warehouse.
“You're finished.”
Victor looked at me.
“After everything, you still think you won?”
I stared at him.
“No.”
He smiled.
“Then what?”
“I didn't win.”
I looked at my father.
“I survived.”
Victor's expression changed.
Then the police rushed in.
He was tackled.
Handcuffed.
The nightmare finally ended.
Months later, I gave birth to my daughter.
I named her Lily Grace.
She was tiny.
Fierce.
Perfect.
My father held her first.
He cried.
Alessandro stood beside the window.
I looked at him.
“You know what my mother taught me?”
“What?”
“That power isn't money.”
He smiled.
“What is it?”
I looked at my daughter.
“Being able to walk away.”
The Hale mansion was sold.
The money went into a foundation for abused women and children.
The company my mother built was placed under independent leadership.
Raul was sentenced.
Helena pleaded guilty.
Nora received a reduced sentence after cooperating with prosecutors and turning over every recording she had.
Victor received the longest sentence of them all.
The video of the attack became the evidence that finally destroyed his lies.
And me?
I stopped calling myself Victor's wife.
I stopped calling myself a victim.
I became what my mother had wanted me to become.
My own woman.
One evening, months after Lily's birth, I stood on the porch watching the sunset.
My father was inside.
Lily slept against my chest.
Alessandro walked outside.
“You okay?”
I smiled.
“For the first time.”
He looked at the baby.
“She has your mother's eyes.”
I looked down.
“She has something else.”
“What?”
I kissed Lily's forehead.
“Her mother's strength.”
Then my phone buzzed.
A message.
Unknown number.
One sentence.
You think Victor was the end?
My smile disappeared.
A second message arrived.
Ask your mother who your real father was.
I stared at the screen.
My father was inside the house.
I looked through the window.
He was laughing with Lily.
My blood ran cold.
Because the message had just reopened the one mystery I thought I had finally solved.
Who was my real father?
And why had my mother lied?
I looked toward the darkening road.
Somewhere out there, someone knew the answer.
May you like
And they had just decided to come for me.
TO BE CONTINUED…
