Chapter 8 - Charles Claimed My Own Father Had Helped Create Haven, and I Was Forced to Face the Family History I Had Spent My Life Trying to ForgetI researched my father.
His name appeared in old records.
Investment.
Medical research.
Private facilities.
I thought I knew him.
I didn't.
He had invested in Victor's clinic.
He had donated to Haven.
He had met Charles.
He had helped establish the original network.
But why?
The answer was buried in an old letter.
My father believed vulnerable children needed protection.
He created Haven as a private safety network.
Then other people corrupted it.
They turned protection into control.
Money.
Leverage.
Abuse.
My father discovered what it had become.
He tried to shut it down.
Charles took control.
My father died before he could expose the network.
I read the last letter.
If you ever find this, remember that people can corrupt good intentions.
Don't become bitter because I failed.
I closed my eyes.
For years, I thought my father had simply died.
Maybe he had also been trying to fix what he built.
The network had survived him.
Now we were ending it.
Eli sat beside me.
“Are you sad?”
“Yes.”
“Because of your dad?”
“Yes.”
He held my hand.
“It's okay.”
I smiled.
May you like
He had learned kindness from surviving cruelty.
That was something worth protecting.
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