Chapter 4 - The Ex Who Begged Her to Save Him
Mason had been missing for nine hours when the message arrived.
One photograph.
Mason tied to a chair.
Blood on his face.
A second image showed Adrian Vale standing behind him.
Then a message:
Bring the locket.
Bring Lena.
Come alone.
Dominic read it twice.
“You're not going.”
“I am.”
“No.”
“I can't leave him.”
“You don't owe him anything.”
“He knows something.”
Dominic stared at me.
“You still care about him.”
I hesitated.
“I care that a human being is being tortured.”
“Even after what he did?”
“Yes.”
Something softened in his eyes.
“That is exactly what makes you dangerous.”
We went anyway.
Not alone.
Dominic's men surrounded the area from a distance.
The location was an abandoned hotel near the river.
We entered through the kitchen.
Mason's voice echoed through the hall.
“Lena!”
I moved.
Dominic stopped me.
“Stay behind me.”
Mason was tied to a chair in the ballroom.
Adrian Vale stood behind him.
He looked older than the photograph.
Silver hair.
Gray eyes.
A black cane.
A smile without warmth.
“You came.”
I looked at him.
“You wanted me.”
“Yes.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“You should have known better.”
Adrian smiled.
“And you should have known better than to bring feelings into business.”
Dominic's expression turned cold.
“What did you do to her mother?”
Adrian's smile faded.
“She betrayed us.”
“She tried to expose you.”
“She stole from me.”
Mason laughed bitterly.
“Can we discuss the part where everyone is trying to kill each other?”
Nobody listened.
Adrian looked at the locket.
“The key.”
I held it up.
“What does it unlock?”
“Your mother's last account.”
“What account?”
“An account containing names.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“His entire network.”
Adrian nodded.
“Your father discovered it.”
“And my mother?”
“She copied it.”
“Where is it?”
Adrian pointed at me.
“In her memory.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“Your mother taught you something when you were a child.”
My stomach tightened.
A song.
A simple lullaby.
She used to sing it when I couldn't sleep.
Three stars above me.
Two lights below.
One road home.
I had forgotten it.
Or thought I had.
Adrian smiled.
“Your mother knew you would remember.”
Dominic looked at me.
“What does it mean?”
I whispered the numbers.
Three.
Two.
One.
Adrian's smile widened.
“The account access sequence.”
Sofia whispered through the earpiece.
“Boss, we're ready.”
Dominic nodded.
Then gunfire erupted.
The hotel exploded into chaos.
Men appeared from every entrance.
Dominic pulled me behind a pillar.
Mason kicked his chair over.
Adrian disappeared through a side door.
Sofia's men returned fire.
I crawled toward Mason.
“Are you okay?”
“No.”
“What do you need?”
“A miracle.”
I untied him.
He grabbed my wrist.
“I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
“I never wanted your money.”
I stared at him.
“You emptied our account.”
“Because Vale threatened my father.”
“And you chose me.”
“Yes.”
“You could have told me.”
“I was ashamed.”
I laughed.
“Shame doesn't excuse cruelty.”
“I know.”
For the first time, Mason looked genuinely broken.
“I was afraid.”
“So was I.”
He looked at me.
“I know.”
Dominic appeared.
“Lena!”
He reached for me.
Mason stepped aside.
Dominic grabbed my hand.
“Move.”
We escaped through the back entrance.
Mason followed.
Outside, police sirens approached.
Adrian had vanished.
But the hotel contained something else.
My mother's photograph.
A file.
A birth certificate.
And one letter.
I opened it.
Lena,
You were never an ordinary child.
My hands shook.
Your father and I believed Adrian would find you eventually.
We were wrong.
He found you years ago.
I gasped.
Dominic took the letter.
“Keep reading.”
You met Mason because his father needed access to your family records.
It was never an accident.
My stomach turned.
Mason looked away.
“I didn't know.”
I stared at him.
“You knew enough.”
“I knew my father told me to date you.”
The world tilted.
“You what?”
Mason's voice broke.
“He wanted access to your house.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“You used her.”
“I know.”
“You don't get to breathe comfortably after admitting that.”
Mason lowered his head.
Then the letter continued.
Your father hid the account inside the one person Adrian would never suspect.
You.
I stared.
My entire life had been designed around something I didn't understand.
Then came the final sentence.
Trust Dominic.
I looked at him.
He froze.
“Why did my mother write your name?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“I swear I'm not.”
The last page contained one more line.
Your father knew Dominic's father would protect you.
But Dominic was only eleven when your father asked him.
My eyes filled with tears.
“He knew me before I knew you.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Yes.”
“How?”
He swallowed.
“When your father died, he asked my father to protect you.”
“Did he?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did I never see you?”
“Because you were moved.”
I stared.
“You were protecting me my whole life?”
“Not personally.”
“But someone was.”
He nodded.
I cried.
Not because of Mason.
Not because of Vale.
Because for the first time, my life suddenly looked different.
Maybe I had never been alone.
Maybe people had been fighting battles around me that I had never seen.
Dominic wiped a tear from my cheek.
“I don't want your gratitude.”
“You don't?”
“No.”
“What do you want?”
He looked at me.
“You.”
I kissed him.
Behind us, Mason stared at the scene.
His face showed something I had never seen before.
Regret.
Real regret.
Then Sofia's phone rang.
She answered.
Her face went pale.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“There's been an explosion at your house.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“Anyone inside?”
“Yes.”
I whispered.
“Who?”
May you like
Sofia looked at me.
“Your mother.”
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