Chapter 4 - The Photograph Proved Our Parents Had Met in Secret—but the Date Showed My Mother Was Alive Long After I Was Told She DiedDominic stared at the photograph.
The date was ten years after my mother was supposedly dead.
My hands shook.
"She was alive."
"Yes."
"And your father had her."
Dominic didn't answer.
He was looking at the room.
The chair.
The rope.
The blood.
Then he noticed something on the wall.
A series of numbers.
I recognized them.
Dates.
Names.
Locations.
I had seen the same coding in my father's old notebooks.
"This is Vesper."
Dominic looked at me.
"How do you know?"
"My father taught me."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
He looked around.
"What are the numbers?"
I translated them.
They were names.
People.
Witnesses.
Some were dead.
Some had disappeared.
Some were still alive.
Then I saw one name.
ELENA RUSSO.
Beside it:
TRANSFERRED.
Dominic's face changed.
"Transferred where?"
I followed the code.
A location in Wisconsin.
A private facility.
Still operating.
His mother might be alive.
Dominic immediately ordered a helicopter.
I went with him.
We arrived after midnight.
The facility was abandoned.
But one room had electricity.
Inside was a table.
A medical bed.
And a file.
PATIENT: ELENA RUSSO.
Dominic touched the page.
His hands shook.
"She's alive."
The file contained medication notes.
Injections.
Sedatives.
Long-term neurological treatment.
Someone had kept his mother hidden for years.
Then I found something else.
Patient requires memory suppression.
Dominic stared.
"What does that mean?"
"They were trying to erase her memory."
"Why?"
"Because she knew something."
"Vesper."
I nodded.
We found a recording.
Elena's voice.
Weak.
Terrified.
"If Dominic finds this, tell him I didn't betray him."
Dominic closed his eyes.
"He was told she betrayed us."
The recording continued.
"Vesper isn't an organization."
I leaned closer.
"It is a name."
The voice stopped.
Then returned.
"It belongs to the man who owns the network."
Dominic's expression hardened.
"Who?"
Elena whispered:
"Your father."
Silence.
Dominic stepped back.
His father wasn't merely involved.
He was Vesper.
He had built the network.
He had abducted his own wife.
He had branded his son.
He had hidden the truth.
And he had known about my family.
Then the recording continued.
"The only reason he hasn't killed Dominic is because he needs him."
"Needs him for what?"
"The bloodline."
I looked at Dominic.
The answer came immediately.
Inheritance.
Power.
Legacy.
Then Elena whispered one final sentence.
"Clara's mother knew where the original ledger was hidden."
My heart stopped.
The original ledger.
The record containing every name.
Every account.
Every secret.
May you like
And if my mother knew where it was—
someone had been hunting me since childhood.
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