Chapter 8 - Dominic’s Father Was Alive—And He Had Been Living Beneath Chicago, Waiting for His Son to Discover the ScarWe found Dominic's father beneath an abandoned church.
Alive.
Old.
Sick.
But alive.
Dominic stared at him for a long time.
"You."
His father smiled.
"You came."
"You killed my mother."
"No."
"You branded me."
"To protect you."
"You destroyed my marriage."
"I arranged it."
Dominic stepped forward.
"Why?"
His father looked at me.
"Because your wife carries the other key."
I hated him.
He explained.
Vesper wasn't simply a criminal network.
It was a financial intelligence system designed during the Cold War.
Governments had once used it.
Criminals later took control.
The ledger contained information powerful enough to collapse governments.
Dominic's father had inherited it.
He wanted to destroy it.
But he couldn't.
His own father controlled him.
When Dominic was sixteen, his father tried to remove him from the system.
That's when he was kidnapped and branded.
The scar became the biometric key.
He later staged his own death.
He had been working with my mother.
Together, they planned to destroy Vesper.
But they failed.
My mother disappeared.
Dominic's father disappeared.
And the network continued.
Until now.
Dominic asked:
"Why marry her?"
His father looked at me.
"Because you needed someone you couldn't control."
I almost laughed.
"That was your plan?"
"Yes."
"You made her poor."
"I protected her."
"You destroyed her life."
"I gave her a chance to survive."
Dominic shook his head.
"You don't get to call that love."
His father looked down.
For the first time, he seemed ashamed.
Then he handed Dominic a key.
"The final vault is under Chicago."
Dominic took it.
"We'll end it."
His father nodded.
"Do it before they find you."
He died that night.
Dominic didn't cry.
He simply sat beside the hospital bed.
May you like
I held his hand.
For the first time, he didn't need to pretend.
Related Stories
