Chapter 5 - The Truth My Father Buried
We moved Isabella to a secure residence.
She refused to stay locked inside.
I respected that.
For the first time, every security decision was discussed with her.
No orders.
No assumptions.
She was part of the plan.
That was important.
Thomas wanted me angry.
So I gave him something else.
Patience.
We released false information about the ledger.
We leaked three different locations.
One to a trusted journalist.
One to a rival business.
One to a contact we suspected was working for The Circle.
Within six hours, someone attacked one of the decoy sites.
Thomas had taken the bait.
We traced the operation.
It led to a private airfield.
But Thomas wasn't there.
Only one of his men.
He was captured.
Under questioning, he revealed that Thomas planned to leave the country.
Before he could say where, a sniper's bullet struck him through the window.
Someone was cleaning up.
The Circle was still operating.
And they were becoming desperate.
Meanwhile, Isabella's father finally remembered the final piece of the puzzle.
“The ledger wasn't hidden in a place,” he said.
“It was hidden in a person.”
My father had chosen a witness.
A man named Samuel Reed.
He had worked as a bookkeeper.
He had memorized everything.
Samuel had disappeared twenty years ago.
My father had protected him under a new identity.
“Where is he now?” I asked.
Isabella's father gave us an address.
An elderly care facility.
We found Samuel there.
He recognized me immediately.
“You're his son.”
“Yes.”
He shook his head.
“You have his eyes.”
“What did my father hide?”
“The truth.”
“What truth?”
Samuel stared at Isabella.
“Her mother was never the traitor.”
Isabella froze.
“What?”
“Your mother discovered that The Circle was being used to manipulate multiple families.”
“She tried to stop them.”
“Yes.”
“But they said she stole money.”
Samuel looked at me.
“Your father let them believe that.”
“Why?”
“To protect her.”
Isabella covered her mouth.
“All these years…”
Samuel nodded.
“She sacrificed her reputation so your father could hide the evidence.”
I felt something break inside.
Our parents had been trapped in a war none of us understood.
Samuel continued.
“The money was never the important part.”
“What was?”
“Power.”
He handed me an old box.
Inside was a recording.
My father's voice.
If my son ever hears this, tell him I am sorry.
I pressed play.
My father's voice filled the room.
“I taught Luca control because I believed control would protect him.”
He paused.
“I was wrong.”
I closed my eyes.
“A man who controls everyone around him eventually becomes alone.”
That sentence destroyed me.
My father continued.
“If Isabella is still with him, then she has done what I could not.”
A long silence.
“She has taught him that love requires freedom.”
The recording ended.
I looked at Isabella.
Neither of us spoke.
Then my phone rang.
Thomas.
“You found the recording.”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Where are you?”
“Where your story began.”
“What does that mean?”
“Your father's old warehouse.”
The call ended.
We knew it was a trap.
We went anyway.
The warehouse was abandoned.
Thomas stood in the center.
He held no weapon.
That was the most frightening part.
“You've changed,” he said.
“Not enough.”
“You still think violence solves everything.”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because you have my wife.”
Thomas laughed.
“Your wife?”
He looked toward Isabella.
“Ask her why she came.”
I turned.
She stared at Thomas.
“You told me you'd let my father live.”
“You knew?”
She nodded.
“I made a deal.”
My chest tightened.
“What deal?”
“I agreed to bring you here.”
Thomas smiled.
“She saved her father.”
I understood.
Isabella had chosen her family.
I could never be angry at her for that.
Thomas raised a small device.
“Every word you say here is being recorded.”
I smiled.
“So is yours.”
His expression changed.
Jackson stepped forward with federal agents behind him.
Thomas looked around.
“You think you won?”
“No.”
I pointed toward the device.
“You confessed.”
Thomas's face hardened.
Then an explosion shook the warehouse.
Smoke filled the room.
Everyone scattered.
Thomas disappeared.
Isabella grabbed my hand.
“Luca!”
I held her.
“I'm here.”
But when the smoke cleared, the evidence was gone.
Thomas had escaped with the recording.
May you like
And he had one last weapon.
My own family.
