Chapter 4 - Jericho Finally Told Me His Father Had Died Protecting the Woman Who Would Become MeJericho took me to a private room.
He locked the door.
“You need to know the truth.”
“About your father?”
“Yes.”
“And me?”
“Maybe.”
He sat across from me.
“My father was named Rafael Blackwood.”
I waited.
“He controlled the Black Crown.”
“What was it?”
“A network.”
“Criminal?”
“Yes.”
“Government?”
“Both.”
“That sounds impossible.”
“It was.”
He explained.
Rafael Blackwood had built an organization capable of controlling information across multiple countries.
He bought secrets.
Protected witnesses.
Destroyed enemies.
Sometimes he crossed legal lines.
Sometimes he crossed every line.
But twelve years into his reign, he discovered something worse.
Another network.
The Shadow Crown.
A group using children in illegal experiments.
Taking people with unusual neurological traits.
Erasing identities.
Manipulating memories.
I felt cold.
“Children?”
“Yes.”
“What did they do?”
“They altered them.”
“How?”
“Drugs.”
“Hypnosis.”
“Electromagnetic stimulation.”
“Memory conditioning.”
I stared.
“Why?”
“To create people who could be controlled.”
My stomach twisted.
Jericho looked at me.
“Your mother discovered the program.”
“My mother?”
“She was a scientist.”
I froze.
“I don't remember having a mother.”
“I know.”
“She was involved?”
“She tried to destroy it.”
“What happened?”
“She disappeared.”
“And my father?”
“Rafael protected her.”
“Your father?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he loved her.”
I couldn't breathe.
“My mother loved your father?”
“Apparently.”
“And my father?”
“Your biological father was Daniel Pierce.”
The name struck something.
Pierce.
My current surname.
I whispered:
“Daniel Pierce.”
Jericho nodded.
“He worked with the Shadow Crown.”
“What?”
“He helped build parts of the program.”
I stared.
“My father was a criminal?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did my mother trust him?”
“She didn't.”
“She was forced.”
My head hurt.
Memories flashed.
A laboratory.
Metal doors.
A crying child.
A woman screaming.
Then darkness.
I covered my ears.
Jericho moved closer.
“Lennox.”
“Don't.”
He stopped.
I took several breaths.
“What happened to Evelyn Vale?”
He stared.
“That's your name.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“You weren't born Lennox.”
“Who was Evelyn?”
“You.”
The world shifted.
I backed away.
“You're saying I changed my name.”
“No.”
“You're saying I was someone else.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because someone erased Evelyn Vale from the world.”
My throat tightened.
“Who?”
“Your father.”
“Why?”
“She discovered the Shadow Crown.”
I closed my eyes.
The pieces were beginning to connect.
Five years ago, my life began.
Five years ago, Gabriel disappeared.
Five years ago, Evelyn Vale disappeared.
Five years ago, a new identity appeared.
Lennox Pierce.
I looked at Jericho.
“Why did you protect me?”
“Because my father promised your mother.”
“Promised what?”
“To keep you alive.”
I whispered:
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Since before the restaurant.”
I felt betrayed.
“You knew who I was.”
“I suspected.”
“You investigated me.”
“Yes.”
“You brought me into your house.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because someone was trying to kill you.”
“And you thought keeping me close was safer.”
“Yes.”
I laughed bitterly.
“That sounds like a terrible plan.”
“It was.”
He almost smiled.
Then his expression softened.
“Rosie trusts you.”
“So?”
“She hasn't trusted anyone since her mother died.”
I understood.
He hadn't only brought me there because of the mystery.
He had brought me there because his daughter loved me.
“You want me to stay.”
“Yes.”
“Even after knowing who I am?”
“Especially now.”
My heart tightened.
Then he took out a photograph.
Rafael Blackwood.
My mother.
Me.
A little girl.
I stared.
I was maybe six years old.
My mother held my hand.
Rafael stood beside her.
And behind us was Daniel Pierce.
My father.
All four of us together.
A family.
A lie.
“What happened?”
Jericho answered:
“My father tried to get you out.”
“Did he succeed?”
“Yes.”
“Then why don't I remember?”
“Because the Shadow Crown took you.”
I stared.
“They altered your memory.”
“How?”
“We don't know.”
“Then Gabriel?”
“He was part of the extraction.”
“And he disappeared?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He was protecting you.”
I looked down.
Five years ago, Gabriel had given me a new identity.
Then someone killed him.
Or tried to.
I had seen him die.
Perhaps I had seen a staged death.
Perhaps I had been manipulated.
I didn't know.
Jericho gave me another document.
A medical report.
SUBJECT EVELYN VALE.
Memory suppression successful.
My hands shook.
“I was a patient.”
“Yes.”
“Did my mother do this to me?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“Your father.”
I stared.
“Daniel Pierce.”
Jericho nodded.
“He believed you could expose the Shadow Crown.”
“So he erased me.”
“Yes.”
“Then why am I alive?”
“Because Rafael saved you.”
I swallowed.
“And your father died.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Jericho looked away.
“My father was killed the night you escaped.”
“By my father?”
“We think so.”
“You don't know?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
He looked directly at me.
“Someone inside my family.”
Silence.
A knock came at the door.
One of Jericho's men entered.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We found Daniel Pierce.”
I froze.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
The man handed Jericho a photograph.
A recent photograph.
Daniel Pierce.
Alive.
Standing beside Rosie.
My breath stopped.
“Where was this taken?”
Jericho looked at me.
“Three days ago.”
May you like
My father had been watching his granddaughter.
And he was close enough to watch me too.
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