Chapter 7 - The Mafia Boss Gave Me One Choice—Stay and Fight Beside Him or Walk Away Forever
The week after Victor's arrest changed everything.
Northbridge's board wanted Jack to step down.
The press wanted explanations.
Employees wanted safety.
Banks wanted guarantees.
And Jack?
He wanted me.
But he refused to ask me to stay.
“You're free,” he said one night.
We were sitting in his kitchen.
“Free to go.”
I looked at him.
“That's it?”
“Yes.”
“You're not going to convince me?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because your choice has to be yours.”
I stared at him.
“You learned that fast.”
“You taught me.”
I smiled.
He reached across the table.
“I love you.”
My heart raced.
“I know.”
“That wasn't an answer.”
“I love you too.”
He closed his eyes.
For the first time, he looked relieved.
Then the door opened.
Thomas entered.
He had recovered enough to walk.
“Sorry.”
Jack looked up.
“What's wrong?”
Thomas placed a folder on the table.
“Victor wasn't the final target.”
Jack frowned.
“He was the architect.”
“Then who?”
Thomas looked at me.
“Elias Mercer.”
The name meant nothing.
It meant everything to my father.
“Who is he?” I asked.
Daniel emerged from the hallway.
“The last person who knew about Project Black.”
My father looked terrified.
“He was your father's business partner.”
Jack frowned.
“My grandfather's?”
“Yes.”
“And he disappeared.”
“He disappeared because Victor betrayed him.”
We investigated.
Mercer was alive.
And he had been waiting.
He owned a private investment firm in New York.
Completely legitimate.
Too legitimate.
Jack met him privately.
I insisted on coming.
Mercer smiled when he saw me.
“You're Daniel's daughter.”
“Yes.”
“You have his eyes.”
“I've heard that.”
Mercer laughed.
“You're more dangerous than he ever was.”
Jack stepped forward.
“Why are you interested in her?”
“Because Daniel left something unfinished.”
“What?”
Mercer looked at me.
“The final account.”
“What account?”
“The one capable of exposing everyone who benefited from Project Black.”
My stomach tightened.
“Where is it?”
Mercer smiled.
“You already have it.”
I froze.
“The second ledger.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
He reached into his pocket and removed a photograph.
My father.
Jack's father.
My mother.
Victor.
And another woman.
I recognized her.
Victoria.
She had been involved from the beginning.
Not as a leader.
As a witness.
Mercer explained.
Victoria had spent years collecting evidence.
But she had been blackmailed into helping Victor.
She had secretly copied everything.
The real account was hidden in Northbridge's original marketing server.
My career came full circle.
The server was located in the building's oldest wing.
I knew exactly where it was.
We went there that night.
I accessed the server.
Thousands of files.
I found the account.
Then I found something else.
A folder labeled:
EMILY CARTER — OBSERVATION.
Inside were photographs of me from childhood.
School.
Birthday parties.
My first job.
Someone had been watching me for years.
I panicked.
“Jack.”
He looked.
His face became cold.
“How long?”
“Twenty years.”
Someone had monitored me since my father's disappearance.
Then I found the reason.
Because my father had hidden a final password.
My name.
He had known I would eventually find the truth.
The password opened a file.
Inside were recordings.
My father.
Jack's father.
And my mother.
Together.
Planning a future.
They had known Victor would eventually come for Jack.
They had planned for someone to rebuild Northbridge legally.
Someone trustworthy.
Someone who understood people instead of power.
Me.
I stared.
“They knew I'd work here.”
Jack nodded slowly.
“They hoped you would.”
My throat tightened.
“So my career…”
“Was never the reason.”
“It was part of the plan.”
“Yes.”
I laughed through tears.
“My entire life was a chessboard.”
Jack stepped closer.
“No.”
He took my face gently.
“Your father built you a road.”
He kissed my forehead.
“You chose where to walk.”
I believed him.
For the first time, I wasn't simply surviving.
I was choosing.
I chose him.
I chose the company.
But most importantly, I chose myself.
Then Mercer called.
“Emily.”
“What?”
“Your mother has been taken.”
My blood froze.
“By whom?”
May you like
He whispered:
“Victoria.”
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