Chapter 5 - Gideon Took My Mother to Force Me to Surrender the Ledger, but Damian Refused to Let Me Trade Myself for HerI knew I couldn't give him the ledger.
My mother would understand.
But knowing and accepting were different.
I wanted to go.
Damian refused.
“No.”
“She is my mother.”
“I know.”
“Then let me.”
“I will rescue her.”
“You don't know where she is.”
“I do now.”
“How?”
He showed me a photo.
An abandoned medical clinic.
Gideon's people had left traces.
We went.
The clinic was empty.
My mother was gone.
Instead, we found a recording.
Gideon appeared on screen.
“Hello, Tessa.”
He smiled.
“You look just like your father.”
“What did you do to him?”
“I finished what he started.”
“You killed him.”
“Yes.”
Damian stepped toward the screen.
“You're dead.”
Gideon laughed.
“Am I?”
The feed shifted.
My mother appeared.
Alive.
Shaken.
Gideon stood behind her.
“Bring me the ledger.”
I stepped forward.
“No.”
Gideon smiled.
“Then she dies.”
Damian looked at me.
“Don't.”
My eyes filled.
“She’s my mother.”
“She would rather die than have you walk into a trap.”
I knew he was right.
My mother looked at the camera.
“Tessa.”
“Yes?”
“Listen to him.”
She knew Damian.
Apparently, she'd known him for years.
Gideon ended the feed.
We tracked the signal.
The rescue took hours.
Damian led the operation.
I stayed behind.
I hated it.
But I trusted him.
For the first time in my life, I understood what trust felt like.
Not knowing the outcome.
Choosing anyway.
They brought my mother home before dawn.
She was bruised.
Exhausted.
Alive.
I held her.
She cried.
“I should have told you.”
“I know.”
“I thought I was protecting you.”
“You were.”
She looked at Damian.
“Thank you.”
He nodded.
After she slept, my mother told me everything.
My father had been trying to dismantle the network.
He knew Gideon wanted the family trust.
He also knew Damian was the only person powerful enough to oppose him.
“He loved you,” my mother said.
“Who?”
“Your father.”
“I know.”
“No.”
She touched my hand.
“He wanted Damian to become your protector because he believed Damian could still become a good man.”
I looked at Damian through the glass door.
He was standing alone.
My mother continued:
“Your father also believed you would teach him what power could not.”
I swallowed.
“What?”
“How to care without controlling.”
I didn't know what to say.
That night, Damian came inside.
He sat beside me.
“Your mother is right.”
I looked at him.
“About what?”
“Your father believed in me more than I believed in myself.”
“That scares me.”
“Why?”
“Because what if he was wrong?”
Damian looked at me.
“Then you walk away.”
I smiled.
“You really mean that.”
“Yes.”
He reached for my hand.
I let him.
The moment felt fragile.
Then my brother Marcus returned.
He looked terrified.
“Tessa.”
“What?”
“I know who Gideon is working for.”
“Who?”
Marcus whispered:
“Your father's killer.”
I froze.
“You said Gideon.”
“I was wrong.”
“Then who?”
He looked at Damian.
“His name is Adrian Cole.”
Damian stood.
The room changed.
I had never seen him react to a name like that.
“Adrian is dead.”
Marcus shook his head.
“He's alive.”
“Who is he?”
Damian looked at me.
“My former partner.”
“And?”
“He was the person I trusted most.”
Marcus stared at him.
“He's the one who arranged your father's murder.”
Silence.
May you like
Then Damian whispered:
“And he wants you.”
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