Chapter 6 - My Father-in-Law Was Alive, and He Had Been the One Keeping the Truth About the Circle BuriedDavid's father stood at the end of the hallway.
He had disappeared years earlier.
Everyone thought he was dead.
I was starting to realize that death meant very little in this family.
“Put the gun down,” he repeated.
Thomas froze.
“Why are you alive?”
The older man looked at David.
“Because I knew you'd eventually betray everyone.”
Thomas laughed.
“You've been hiding.”
“I've been protecting.”
“From me?”
“From the Circle.”
Thomas's face hardened.
“You never chose me.”
“I chose David.”
The words were brutal.
Thomas raised his gun.
Alessandro fired.
Thomas dropped his weapon.
Security surrounded him.
For the first time, the war was almost over.
But David's father turned to me.
“You are Catherine.”
“Yes.”
“You have your mother's eyes.”
I froze.
“You knew my mother?”
“Yes.”
“Who was she?”
“Her name was Sarah.”
I stared.
“My mother was Elena.”
He shook his head.
“Her true name was Sarah Bennett.”
“She worked for the Circle?”
“She worked against it.”
“What did she do?”
“She created the biological archive.”
“The key?”
“Yes.”
“Why did she use my family?”
“Because she needed protection.”
“And my father?”
“Was her handler.”
I sat.
Everything was becoming tangled.
My mother had been part of the Circle.
My father had been involved.
David's father had protected her.
David had inherited the conflict.
I asked:
“Why did my mother disappear?”
“She didn't.”
“What?”
“She was killed.”
“By whom?”
He looked at Thomas.
“Your brother.”
David's face changed.
Thomas shouted:
“That's a lie.”
His father shook his head.
“You arranged the attack.”
Thomas stared.
“I didn't.”
“You wanted the archive.”
“You wanted the boy.”
“You wanted everything.”
Thomas broke.
“I wanted what was mine.”
David stepped toward him.
“You had everything.”
“You had Father's love.”
“I wanted a brother.”
Thomas laughed.
“You always got everything.”
“Not you.”
The tension broke.
Thomas was arrested.
The remaining network surrendered.
The hospital was secured.
The archive was found.
But there was one problem.
We still had to decide what to do with the evidence.
David wanted it destroyed.
Alessandro wanted it released.
I asked why.
Alessandro explained.
“If we release it, thousands of people go to prison.”
“And?”
“Some are innocent.”
“Then investigators determine who.”
“And the public?”
“They deserve the truth.”
David looked at me.
“You're right.”
I was surprised.
He smiled.
“You've changed.”
“I've had a difficult week.”
He laughed.
Then my son walked over.
“Daddy.”
David knelt.
“What?”
“Can we go home?”
My heart broke.
“Yes.”
We left.
But before we returned to our house, Alessandro stopped me.
“I need to tell you something.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“David asked me to protect you.”
“I know.”
“But there was another reason.”
“What?”
He hesitated.
“I loved you before he died.”
I stared.
My heart raced.
“I didn't know.”
“I never told you.”
“Why?”
“Because you were married.”
“And now?”
He looked at David.
“Now you have a family.”
I swallowed.
“Thank you.”
He nodded.
He walked away.
For a moment, I wondered what could have been.
Then I looked at David.
He smiled.
He knew.
He didn't look jealous.
He only said:
“He's a good man.”
“Yes.”
“He saved us.”
“Yes.”
May you like
Then he took my hand.
“And I am the luckiest man alive.”
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