Chapter 4 - The Father Everyone Buried
I don't remember leaving the old residence.
I only remember Adrian holding my hand.
The doctor introduced himself as Samuel Mercer.
He had treated Daniel after the night at Bellamy Pier.
According to him, Daniel had survived the attack.
Gideon had arranged for everyone to believe he was dead.
But there was more.
My father had helped him.
“Why?”
“Because your father discovered what Project Meridian really was.”
“What was it?”
Mercer hesitated.
“A system designed to manipulate communication between people.”
I stared at him.
“That's impossible.”
“It began as a corporate security project.”
Adrian nodded slowly.
“My father had been developing encrypted communication systems.”
“Yes.”
Mercer continued.
“But Gideon transformed the technology.”
“For what?”
“To control people.”
I felt sick.
Mercer explained that Project Meridian could intercept phone messages, delete emails, alter timestamps, redirect communications, and create false digital records.
Not perfectly.
But enough to create misunderstandings.
Enough to turn a marriage against itself.
Adrian stared at the floor.
“Why us?”
Mercer looked at me.
“Because your marriage represented the one thing Gideon couldn't control.”
I laughed bitterly.
“What?”
“Two families joining.”
That sounded ridiculous.
Until Mercer explained.
My father and Adrian's father had discovered Gideon's financial network years earlier.
They planned to expose him.
Gideon retaliated.
Then my father found out that Meridian had been used to manipulate several business relationships.
One of them was between our families.
He realized Gideon wanted to prevent any alliance between the Vale and Bennett families.
So he made a decision.
He arranged my marriage to Adrian.
Not because of money.
Not because of power.
But because he believed Adrian would eventually find the truth.
I stared at Mercer.
“My father chose Adrian for me?”
“Not exactly.”
I looked at Adrian.
“What do you mean?”
Mercer answered.
“Your father trusted Adrian.”
I almost laughed.
“That still doesn't make this okay.”
“No.”
Mercer nodded.
“He made a terrible mistake.”
Finally, I agreed with him.
There had been too much secrecy.
Too many people deciding my future.
“What happened to Daniel?”
Mercer gave us the address of a rehabilitation center outside the state.
“He has memory gaps from the attack.”
Adrian stared.
“You've been keeping him alive all these years?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if Gideon found him, he would finish what he started.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“Where is he?”
Mercer handed him a card.
“He moved six months ago.”
“Where?”
Mercer looked at me.
“Closer than you think.”
Before Adrian could ask another question, the doctor's phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“What?”
He listened.
Then hung up.
“You have to leave.”
“Why?”
“They found me.”
Gunshots shattered the windows.
Mercer ducked.
Adrian pushed me behind a wall.
Nolan shouted orders.
The house became chaos.
Someone was firing from the trees.
Adrian shielded me.
I heard Carter firing back.
Then the noise stopped.
Nolan checked the grounds.
“Clear.”
Mercer was bleeding from his shoulder.
Adrian crouched beside him.
“Who knew you were here?”
Mercer looked at me.
“Your father.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“He called me this morning.”
“From where?”
Mercer whispered an address.
I knew the street.
My childhood home.
The house my father had supposedly sold before his death.
Adrian looked at me.
“We're going there.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“You are not making decisions for me.”
He paused.
Then nodded.
“You're right.”
That surprised me.
He looked at Nolan.
“Prepare the cars.”
We drove to my old home.
It had been vacant for years.
The front lawn was overgrown.
The mailbox hung open.
Adrian inspected the perimeter while I stood on the porch.
Something felt wrong.
I opened the front door.
The house smelled exactly as I remembered.
Dust.
Wood.
Lavender.
I walked into the kitchen.
On the refrigerator was a drawing I had made when I was seven.
My mother had preserved it.
I touched the paper.
Then I saw something behind it.
A small envelope.
My name was written on it.
Claire.
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
My father.
Alive.
Standing beside Daniel.
And behind them was Adrian.
A much younger Adrian.
I stared.
On the back, my father's handwriting said:
The three of them never knew the truth at the same time.
A noise came from the basement.
I looked at Adrian.
He motioned for Nolan to follow.
We went downstairs.
At the bottom was an old computer terminal.
Still powered.
A single screen glowed.
Enter Claire's birthday.
I typed it.
The screen opened.
Hundreds of archived messages.
My father had recorded them over the years.
Letters he had never sent.
Videos.
Warnings.
Apologies.
I clicked the first video.
My father appeared.
Older than I remembered.
Tired.
Alive.
He stared into the camera.
“Claire, if you're seeing this, something has gone wrong.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“I am sorry.”
He looked away.
“I thought I could protect you by keeping you outside the war.”
He shook his head.
“I was wrong.”
My father continued.
“Adrian is not the enemy.”
I closed my eyes.
“He has been trying to protect you for years. But he has also been manipulated.”
My father looked directly into the camera.
“The person you need to fear is Gideon.”
A second file appeared automatically.
“Adrian is going to hate me for what I did.”
Then another.
“I arranged circumstances that brought you together.”
I stared.
“He loves you. I know that.”
My father smiled sadly.
“But love cannot be built on secrets.”
The video ended.
I cried.
Adrian stood behind me.
He didn't touch me.
He didn't say anything.
He simply stood there.
Then another video opened.
This one was Daniel.
He looked younger.
Healthy.
Terrified.
“If you're watching this, I survived.”
Adrian sat down.
Daniel continued.
“Gideon believes he controls the system.”
He looked over his shoulder.
“He doesn't.”
A pause.
“There's someone above him.”
Adrian's face tightened.
“Someone who funded Meridian from the beginning.”
Daniel whispered the name.
“Evelyn Vale.”
Adrian's mother.
Dead for six years.
Or so we believed.
I stared at him.
“No.”
Adrian didn't move.
The file ended.
Then the basement door slammed shut.
We spun around.
Locks clicked.
The lights went out.
A voice came over the speaker.
“Hello, Claire.”
My blood froze.
It was a woman's voice.
Soft.
Calm.
Familiar.
May you like
Adrian whispered one word.
“Mother.”
