Chapter 14 - On the Tenth Anniversary of the Day Marcus Entered My Estate, Eva Returned to the Marble Steps Where She First Found Her VoiceWe stood on the steps.
The same place.
The same garden.
But everything else had changed.
Marcus was older.
Daniel stood beside him.
The house was full of children.
Eva stood beside me.
She smiled.
“Do you remember?”
“Yes.”
“I was scared.”
“I know.”
“You were scary too.”
I laughed.
“Still am.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“What am I?”
She thought.
“Dad.”
I smiled.
That word mattered.
More than any title.
More than any empire.
More than fear.
My daughter had been silent for seven years.
Then she spoke five words.
And those words destroyed the man I thought I was.
They saved a boy.
They exposed a conspiracy.
They dismantled an empire.
They rebuilt a family.
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Sometimes a child's voice is stronger than a man's army.
I knew that now.
