Chapter 5 - Sadi Learned Why Her Father Had Chosen Her
Ronan recovered slowly.
Sadi refused to leave him unattended.
Not because she trusted him.
Because she was beginning to understand that he might be the only person who could explain her father's past.
One morning, she confronted him.
“Tell me everything.”
Ronan looked up.
“About?”
“My father.”
He was silent.
Then nodded.
“Samuel Hart wasn't just our accountant.”
“What was he?”
“He was my father's closest adviser.”
“My father worked for the Vales.”
“He worked beside them.”
“What happened?”
“Your father discovered that someone inside the organization was selling information.”
“To whom?”
“The Carusos.”
Sadi sat down.
“And the ledger?”
“Your father created it.”
“Why?”
“To expose everyone.”
“Then why hide it?”
“Because he learned the people investigating him were the same people he planned to expose.”
Sadi stared.
“Who?”
Ronan opened a file.
The names were there.
Judges.
Police.
Politicians.
Businessmen.
But one name made her stop breathing.
Grayson Hart.
Her uncle.
Her father's younger brother.
“My uncle died when I was fifteen.”
“No.”
Ronan shook his head.
“He disappeared.”
Sadi's hands trembled.
“You're saying he's alive?”
“We think so.”
“That makes no sense.”
“He has been using another identity.”
“Why?”
“Because he was the person who betrayed your father.”
Sadi stood.
“He killed him.”
“We don't know.”
“Then find out.”
Ronan looked at her.
“We will.”
They traveled to an old warehouse.
There they found old files.
Medical records.
Photographs.
A video.
Sadi's father speaking to someone.
The face was blurred.
But the voice was clear.
“I won't give you the key.”
A second voice answered.
“Then your daughter will.”
Sadi froze.
The video ended.
Her father had known.
He had hidden the key inside her memory.
Ronan touched her shoulder.
“He was protecting you.”
Sadi cried.
“He left me.”
“He gave you a chance to survive.”
“That isn't the same thing.”
“No.”
Ronan looked at her.
“It isn't.”
That night, Sadi couldn't sleep.
She stood outside by the lake.
Ronan joined her.
“You okay?”
“No.”
He stood beside her.
“I don't know what my life is anymore.”
“You're still you.”
“That isn't comforting.”
“I know.”
She looked at him.
“Why are you always honest?”
“Because lying gets people killed.”
She smiled faintly.
“That's dark.”
“It is.”
She looked at the water.
“Did your wife know everything?”
“No.”
“Did she know what you were?”
“Yes.”
“Did she leave?”
“No.”
“She died.”
“Yes.”
Sadi's heart tightened.
“Do you still love her?”
Ronan took a breath.
“I'll always love her.”
Sadi nodded.
She understood.
“You don't have to stop.”
“I know.”
He looked at her.
“But loving her doesn't mean I can't love someone else.”
Sadi froze.
“Ronan.”
He stepped closer.
“You don't have to answer.”
He reached for her hand.
Then stopped.
“I won't touch you unless you ask.”
Sadi stared at him.
After everything she had seen, that was the thing that disarmed her most.
She stepped closer.
Then took his hand.
His fingers closed around hers.
Neither spoke.
A phone rang.
Ronan answered.
His expression hardened.
“Say it again.”
Silence.
“What?”
May you like
He looked at Sadi.
“Your uncle has been found.”
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