Chapter 3 - The Father She Was Told Had Never Loved HerThey drove to Chicago.
Ana watched the landscape change.
Pennsylvania forests gave way to highways.
Then bridges.
Then the skyline.
Brooks drove in silence.
Finally Ana asked:
“Why Chicago?”
“Because it's the only place Alexander doesn't control completely.”
“That doesn't sound comforting.”
“It isn't.”
His home overlooked the river.
It was luxurious but strangely empty.
Ana stepped inside.
“Where do you sleep?”
Brooks pointed upstairs.
“Where do you eat?”
“Mostly restaurants.”
“Do you ever cook?”
“No.”
“You're useless.”
He laughed.
She smiled.
It was the first time they both felt the tension break.
He gave her a room.
Then returned with a small medical kit.
“Sit.”
Ana obeyed.
He cleaned her hand.
“You don't have to do that.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because I want to.”
She looked at him.
He worked carefully.
“You're not what I expected.”
“What did you expect?”
“Someone cruel.”
“I can be.”
“I believe you.”
He looked up.
“You should.”
She smiled.
Then noticed the scars on his wrist.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“That's a lie.”
“It's complicated.”
“Then tell me.”
He sighed.
“I was twenty-four when I first met your mother.”
Ana listened.
“She was working here in Chicago.”
“Playing piano?”
“Yes.”
“She was beautiful.”
Brooks smiled sadly.
“She was impossible.”
Ana laughed.
“She sounds familiar.”
He nodded.
“She wanted to escape her father.”
“And?”
“She tried.”
Alexander found her.
Then Brooks helped her.
They planned to disappear together.
But Alexander discovered the plan.
Adrian, Ana's father, helped them.
He stole evidence.
Then he was caught.
Brooks told Ana the rest.
Adrian hid the ledger.
Marie escaped with Ana.
But someone betrayed them.
The fire.
The disappearance.
The years of silence.
Brooks had believed Marie died.
He had found Ana only because a private investigator traced her birth records.
Then he learned Alexander was searching too.
Ana looked down.
“So you didn't hire me for the money.”
“No.”
“You hired me because I'm his granddaughter.”
“Yes.”
“Do you hate me for being one?”
Brooks looked at her.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because you didn't choose your blood.”
Ana looked away.
“Sometimes I wish I had.”
He touched her shoulder.
“I know.”
The next day, she returned to the piano.
Brooks watched.
She played the lullaby.
This time, he remembered.
Victoria Hale's voice.
Marie's laughter.
Adrian's footsteps.
A door slamming.
A gunshot.
Ana stopped.
“I remember something.”
“What?”
“My father.”
She closed her eyes.
“He gave me something.”
“What?”
“A book.”
“Where?”
“In the nursery.”
Brooks stared.
“That room was sealed.”
“It shouldn't be.”
They returned to Briar Glen.
The nursery remained untouched.
Behind a false panel, they found an old wooden box.
Inside was a letter.
Adrian's handwriting.
Ana,
If you are reading this, then I failed to protect your mother.
Ana's hands shook.
But I didn't fail to love you.
She covered her mouth.
Brooks stood beside her.
The letter continued.
Adrian explained that Alexander had wanted to use him as a successor.
He refused.
He planned to expose the family.
He entrusted the ledger to Marie.
He told her to teach Ana the lullaby.
The melody was a code.
The final line read:
The person who plays the lullaby from memory can open the truth.
Ana looked at Brooks.
“What does that mean?”
He pointed toward the wall.
There was an old piano key-shaped depression.
Ana pressed it.
A hidden room opened.
Inside was a safe.
The code was the lullaby.
She entered the notes.
The safe opened.
Inside lay photographs, bank records, and a final tape.
Ana pressed play.
Her father's voice filled the room.
“Alexander, if you're hearing this, you didn't find her.”
A second voice answered.
“You underestimated me.”
Alexander.
Adrian replied:
“No.”
A pause.
“I underestimated what she'd become.”
Ana began crying.
The tape continued.
Adrian said the ledger contained enough evidence to destroy Alexander.
But there was one missing page.
A page with the name of the person inside Alexander's organization who had betrayed them.
Brooks froze.
The voice on the tape named him.
A man Brooks trusted.
His right-hand man.
Marcus Bell.
Brooks went still.
“No.”
Ana looked at him.
“Who is Marcus?”
“My oldest friend.”
“He betrayed your family?”
“And yours.”
Before they could move, the mansion doors exploded inward.
Marcus stood in the doorway.
May you like
He smiled.
“You really should stop opening old rooms.”
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