Chapter 8 - The Secret Behind the Sleeping Maid
The letter led them to an old cemetery.
Kayla and Gunther found a grave.
Daniel Hughes.
But beneath the name was another name.
Jonathan Woods.
Gunther stared.
“What?”
Kayla looked at him.
“Your father and mine…”
Were the same man.
Not biological.
Legally.
Daniel Hughes had been given the Woods surname temporarily.
The truth was more complicated.
Gunther and Kayla were half-siblings through Eleanor.
But Daniel had raised Kayla as his daughter.
He had protected her from the Woods family.
The final secret was that Daniel had been the one who arranged Eleanor's escape.
He had not betrayed Gunther's father.
He had betrayed the entire criminal network.
He had sacrificed himself to protect the children.
Kayla cried.
“I thought he abandoned me.”
Gunther held her.
“He didn't.”
“He left.”
“He stayed alive long enough to save us.”
They found his final letter.
My children,
I am sorry.
I wanted to tell you everything.
But fear made cowards of all of us.
If you're reading this, you've already learned the truth.
Do not repeat my mistakes.
Don't let revenge become your inheritance.
Kayla pressed the letter to her chest.
Gunther looked toward the grave.
“He succeeded.”
“What?”
“He wanted us to live differently.”
They placed flowers on the grave.
Then went home.
At home, their daughter was waiting.
She ran into their arms.
“Mommy!”
Kayla laughed.
“What happened?”
“Daddy said he'd make pancakes.”
Gunther looked offended.
“They were going to be pancakes.”
“They were burned.”
Kayla laughed.
For a man who had once ruled an empire, Gunther looked helpless beside a frying pan.
She kissed him.
“You need me.”
“I do.”
“I knew it.”
He smiled.
“I've always needed you.”
The words mattered.
Because Gunther had spent his whole life believing need was weakness.
Now he understood.
Need was trust.
Trust was love.
May you like
And love was not a liability.
It was the reason to change.
