Chapter 4 - My Mother’s Doctor Was Lying
I didn’t sleep.
Neither did Cassian.
At four in the morning, we sat across from each other in the library while rain tapped against the glass.
“Tell me everything you know about my father.”
Cassian rubbed his forehead.
“I don’t know enough.”
“Then find out.”
“I will.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“We find out.”
Something changed in his expression.
Agreement.
We had become a team without either of us noticing.
By sunrise, Thomas had identified the doctor.
Dr. Adrian Mercer.
Seventy-one.
Respected.
Decorated.
Personal physician to wealthy families across Manhattan.
And somehow, he had worked at Vale Medical Center for seventeen years.
Cassian’s voice was flat.
“Bring him in.”
The doctor refused.
Cassian didn't react.
Instead, he called in a federal investigator he trusted.
Within hours, Adrian Mercer’s old records were being reviewed.
The truth surfaced before noon.
Mercer had indeed treated my father.
And the official cause of death had been falsified.
My father had been poisoned with a medication that would mimic cardiac failure.
My mother knew something was wrong.
But she had been threatened.
“If you speak,” she told me later, “they said they would make Lydia disappear.”
I cried.
“I was a child.”
“I know.”
“That’s why they picked you.”
“I wanted to protect you.”
“You did.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“But I should have told you sooner.”
I hugged her.
“I forgive you.”
That afternoon, Clara returned.
She brought the truth about the six wives.
They had not all been spies.
Two had been blackmailed.
One had been assaulted by Voss’s men.
One had voluntarily disappeared to escape being used.
One had secretly helped Cassian investigate his own family.
And the sixth had been found alive in Arizona under a different name.
Cassian looked devastated.
“I thought I lost her.”
Clara shook her head.
“She was afraid.”
“Of me?”
“No.”
She paused.
“Of what would happen if she stayed.”
That sentence stayed with me.
Maybe the stories had always been wrong.
Maybe Cassian was never the monster.
Maybe he had simply been surrounded by people who wanted him to become one.
That night, Evelyn called.
Her face appeared on the encrypted screen.
She looked exhausted.
“Lydia.”
I stepped closer.
“You know me?”
“I know about you.”
“Why did you choose me?”
“I didn’t.”
“You knew I existed.”
“I found your name in my mother’s records.”
I froze.
“What records?”
“Your mother wasn't just an employee.”
Cassian appeared behind me.
“What does she mean?”
Evelyn swallowed.
“Helen Carter was one of the last people your father trusted.”
I stared at her.
“He gave her evidence.”
Cassian looked at me.
“Your father left evidence with Helen?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“Then why are they after Lydia?”
“Because they believe she knows.”
Evelyn looked directly at me.
“You don’t.”
“No.”
“That’s why they underestimated you.”
She inhaled sharply.
“Listen carefully. Daniel Aldridge is not the leader.”
Margaret.
My stomach turned.
Evelyn whispered:
“My mother works for someone above her.”
“Who?”
She looked terrified.
“Cassian’s uncle.”
Cassian went still.
“My uncle died eight years ago.”
“No.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“He didn’t.”
The screen went black.
Cassian stared.
Thomas entered.
“We traced the call.”
“Where?”
“An abandoned property in Connecticut.”
Cassian grabbed his coat.
“We’re going.”
I caught his arm.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“You think I’m staying behind?”
“Yes.”
“I know the person in that photograph.”
“Who?”
“My father’s business partner.”
Cassian’s expression hardened.
“Name.”
“Victor Hale.”
Something flickered in his eyes.
Recognition.
“You know him.”
“Everyone in this world knows that name.”
“Then you know why I need to go.”
He paused.
“Yes.”
We left with six men.
The warehouse was empty.
Too empty.
Cassian saw the trap first.
“Back.”
The explosion threw us to the ground.
Smoke filled the air.
I heard shouting.
Glass shattered.
Then someone grabbed me from behind.
I screamed.
Cassian turned.
A gunman pulled me backward.
“Drop it!” he shouted.
Cassian lowered his weapon.
“Take me.”
The gunman laughed.
“No. We want her.”
He pressed the weapon against my temple.
Cassian’s face changed.
I had never seen rage like that.
“Let her go.”
“Too late.”
A gunshot rang out.
The attacker dropped.
Thomas had fired.
Cassian reached me immediately.
He held my face between his hands.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Look at me.”
I did.
“You’re safe.”
My body shook.
“I’m okay.”
He pulled me against his chest.
For the first time, I let him.
His arms tightened around me.
He whispered, “I thought I lost you.”
I closed my eyes.
And something inside me broke open.
Because the terrifying Mafia boss everyone feared was trembling.
Not from anger.
From fear.
Fear of losing me.
We returned to the estate that night.
Neither of us spoke much.
At the door to my room, Cassian stopped.
“Lydia.”
“Yes?”
“I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
“The sixth wife.”
“The one who ran barefoot?”
“Yes.”
He swallowed.
“She wasn't my wife.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“The marriage was never completed.”
“Then why did everyone believe it?”
“Because I let them.”
“Why?”
“Because she was an informant.”
I stared at him.
“She helped me find the people inside my organization.”
“What happened to her?”
“She disappeared after someone learned she was working for me.”
I thought of the list.
The names.
The threats.
The women who had survived.
Then I asked the question that had been haunting me.
“Would you have treated me like them?”
Cassian looked wounded.
“No.”
“How can I know?”
He moved closer.
“Because you walked into my chapel as a hostage.”
“And?”
“I saw you.”
His voice dropped.
“I don't know how else to explain it.”
I looked away.
“Maybe you should start.”
He reached for my hand.
Stopped before touching it.
Then waited.
I was the one who closed the distance.
That night, we didn't kiss.
We simply sat together until dawn.
And when the sun rose, we had crossed an invisible line.
The next morning, Cassian told me Victor Hale had resurfaced.
May you like
And he had one message.
“Tell Lydia Carter to open her father’s grave.”
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