Chapter 6 - My Mother Wanted My Daughter More Than She Wanted MeMy mother's name was Eleanor Hart.
She had been declared dead nineteen years earlier.
Instead, she became The Shepherd.
The woman who controlled an international intelligence network.
The woman who manipulated Edward Voss.
The woman who had been using Marcus Reed to monitor me.
I wanted to hate her.
Part of me did.
But another part remembered bedtime stories.
Warm hands.
A perfume that smelled like roses.
A woman who used to sing when storms frightened me.
The human heart was cruel that way.
It remembered tenderness even when truth demanded anger.
We went underground.
Daniel found us a safe house.
Damian spent every night beside the door with a weapon.
I barely slept.
Lily asked where Daddy was.
Damian looked at me the first time she called him that.
He didn't correct her.
Neither did I.
One night, she fell asleep between us on the couch.
Her hand rested on Damian's chest.
I whispered, “She trusts you.”
He looked down.
“I'd die for her.”
“I know.”
“And for you.”
I looked at him.
“You shouldn't.”
“I don't get to choose.”
He reached for my hand.
I let him take it.
“I lied to you,” I whispered.
“So did I.”
“I used you.”
“I used you too.”
“Do we get to stop?”
He smiled faintly.
“When this is over.”
The next morning, Marcus contacted us.
He wanted the ledger.
He offered an exchange.
Vanessa for the ledger.
I didn't trust him.
Neither did Damian.
But Vanessa knew where Edward was.
We agreed.
The exchange happened at an abandoned train station.
Vanessa appeared alone.
She looked exhausted.
No makeup.
No expensive clothes.
Just a woman who suddenly looked very young.
Damian aimed his gun.
“Where is Edward?”
“Dead.”
I stared.
“What?”
“Your mother killed him.”
“When?”
“Two days ago.”
Vanessa handed us a flash drive.
“It contains everything.”
Marcus's voice came from the speakers above us.
“Thank you, Vanessa.”
The doors slammed shut.
Gas filled the room.
I covered my mouth.
Damian grabbed me.
“Move!”
We ran toward the side exit.
Vanessa fell behind.
She shoved the drive into my hand.
“Take it.”
“Come with us.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
She looked at Damian.
Then at me.
“I helped them.”
She smiled sadly.
“This is the first good thing I've done.”
Smoke filled the station.
Damian dragged me out.
Vanessa stayed behind.
I heard gunfire.
Then silence.
We thought she was dead.
But when we accessed the drive, we discovered something shocking.
Vanessa had recorded a confession.
She revealed that Marcus planned to assassinate several people and blame the murders on Damian.
The evidence was enough to bring federal investigators into the case.
But it also contained a location.
Eleanor's private estate.
We went there.
Not to attack.
To confront her.
She was waiting.
No guards.
No weapons.
Just Eleanor Hart sitting at a dining table.
A place setting for three.
She looked at me.
“Sit.”
I remained standing.
“You're my mother.”
“Yes.”
“You destroyed my life.”
“I gave you one.”
“You took my father.”
“He would have killed you.”
“You took Edward.”
“He deserved worse.”
“You tried to take Lily.”
Her face changed.
“I never wanted to hurt Lily.”
“Then what do you want?”
“You.”
I froze.
“Not your daughter.”
She stood.
“I want my daughter back.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You lost that right years ago.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
For the first time, I saw the woman from my childhood.
Not The Shepherd.
My mother.
“I know.”
Silence.
Then she whispered.
“The only reason I became a monster was because I believed monsters were the only people who could protect you.”
I shook my head.
“And now?”
She looked toward Damian.
“Now I think perhaps you found someone better.”
Damian stepped forward.
“You don't get redemption by handing us a speech.”
“No.”
Eleanor nodded.
“You get it by telling the truth.”
She slid a folder across the table.
Inside were documents.
Evidence.
Bank records.
Names.
And a confession signed by her own hand.
“I will dismantle everything.”
I stared.
“Why?”
She looked at me.
“Because you were right.”
May you like
“For what?”
“Love shouldn't require fear.”
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