Chapter 6 - My Father's Name Was on Victor's Hit List—But the Date Beside It Was Written Five Years After Dad DiedI stared at the screen.
Dad's name.
Beside it was a date.
A date five years in the future.
I didn't understand.
Mom did.
She whispered,
“That's impossible.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because Daniel died five years ago.”
Marcus frowned.
“What if that isn't a hit list?”
I looked at him.
“What is it?”
“A contact list.”
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed toward another column.
“Look.”
Each name had a status.
Some were marked REMOVED.
Some were marked ACTIVE.
Dad's name was marked:
ACTIVE.
Mom covered her mouth.
I felt cold.
“Dad is dead.”
Ethan looked at me.
“I know.”
“Then why does it say active?”
Nobody answered.
We searched the system.
We found recordings.
Documents.
Voice messages.
Then one file opened automatically.
Dad appeared on screen.
Older than I remembered.
Tired.
Alive.
My knees nearly gave out.
“Dad?”
Mom collapsed into a chair.
The recording was dated four months after his supposed death.
Dad looked directly into the camera.
“If you're watching this, something went wrong.”
He explained.
He had discovered that Victor wasn't working alone.
Someone inside CrossTech had ordered the sabotage.
Someone with access to every project.
Someone who had been using Prometheus to test a larger system.
Dad had faked his death.
He had gone into hiding.
He had left us because he believed staying close would get us killed.
Mom cried.
“You let us believe you were dead.”
Dad's recording continued.
“I had no choice.”
Then he said the words that changed everything.
“Ethan Cross is not the enemy.”
Ethan looked stunned.
Dad continued.
“Trust him.”
The recording ended.
Silence.
I looked at Ethan.
“You knew?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
“Then how did Dad know you?”
Ethan smiled sadly.
“Because your father saved my life once.”
He explained.
Years ago, Ethan had been investigating the same network.
Daniel helped him.
Then someone inside CrossTech betrayed them.
Daniel disappeared.
Ethan believed him dead.
Until tonight.
We now knew one thing.
May you like
Dad was alive.
And Victor was hunting him.
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