Chapter 5: The Daughter of a Dead Man
The photograph stayed in my hand for almost a minute.
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t breathe.
The little girl in the picture looked like me.
Not someone who resembled me.
Not someone with similar hair or similar eyes.
Me.
Same necklace.
Same scar above my eyebrow.
Same expression of someone who already knew the world was dangerous.
But the man standing beside me was impossible.
Richard Kane.
Adrian Kane’s father.
A man whose face had been on magazine covers, business journals, and television screens for decades.
A man who died eight years ago.
A man I had never met.
At least, that was what I believed.
“Tell me this is fake.””
My voice came out quieter than I expected.
Adrian didn’t answer immediately.
That scared me more than if he had lied.
“Adrian.””
He looked away.
“My father kept a lot of secrets.””
“That’s not what I asked.””
His jaw tightened.
“No. It’s not fake.””
The room suddenly felt too small.
I dropped the photograph onto the desk.
“Then who am I?””
Nobody spoke.
Outside the glass windows, millions of people continued living their ordinary lives.
Cars moved.
People walked.
Lights turned on in apartments.
And somewhere above all of them, I was discovering that my entire life was built on a lie.
Elena looked at the file again.
“There’s something else.””
I turned toward her.
“What?””
She hesitated.
“Your original identity records weren’t destroyed.””
Adrian looked at her.
“They were replaced.””
“Yes.””
“By who?””
Elena’s expression hardened.
“That’s the problem.””
She placed another document on the desk.
“The person who changed them had high-level access.””
Adrian picked up the paper.
His eyes moved quickly.
Then stopped.
“What?””
I watched his face.
For the first time, I saw something I hadn’t seen before.
Not anger.
Not confidence.
Betrayal.
“Who was it?”” I asked.
Adrian didn’t answer.
“Adrian.””
He slowly placed the document down.
“My father’s closest advisor.””
I frowned.
“Your father’s advisor?””
“Yes.””
“What’s his name?””
Adrian stared at the paper.
“Marcus Vale.””
The name meant nothing to me.
But it clearly meant something to him.
“Who is Marcus Vale?””
Adrian walked toward the window.
“He was the man who raised me after my father died.””
I noticed something strange.
The way he said raised.
Not helped.
Not protected.
Raised.
Like there was something painful hidden inside that word.
“He was family,” Adrian continued.
“Almost.””
Almost.
That single word carried more history than a hundred explanations.
I crossed my arms.
“So your family erased me?””
Adrian looked back.
“I don’t know.””
“You don’t know?””
“No.””
His voice became colder.
“But I’m going to find out.””
I laughed softly.
“Of course you are.””
“What does that mean?””
“It means everyone with power thinks they can fix everything by digging deeper.””
His eyes narrowed.
“And you think running solves everything?””
That hit harder than I wanted.
I looked away.
Because maybe he was right.
Maybe running was the only thing I knew how to do.
A loud crash interrupted us.
The office lights flickered.
Elena immediately reached for her weapon.
“What was that?””
A second later, the building alarm started.
Not a normal alarm.
A silent one.
The kind only people inside the building would notice.
Adrian’s expression changed instantly.
“Lock down every floor.””
Elena grabbed her phone.
“Already doing it.””
I looked between them.
“What’s happening?””
Adrian didn’t answer.
He was listening.
Waiting.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Who is this?””
A voice came through the speaker.
A voice that sounded old.
Calm.
Certain.
“Hello, Adrian.””
Adrian froze.
I saw it happen.
The confidence disappeared.
The anger disappeared.
For one second, he looked like a child.
“Marcus.””
The man laughed softly.
“So you found her.””
My stomach dropped.
Adrian’s hand tightened around the phone.
“You knew?””
“I’ve known where she was for years.””
Silence.
Then Adrian’s voice became dangerous.
“Where is she?””
A pause.
Then Marcus answered.
“She’s standing right beside you.””
I looked around.
Confused.
Then the line went dead.
Everyone in the room became still.
“What did he mean?”” Elena asked.
Adrian didn’t respond.
He was staring at me.
Not with suspicion.
With fear.
“What?”” I whispered.
He stepped closer.
“Wren…”
The office door suddenly unlocked.
Slowly.
Someone pushed it open.
A man stood outside.
Older.
Silver hair.
Perfect suit.
Calm smile.
The kind of smile that didn’t belong to a good person.
“I see you finally found her.””
Adrian’s face turned cold.
“Marcus.””
The older man looked at me.
And smiled.
“Hello, little bird.””
My blood froze.
Because I had heard that nickname before.
Not recently.
Not from him.
From a memory buried so deep I thought it was gone.
A woman crying.
A locked door.
A whispered warning.
Run, little bird.
Run before they find you.
Marcus Vale stepped into the room.
And said the words that destroyed the last piece of my past.
“Your mother spent twelve years trying to keep you away from us.””
He looked at Adrian.
“But your father always knew you would come back.””
May you like
Then he looked at me.
“And now you finally have.””
