MasukThe footsteps outside the house grew louder.Daniella stood in the middle of her father’s old bedroom, still holding the recorder. Her heart was pounding, but for once, fear wasn’t controlling her.She knew the truth now.Her uncle had killed her father.The only thing she didn’t know was who had helped him.Christian moved toward the door and quietly checked the hallway.“Three men,” he said. “Maybe more outside.”Daniella looked at her uncle.“Who are they?”“I don’t know.”“You’re lying.”Her uncle’s eyes met hers.“I don’t know who Adrian sent.”“Adrian?”“He’s been trying to get the ledger for years.”Christian turned sharply.“You said Adrian wasn’t the person behind Crown Meridian.”“He isn’t.”“Then why does he want the ledger?”“Because the ledger contains evidence against him.”Daniella frowned.“Evidence of what?”Her uncle hesitated.“Things he did after your father died.”Christian stepped closer.“And the man who helped you kill Daniel?”Her uncle’s expression changed.“
Daniella didn’t speak during the drive back to the old house.She sat beside Christian in silence, staring through the window while her uncle drove ahead of them. Every word he had spoken at the training compound kept replaying in her mind.I created Crown Meridian.I killed your father.I trained you to become a weapon.She had spent thirteen years believing her uncle had saved her from the monster who murdered her father. She had trusted every lesson, every warning and every piece of information he had given her.Now she couldn’t tell which memories were real and which had been carefully constructed for her.Christian reached across the space between them and took her hand.Daniella looked down at their joined fingers.“I don’t know who I am anymore.”Christian’s voice was quiet. “You don’t have to figure that out tonight.”“He made me.”“No.”She looked at him.“He trained you. That’s different.”“It doesn’t feel different.”“It is.”Daniella swallowed.“My entire life has been bui
The drive to the training compound felt longer than it should have.Daniella sat in the back seat beside Christian while Elena remained in the front. Her uncle drove without saying a word.The silence was suffocating.Daniella kept staring at the back of his head, trying to reconcile the man she knew with the confession he had just made.He was the man in her childhood memory.The man standing over her father’s body.The man whose face she had spent thirteen years trying to remember.And he was the same man who had spent those thirteen years training her.Christian reached for her hand.She hesitated before allowing him to hold it.“You don’t have to do this tonight,” he said quietly.“Yes, I do.”“Why?”“Because if I stop now, I might never be able to face it.”Christian squeezed her hand.“Then I’ll be there.”Daniella looked at him.“I don’t deserve you.”His expression tightened.“Don’t say that.”“I lied to you.”“You didn’t know the truth.”“I still entered your house planning t
Adrian’s voice still echoed through the cellar.“You should never have opened that door.”Daniella stood completely still, the black ledger pressed against her chest. Christian was beside her, his gun raised toward the staircase, while Elena stood behind them. Her uncle remained near the metal safe, watching the darkness above.But Daniella wasn’t thinking about Adrian.She was thinking about her uncle.For years, he had been the person she trusted most.The man who had raised her after her father’s death.The man who had taught her how to fight.The man who had taught her how to read people, manipulate situations, control her emotions and never hesitate when the time came to hurt someone.He had taught her everything she knew about revenge.And now she was beginning to wonder why.Christian’s voice broke through her thoughts.“We need to move.”Daniella looked at him.“Where?”“There’s another exit.”Her uncle immediately shook his head.“No.”Christian turned toward him.“Why?”“Bec
They barely made it out of the old Harper estate before another explosion shook the building behind them.Daniella stumbled as the ground trembled beneath her feet. Christian caught her around the waist and pulled her toward the waiting car.“Get in!”Elena climbed into the back seat while Daniella and Christian got in front. Christian started the engine and sped away from the estate.For several minutes, nobody spoke.Daniella looked through the rear window as smoke rose above the trees.Her mother’s hand rested on her shoulder.“You’re really alive,” Daniella whispered.Elena gave a small, sad smile.“I am.”Daniella looked at her reflection in the mirror.“I don’t know how to feel about this.”“You don’t have to know yet.”“I spent thirteen years thinking you were dead.”“I know.”“I missed you.”Elena’s eyes filled with tears.“I missed you too.”Daniella turned around.“Then why didn’t you come back?”Elena looked down.“Because the first time I tried, someone found me.”“Who?”“
Daniella couldn’t breathe.The woman standing in the doorway looked exactly like the woman from the photographs she had kept hidden in the back of her wardrobe for most of her life.Her mother.Elena Cruz.Alive.For thirteen years, Daniella had believed she was dead.She had mourned her beside her father’s grave. She had asked questions nobody answered. She had spent years imagining what her mother might have said if she had survived.Now she was standing less than ten feet away.Daniella’s lips parted.“Mom?”The woman nodded, tears already running down her face.“Yes.”Daniella took one step forward.Then another.Christian immediately caught her hand.“Daniella, wait.”She looked at him.“What?”“We don’t know if this is safe.”The woman shook her head.“He’s right.”Her voice trembled.“You can’t trust anyone here.”Daniella stared at her.“You’re my mother.”“Yes.”“You’re alive.”“Yes.”“Then why did you let me believe you were dead?”Elena’s expression broke.“I didn’t have a
“I want you to go undercover.” The moment the words left Christian’s mouth, Daniella genuinely thought she had heard him wrongly. She stared at him from across the office, her brows slowly pulling together in confusion while her brain tried to process what he had just said. “W
The knock came at the door, just as Derrick had finally put Daniella to sleep, his heart froze for a moment, but he forced himself to relax. But then again his mind started to play the what if game, I mean it was past midnight who would be visiting this late. He swallowed as he heard the loud ba
“This will be your room” the older woman spoke as she pushed a door at the end of the hall way open Daniella walked in her eyes observing the entire room, she said nothing to the woman and only nodded. “Don’t you speak?” The woman asked honestly Daniella has been too quiet for her liking and it w
“Stand straight. If you slouch again you’d walk out of that door and never return.” The girl behind Daniella adjusted herself immediately.“I’m sorry,” she whispered, turning her face around to make sure she didn’t embarrass herself in front of the other girls. “Sorry? Really?” another voice scof







