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Chapter 77: Bloodlines and Battlefields

Author: Inpeaceplace
last update Last Updated: 2025-06-30 20:17:25

The past has a cruel way of waiting until you’re strong—just to test if you’ve really healed.

Natalie stared at the photo again, the corners crumpled now from how many times she’d clenched it in her fist. Her father. Alive. Smiling in the company of Damien Rourke. A man who once terrified her now appearing cordial, professional, even familiar.

She couldn’t sleep.

Even with Adrian quietly dozing beside her on the couch, the hum of the fireplace low and comforting, her mind whirled too fast for rest. She rose gently, grabbed a robe, and padded into her home office.

A single lamp cast a pool of golden light over the chaos of maps, reports, and files. She reached into the drawer of her desk and pulled out a worn leather folder—its corners faded, the binding loose. Inside were memories she had buried decades ago. Her mother’s obituary. A sketch Lily had drawn with the word “hope” scrawled in childish block letters. And beneath them, an old police report.

It had been filed the night she cal
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