Chapter 8: Father's Shadow

The rooftop wind howled like a dying animal as Harry Vida lowered his gun, smiling at Oren with something almost tender. “You still don’t understand, do you?” he said softly. “I didn’t just kill your mother. I CREATED you. I am your FATHER”

Oren’s finger froze on the trigger. Not the news she was expecting for sure.

James stood rigid beside her, rain streaming down his face, gun still trained on Vida. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

Vida laughed, low and genuine. “Well, I was your mother’s lover long before your so-called father entered the picture. She got pregnant. I told her to get rid of it. She refused. So I let her keep you… as long as she stayed useful. When she started digging into my dealings with Reeves’ empire, I had to remove her. Cleanly.”

Oren felt the world tilt violently. The gun in her hand suddenly felt impossibly heavy. “You’re my father?” she whispered.

Vida’s smile widened. “Blood calls to blood, daughter. That’s why I made sure James would become obsessed with you. I needed you close to him. Needed you to weaken him from the inside.”

“You're lying.” Oren said in disbelief 

James took a step forward, voice shaking with barely controlled rage. “You used me to kill the mother of your own child. Then you sold her to me like meat.”

“I perfected the game,” Vida corrected calmly. “And now I want the real card. The one your mother actually hid. Not the fake one your pathetic father gave me at the wedding. Give it to me, Oren. Or I’ll kill James right here and take it from your corpse.”

Oren’s mind spun. She still had the real card; tucked against her thigh. The real one with names, accounts, and proof that could destroy not just James’s empire, but Harry Vida’s entire network.

But James… James had lied to her from the beginning. Even if he didn’t kill her mother directly, he had still given the order that ended her life. How could she trust him now? How could she ever trust anyone?

James glanced at her, eyes desperate. “Oren. Whatever you’re thinking, don’t...”

“Shut up,” she snapped. The betrayal burned hotter than ever. “You’ve lied to me since the moment I woke up in your castle. You let me believe you were my savior when you were just another monster who helped destroy my family.”

Vida watched them with open delight. “See? Even now, she doubts you. Beautiful.”

Lightning flashed, illuminating the three of them on the rain-slicked rooftop. Oren made her choice. She pulled the real card from her garter and held it up, rain dripping from her fingers.

Vida’s eyes lit up with greed. “Smart girl.”

But instead of handing it over, Oren stepped to the edge of the rooftop, holding the card over the crashing waves far below. “One more step from either of you,” she said coldly, “and I drop it. Then no one wins.”

James’s face twisted with fear and pride at the same time. “Oren…”

Vida’s smile finally vanished. “You wouldn’t.”

“Try me,” Oren whispered. “I’m done being your pawn. Both of you.”

For a long second, no one moved. Then Harry Vida did something none of them expected. ~predictable~. He thought. He started clapping. Slowly. Deliberately. “Well done, daughter,” he said, voice filled with genuine admiration. “You really are mine.”

He raised his hand. A single red dot appeared on James’s chest. Sniper.

Oren’s heart stopped.