CHAPTER 4 — MY FATHER'S SECOND IDENTITY
CHAPTER 4 — MY FATHER'S SECOND IDENTITY
The last lock clicked into place.
Then another.
Then another.
Metal slid behind the walls with a low mechanical groan.
I stood completely still.
My father was on the screen.
Alive.
Calm.
Standing beside my daughter.
And the worst part wasn't that he had lied about Ethan.
It wasn't even that he had apparently kidnapped Sophie.
It was the way he was looking into the camera.
Like he had expected me to discover everything eventually.
Like this moment had been planned years ago.
“Dad.”
The screen remained black.
“Dad!”
No answer.
I ran toward the monitor.
My mother grabbed my arm.
“Vivian, don't.”
I pulled away.
“He has Sophie.”
“I know.”
“He has my daughter.”
“I know.”
“Then let go of me.”
“He wants you to panic.”
I stopped.
My mother looked into my eyes.
“That's exactly what he wants.”
I stared at the black screen.
She was right.
My father had always known how to control a room.
He never raised his voice.
Never threatened people openly.
He simply arranged circumstances until everyone made the decision he wanted.
And tonight...
I had done exactly what he expected.
I had locked the doors.
Activated the trust.
Exposed Adrian.
And walked straight into his trap.
I looked at the document in my hand.
The sentence was still there.
THE PERSON YOU CALL YOUR FATHER IS NOT YOUR BIOLOGICAL FATHER.
I read it again.
Then again.
Nothing changed.
My world had.
“Tell me everything.”
My mother didn't answer.
“Mom.”
She looked exhausted.
“You're not ready.”
“I stopped being a child a long time ago.”
“That isn't what I mean.”
“Then what do you mean?”
She looked toward the empty screen.
“I mean that once I tell you, there is no going back.”
I laughed bitterly.
“There was a point where I thought my husband was my biggest problem.”
My mother lowered her eyes.
“I was wrong.”
“Yes.”
“Very wrong.”
I stepped closer.
“Who is my father?”
She whispered:
“His name is not Richard.”
My chest tightened.
“Then what is it?”
She didn't answer.
“Mom.”
She took a breath.
“Gabriel Vale.”
The room went silent.
I stared at her.
“Vale?”
She nodded.
“Gabriel Vale was the eldest son of the original Vale family.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“He was Richard's closest friend.”
“No.”
“He was also my first love.”
I stepped back.
My mind refused to process it.
“Richard knew?”
“Yes.”
“And he raised me anyway?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
My mother looked at me.
“Because Gabriel disappeared.”
“Where?”
“He was killed.”
I frowned.
“You just said my father isn't Richard.”
“Gabriel was your biological father.”
“Then why did everyone say he was dead?”
“Because Richard needed him to be.”
I stared at her.
“That's not an answer.”
“It is the only answer I have.”
I sat down.
My legs felt weak.
“Tell me about Gabriel.”
My mother closed her eyes.
“He was different from the other Vales.”
“How?”
“He hated the council.”
“The Cross Council?”
“Yes.”
“He wanted to destroy it.”
“And Dad?”
“Richard wanted to control it.”
“So they became enemies.”
“They were brothers in everything except blood.”
I frowned.
“Then why did Richard marry you?”
My mother looked away.
“Because Gabriel asked him to.”
“What?”
“Gabriel knew he was being hunted.”
“By the council?”
“Yes.”
“He asked Richard to protect me.”
My mother touched her stomach.
“You were already here.”
I stared.
“You were pregnant with me?”
“Yes.”
“Gabriel knew?”
“He did.”
“Then what happened?”
“He disappeared before you were born.”
I whispered:
“Why?”
My mother began crying.
“Because Richard told him there was no way to save both of us.”
I couldn't speak.
My mother continued.
“Richard made a deal with the council.”
“What deal?”
“He would take you.”
“Take me?”
“Raise you as his daughter.”
“And Gabriel?”
“He would disappear.”
“Forever?”
“Yes.”
“Did he agree?”
“He had no choice.”
“Where did he go?”
“I don't know.”
I looked toward the screen.
My father had appeared there tonight.
The same face.
The same voice.
But maybe...
not the same man.
I stood.
“Then who is the man on that screen?”
My mother looked at me.
“I don't know.”
“You said Gabriel was dead.”
“I thought he was.”
“You said Richard was my father.”
“I believed he was.”
I stared.
“You've lied to me for years.”
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
“Everyone says that.”
My voice broke.
“Everyone uses protection as an excuse for lying.”
My mother stepped toward me.
“I know.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You don't.”
I wiped my eyes.
“You don't know what it's like to discover that every memory you've ever had might have been manufactured.”
She whispered:
“I do.”
I looked at her.
She continued.
“Because I lived the same life.”
A loud sound came from upstairs.
Bang.
We both froze.
Then another.
Bang.
Someone was moving through the house.
My mother reached for my hand.
“Stay behind me.”
I almost laughed.
“You're the one who's supposed to be protected.”
She looked at me.
“Not tonight.”
We moved toward the hallway.
My security officer was waiting.
He raised a hand.
“Someone is inside.”
“Who?”
“We don't know.”
“Where?”
“Upper floor.”
I looked at the staircase.
Then heard footsteps.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Someone was coming down.
One step.
Then another.
My mother whispered:
“Don't shoot.”
The figure appeared.
A man in a dark coat.
Gray hair.
Tall.
He stopped halfway down the stairs.
I stared.
It was him.
The man from the screen.
My father.
Or the man I had called my father for thirty-two years.
He smiled.
“Hello, Vivian.”
I couldn't move.
“Where is Sophie?”
“Safe.”
“Bring her here.”
“No.”
I took a step forward.
“Then I swear to God—”
He raised one hand.
“You don't want to threaten me.”
“You kidnapped my daughter.”
“I protected her.”
“From what?”
He looked at my mother.
“From the people who are standing beside you.”
My mother stepped forward.
“Don't.”
He smiled.
“You're still defending her?”
“She is our daughter.”
“No.”
His eyes moved to me.
“She is Gabriel's daughter.”
I felt the words like a physical blow.
My father walked down the remaining steps.
“I raised you.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“You stole my identity.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“I gave you one.”
I stared.
“What?”
“Your original identity would have gotten you killed.”
He reached into his coat.
Pulled out a passport.
He threw it onto the table.
I opened it.
The photograph was me.
The name wasn't.
VIVIENNE VALE.
I stopped breathing.
“That's not me.”
“It is.”
“No.”
“You were born Vivienne Gabriel Vale.”
I looked at my mother.
She nodded.
My father continued.
“Richard Cross was the identity I created for you.”
“Why?”
“Because the Vale family was hunting you.”
“Why?”
“Because you were the final heir.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Final heir to what?”
He looked at me.
“The original Meridian Trust.”
My mother stepped forward.
“Richard, enough.”
He looked at her.
“You've kept her ignorant long enough.”
“You don't get to decide what she knows.”
“I already did.”
He turned back to me.
“You've spent your life believing you inherited the Cross empire.”
I stared.
“You didn't.”
He opened another file.
“You inherited something older.”
He placed a document on the table.
The seal was unfamiliar.
A circle surrounded by three intertwined lines.
“What is that?”
“The original Vale seal.”
I looked at it.
“What does it mean?”
“It means the trust predates both families.”
“How old?”
“Two hundred and seventeen years.”
I stared.
“And it belongs to me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because every other heir is dead.”
I froze.
“Every other heir?”
He nodded.
“Your mother was supposed to be the last.”
“But I'm here.”
“Yes.”
“And Ethan?”
He looked away.
“Ethan isn't your brother.”
My mother closed her eyes.
“Then who is he?”
Richard answered:
“A decoy.”
The room went silent.
“A decoy?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
“From whom?”
“The council.”
I shook my head.
“You keep saying that word.”
“Because you don't understand what it means.”
“Then explain.”
He sat down.
“The Cross Council is not one family.”
He paused.
“It is seven.”
I listened.
“Cross.”
“Vale.”
“Blackwood.”
“Whitmore.”
“Hale.”
“Mercer.”
“And Ashford.”
My stomach tightened.
“Seven dynasties.”
“Yes.”
“They control the city.”
“They control much more than the city.”
“Then why haven't I heard of them?”
“Because that is the point.”
He opened another file.
Inside were photographs of politicians.
Judges.
Police commissioners.
Bank executives.
Media owners.
Every person whose name had ever appeared in the city's most powerful circles.
All connected.
“All of them?”
“Not directly.”
“But their careers?”
“Managed.”
“By the council?”
“Yes.”
I stared.
“What does the council want from me?”
He looked at me.
“Your bloodline.”
I felt sick.
“Why?”
“Because the original trust contains something no government, corporation, or family has been able to control.”
“What?”
“The land beneath the city.”
I frowned.
“Land?”
“Not ordinary land.”
He pulled out an old map.
I recognized the streets.
Downtown.
The harbor.
The financial district.
The airport.
The luxury developments.
All marked in red.
“Your family owns the underlying rights.”
I stared.
“That's impossible.”
“It was hidden through generations of shell companies.”
“And the debt?”
“Fake.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“The twenty-eight billion dollars.”
He smiled.
“It doesn't exist.”
I looked toward Evelyn.
She had been silent.
She nodded.
“The debt was created to make you believe the trust was collapsing.”
I understood.
The forged document.
The hidden liabilities.
The fake ownership.
All of it.
A trap.
“Why?”
Richard answered:
“To force you to surrender the trust voluntarily.”
I turned toward Evelyn.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“And Adrian?”
“Yes.”
“You all knew?”
“Yes.”
I looked at my mother.
“You too?”
She lowered her head.
“Yes.”
I laughed.
It wasn't a happy sound.
“You've all been manipulating me.”
“No,” Richard said.
“We were preparing you.”
“For what?”
He looked toward the ceiling.
Then whispered:
“For war.”
A distant siren sounded.
My security officer checked his phone.
“Ms. Cross.”
“What?”
“We have movement outside.”
“How many?”
“Too many.”
“Police?”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Private military contractors.”
My heart tightened.
“Whose?”
He hesitated.
“Blackwood.”
Richard stood.
“It's beginning.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“The council has decided you're no longer useful.”
My mother grabbed my arm.
“Vivian, we have to go.”
“No.”
I looked at Richard.
“Where is Sophie?”
He didn't answer.
“Dad.”
He finally said:
“She is with Gabriel.”
I stopped.
“What?”
“Your biological father.”
“Gabriel is alive?”
Richard looked at me.
“Yes.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Where?”
“Somewhere they can't reach.”
“Where?”
He smiled sadly.
“You're going to have to find him.”
I stared.
“Why won't you tell me?”
“Because if I tell you, they'll hear it.”
“Who?”
He pointed toward the walls.
“Everyone.”
Suddenly, every light in the house came on.
The security system activated.
Red lights flashed.
My officer shouted:
“Movement at the east entrance!”
Another voice came through the radio.
“North gate breached!”
Then:
“South gate breached!”
My mother looked at Richard.
“They found us.”
He nodded.
“I expected them.”
I stared.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“And you brought me here?”
“Yes.”
“You knew they would attack?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He looked directly into my eyes.
“Because tonight is the only night they can be defeated.”
He reached into his pocket.
Pulled out a small black device.
Then handed it to me.
“What is this?”
“The master key.”
“For what?”
“The council archives.”
I stared.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Open them.”
“Why?”
“Because everything you need to know about your life is inside.”
“And if I do?”
He looked toward the windows.
The sound of engines grew louder.
“You'll learn why your mother disappeared.”
“Why Ethan was created.”
“Why Adrian married you.”
“And why I spent thirty-two years pretending to be your father.”
I looked at him.
“What's the real reason?”
His eyes filled with something I had never seen before.
Regret.
“I loved you.”
I swallowed.
“That isn't enough.”
“I know.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
He nodded.
“Your real father is alive.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
Richard whispered:
“He is the man who has been protecting you from the moment you were born.”
“Who?”
Before he could answer—
BOOM.
The eastern wall shook.
Glass exploded across the floor.
Security officers shouted.
My mother screamed.
Richard pulled me behind him.
“Stay down!”
Another explosion.
Then gunfire.
The house erupted into chaos.
I crawled toward the fallen table.
My phone vibrated.
One message.
From an unknown number.
DON'T TRUST RICHARD.
Another appeared.
DON'T TRUST YOUR MOTHER.
Then the final message:
TRUST THE MAN HOLDING YOUR DAUGHTER.
A photograph loaded.
Sophie.
Safe.
Smiling.
Standing beside a man.
I zoomed in.
The man turned slightly toward the camera.
I knew that face.
I had seen it in the photograph from six years ago.
The same man who had stood beside Richard and Celeste.
The same man whose name I had never been told.
At the bottom of the photograph was one word.
GABRIEL.
My biological father.
Alive.
Holding my daughter.
And apparently...
waiting for me.
I looked at Richard.
“Where is he?”
Richard stared at the photograph.
His face turned pale.
“He wasn't supposed to come back.”
I stood.
“Why?”
Richard whispered:
“Because if Gabriel is alive…”
He looked toward the shattered window.
“…then the entire council is already in danger.”
Another explosion shook the house.
And somewhere outside, a man's voice echoed through the darkness.
“Vivian!”
I knew that voice.
It was Gabriel.
May you like
My real father.
And he was calling my name.
