Chapter 9 - THE CHOICE JULIAN NEVER EXPECTED
Julian didn't believe the photograph.
Until he saw the second one.
Then the third.
His father appeared in all of them.
Different cities.
Different years.
Always alive.
Someone had been watching the Vale family for fifteen years.
Martin traced the photographs.
They came from a private investigator in Italy.
Julian stared at the address.
“My father is alive.”
Lena touched his hand.
“What does he want?”
“I don't know.”
“Will you go?”
“Yes.”
“Then I'm coming.”
“No.”
She frowned.
“Why?”
“Because this isn't your war.”
Lena stepped closer.
“You made that mistake once.”
“What mistake?”
“Thinking you could protect me by deciding what I could handle.”
Julian stared at her.
She continued.
“I'm not your weakness.”
He smiled.
“No.”
He kissed her forehead.
“You're my partner.”
They flew to Italy.
They found his father in a small coastal town.
Older.
Sick.
But alive.
The reunion was not emotional.
It was painful.
His father admitted everything.
He had discovered Julian's mother's crimes.
He had faked his death because he believed she would kill Julian next.
He had stayed hidden to protect his son.
Julian's eyes filled.
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I thought it would keep you alive.”
“It destroyed me.”
“I know.”
Silence.
Then his father said:
“Your mother wasn't working alone.”
Julian stiffened.
“Who else?”
His father looked at Lena.
“Her family.”
Lena froze.
“My family?”
“No.”
Her voice trembled.
“What do you mean?”
He placed an old document on the table.
It contained a name.
Morales.
Lena's maiden family name.
Her grandfather had been one of the original investors in Vale Meridian.
And he had been connected to the same financial conspiracy.
Lena sat down.
Her entire past suddenly looked different.
Her mother had always told her that her father disappeared when she was five.
But the documents suggested otherwise.
Her father had not disappeared.
He had been protecting her too.
Julian looked at her.
“Lena.”
She couldn't answer.
The man who had raised her might not have been her biological father.
The life she remembered might have been built around a lie.
Then her phone rang.
Her mother.
Lena answered.
“Mom?”
Silence.
Then her mother's voice.
“It's time you knew the truth.”
Lena closed her eyes.
“Tell me.”
“I was never supposed to marry your father.”
“What?”
“I was supposed to marry Julian's father.”
Julian went still.
Lena looked at him.
Her mother continued.
“Our families arranged everything.”
“Why?”
“To merge the companies.”
“But why did you leave?”
“Because I fell in love with someone else.”
“Who?”
Her mother's voice broke.
“Your real father.”
Lena couldn't breathe.
Julian stared at her.
Then her mother whispered:
May you like
“And he was murdered.”
The line went dead.
