Chapter 9 - The Letter
Three weeks before the wedding, my mother arrived.
She looked terrified.
“Mia, I found something.”
She handed me an envelope.
It was from my father.
But it wasn't the same handwriting.
Inside was one sentence.
If Rebecca is arrested, do not assume the war is over.
My stomach dropped.
Reed read it.
“What war?”
My mother shook her head.
“There was another organization.”
“Who?”
She looked at him.
“Someone called The Architect.”
Reed went silent.
The Architect had been a rumor for decades.
Someone who never appeared in public.
Someone who controlled criminal organizations without ever touching the money directly.
And now that Rebecca was gone, someone had begun buying her assets.
One by one.
Quietly.
Legally.
We traced the companies.
Every trail ended at the same holding corporation.
Then we found the owner.
I stared at the screen.
My blood went cold.
The owner was my father.
But my father had been dead for eighteen years.
Reed looked at me.
“That isn't possible.”
Then the phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A man's voice said:
“You finally found the door.”
“Who are you?”
He laughed.
“Ask your mother.”
I turned.
My mother was crying.
The man continued:
“Your father didn't die in that crash.”
Silence.
“What?”
“He survived.”
My hand went numb.
“Where is he?”
The voice whispered:
“Closer than you think.”
The call ended.
Reed stood.
“We need to find him.”
I looked at my mother.
She wouldn't meet my eyes.
“Mom?”
She finally whispered:
“He came back once.”
“When?”
“Seven years ago.”
My heart stopped.
“The night your daughter died.”
I couldn't breathe.
May you like
Reed grabbed my hand.
And suddenly, everything we thought we knew about my father's death began to collapse.
