Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCHEmma couldn't breathe.
"My mother?"
Kolov nodded.
"Ask her."
Diane was still inside the safe house.
Dominic immediately called her.
"Mom."
Her voice trembled.
"Emma?"
"Tell me the truth."
Silence.
"About what?"
"About my father."
Another silence.
Then Diane whispered:
"Where are you?"
"Answer me."
"I was trying to protect you."
"From what?"
"Your father."
Emma froze.
"What?"
"My husband wasn't who you thought he was."
The phone went silent.
Dominic listened from beside her.
Diane continued.
"Your father worked for the Castellanos."
Emma's face went pale.
"My father?"
"He wasn't just an accountant."
"Then what was he?"
"He was an informant."
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"Who did he report to?"
Diane hesitated.
"The federal government."
Everything suddenly made sense.
The missing records.
The old investigation.
The hidden companies.
The money.
Her mother's fear.
But there was more.
Diane finally said:
"Your father discovered that someone in the Castellano family was planning to eliminate Dominic's father."
"Who?"
"I never learned the name."
"You did."
"I suspected."
"Who?"
Diane began crying.
"Isabella."
Dominic's face hardened.
"Why?"
"Because she believed your grandfather stole everything from her."
Emma looked at Dominic.
"What happened to my father?"
Diane's voice broke.
"He disappeared."
"You said he died."
"I lied."
Emma closed her eyes.
For her entire life, she had believed her father was dead.
Now she learned he might be alive.
"Where is he?"
"I don't know."
Kolov stepped closer.
"I do."
Emma turned.
He held up a photograph.
A man standing outside a federal building.
Older.
But unmistakably her father.
Emma's knees nearly gave out.
"He's alive."
Dominic caught her.
"Where?"
Kolov looked at him.
"In Chicago."
"Why are you helping us?"
"Because Isabella betrayed me too."
Dominic stared.
Kolov explained.
He had once worked with Isabella.
She had promised him a share of the Castellano fortune.
Instead, she framed him for crimes he hadn't committed.
He had spent twenty years rebuilding his empire in the shadows.
Now he wanted revenge.
But more importantly, he wanted the truth exposed.
"I don't trust you," Dominic said.
"You shouldn't."
"Then why should I believe you?"
Kolov looked at Emma.
"Because I have no reason to lie about your father."
Three days later, Emma stood outside a small house in Chicago.
Her hands trembled.
Dominic stood beside her.
"You don't have to do this alone."
"I know."
She knocked.
The door opened.
An older man stared at her.
He looked at Emma.
Then covered his mouth.
"Emily?"
Emma froze.
"My name is Emma."
His eyes filled with tears.
"I'm sorry."
He whispered:
"Emma."
She knew immediately.
"You're my father."
He nodded.
Emma couldn't move.
Then he opened his arms.
She stepped forward.
For twenty years, she had imagined this moment.
She thought she would be angry.
Instead, she cried.
Her father held her.
"I'm sorry."
"Why did you leave?"
"I didn't."
He explained.
He had entered witness protection after exposing Isabella.
He had been told his family would be killed if he returned.
He had watched Emma from a distance.
Paid bills anonymously.
Sent money when he could.
But he had never dared reveal himself.
Then he learned Emma had been attacked.
"I couldn't stay away anymore."
Emma wiped her tears.
"Mom knew?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't she tell me?"
"Because she believed silence kept you alive."
Dominic stepped forward.
"What happened to Isabella?"
Her father looked at him.
"She's been preparing for this moment for twenty years."
"Preparing for what?"
"To take back everything."
He looked at Emma.
"And she believes the only thing standing between her and the Castellano empire..."
May you like
He paused.
"...is you."
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