CHAPTER 4 — The Warning I Was Never Allowed to Explain
My hands were shaking now.
“You didn’t kick me out because I was irresponsible,” I said slowly. “You kicked me out because you were afraid of him.”
My father didn’t deny it.
That was the answer.
My mother collapsed into a chair.
“We thought we were protecting you,” she cried. “We thought if you left… they would stop watching you.”
“They?” I repeated sharply.
My father exhaled.
“Daniel Mercer’s associates.”
The room felt colder than outside.
Leo stood up.
“Mom… who was he?”
I knelt in front of him.
And for the first time, I had to tell my son a truth I had buried for ten years.
“Your father,” I said softly, “was someone powerful. Dangerous. And involved in things I was never meant to see.”
Leo blinked.
“But he’s gone, right?”
I hesitated.
My father answered instead.
“No.”
My head snapped up.
“What do you mean no?”
My mother whispered it.
“He didn’t die, Emma.”
May you like
The room tilted.
“He disappeared.”
