CHAPTER 5 — The Man Who Was Never Dead
The silence after that felt like falling.
I couldn’t breathe properly.
“That’s not possible,” I said.
My father stood.
“We believed he was dead because that’s what the report said. But months later… certain agencies confirmed otherwise.”
My mother added, trembling:
“He went underground.”
Leo looked between us.
“So my dad is alive?”
I didn’t know how to answer that.
Because the truth was worse than yes or no.
My father stepped closer.
“Emma… when you said you were pregnant, we thought you were already being monitored.”
My stomach tightened.
“And that’s why you threw me out?”
My mother sobbed.
“We thought we were saving you.”
I laughed once.
A broken sound.
“You saved me?” I repeated. “I raised a child alone for ten years because you were scared.”
No one answered.
Because there was nothing left to defend.
Then my father said something quietly that changed the direction of everything:
“If Daniel Mercer knows you came back… he will come looking.”
Leo squeezed my hand.
“Is that bad?”
I looked down at my son.
And for the first time in ten years…
May you like
I felt the past catching up.
“Yes,” I whispered.
