2026-06-26 23:53:20
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
716
The car disappeared into the night.The old man remained on the rooftop.His eyes stayed fixed on the road long after Ethan was gone.The woman beside him lowered the Key in her hand.“Should we follow them?”The old man shook his head.“No.”She frowned.“But he has the Key.”“I know.”“And Marcus failed.”The old man smiled faintly.“Marcus didn’t fail.”The woman looked at him.“He let them escape?”“He did exactly what I wanted.”She stared at him in confusion.The old man finally turned toward her.“Ethan needed to hear the truth.”“Which truth?”“That his father betrayed his mother.”“But that isn’t true.”The old man’s smile returned.“It doesn’t need to be.”He walked toward the edge of the roof.“Not yet.”The woman followed him.“What happens now?”The old man looked down at the city.“Now Ethan will start searching for answers.”“And when he discovers the truth?”The old man’s eyes darkened.“He won’t like what he finds.”⸻Inside the car, Ethan couldn’t stop looking at the
715
The room fell silent.Ethan stared at Daniel.“All of them?”Daniel nodded.“They’ve been waiting for this moment.”“For twenty-one years?”“Yes.”Ethan looked at the Key in his hand.The warmth had become almost unbearable.“What happens if they get me?”Daniel’s eyes hardened.“They won’t kill you.”Ethan frowned.“Then what?”“They’ll take you somewhere you can never leave.”A loud bang came from the front door.The elderly woman jumped.Lillian immediately reached for her weapon.Daniel looked at Ethan.“We have seconds.”Ethan glanced at the window.“We can jump.”“Third floor.”“I’ve survived worse.”Daniel almost smiled.“You really are Elena’s son.”Another bang shook the door.The lock began to crack.Daniel pointed toward the hallway.“There’s a back staircase.”The elderly woman shook her head.“They’ll be watching it.”“I know.”Daniel looked at Ethan.“That’s why we’re not using it.”He walked toward a large bookshelf.He pushed it aside.A narrow opening appeared behind
714
Ethan wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.He forced himself to keep reading.If you’re reading this, then I’m no longer there to protect you.But if you are alive, then something went right.Ethan’s fingers tightened around the paper.Something went right?He continued.I need you to understand one thing before you learn the truth.You were never abandoned.I loved you.I loved you more than anything in this world.Ethan stopped again.His lips trembled.The elderly woman lowered her eyes.Lillian quietly watched him.Ethan took a slow breath and continued.I know you may hate me.You have every right to.You may wonder why I left you.You may wonder why I didn’t come back.The truth is that I wanted to.Every day.Every night.I wanted to run back to you.But they were watching.They knew about you.They knew what you were.Ethan froze.His eyes moved back to the sentence.What you were.His heart began pounding.He looked up.“What does she mean by that?”Nobody answered.Etha
713
The drive back to the city was silent.Daniel drove the first SUV.Ethan sat in the back seat beside Lillian.Neither of them spoke.The strange Key remained tightly closed inside Ethan’s fist.Every few minutes, he glanced at it.Nothing happened.No light.No voice.Just a small, strangely warm piece of metal.Lillian noticed his gaze.“You should keep it hidden.”Ethan looked at her.“Why?”“Because if Daniel was able to find you because of it, others will too.”Ethan looked toward the front.“How many people know about me?”Lillian hesitated.“More than you think.”“That wasn’t my question.”She sighed.“Hundreds.”Ethan’s expression darkened.“Hundreds of people know who I am?”“Not exactly.”“What do they know?”“That you exist.”Ethan looked out the window.The trees slowly disappeared.Streetlights began appearing.Then buildings.Cars.People walking along the sidewalks.The city looked completely normal.Almost painfully normal.Ethan stared at it.After everything he’d seen
712
Lillian shook her head.“She only knew that you would have a choice.”Ethan remembered the woman’s voice from the vision.Someday, they will tell you that you were created.His fingers tightened around the Key.Marcus noticed.“You have it.”Ethan looked down.The strange Key rested in his palm.Marcus’s face changed.“That’s impossible.”“What?”“That Key disappeared.”“Apparently not.”Marcus took a step forward.Ethan immediately raised his weapon again.“Don’t.”Marcus stopped.“I need to see it.”“No.”“Ethan—”“No.”His voice became colder.“Everyone keeps telling me what I am.”He looked at Marcus.“Everyone wants something from me.”Then he looked at Lillian.“And apparently everyone has been keeping secrets.”Lillian didn’t argue.Ethan looked back at Marcus.“So here’s what’s going to happen.”Marcus raised an eyebrow.“You’re going to tell me everything.”“And if I refuse?”Ethan smiled faintly.“Then I’ll find out myself.”A sudden scream came from one of the SUVs.Everyon
711
The headlights grew brighter.One vehicle became three.Then five.Black SUVs came rushing through the trees, their tires crushing branches beneath them.Ethan stopped.Lillian immediately grabbed his arm.“Keep moving.”Ethan looked at her.“You said they were searching for me.”“They’ve been searching for you for years.”“And you know who they are?”“Yes.”“Then tell me.”Lillian glanced toward the vehicles.“The Order.”Ethan frowned.“The Order?”“A group of people who have been protecting the secrets surrounding Cael’s bloodline for generations.”Ethan looked at the approaching vehicles.“And they’re here to kill me?”“No.”Lillian hesitated.“They’re here to take you.”Ethan’s expression hardened.“That’s worse.”A door opened.A man stepped out of the first SUV.He looked completely ordinary.Black trousers.White shirt.Long dark coat.No armor.No strange weapon.Just a calm man in his early fifties.Two younger men stepped out behind him.Then several others.They spread acr
You may also like
Return of the son-in-law
Chessman78.6K viewsThe Gilded Man With A Thousand Lives
Kaiser Ken100.9K viewsNational Asset: The Marvelous Tyler Wood
Emerald77.5K viewsThe Heir of the Family
Rytir92.4K viewsThe Post-Apocalyptic Courier
drista157 viewsThe Useless Son-in-Law Is a Hidden Tycoon
Mischief182 viewsDumped By My Wife, Now A Single Father
Toria's Write178 viewsMy Second Life as a High-Society Disaster
Yokavelle101 views