Chapter 5 - THE MAN WHO LOOKED LIKE ME
Daniel stood at the end of the hallway.
For a moment, I couldn't move.
He was older than me by several years.
Dark hair.
Same eyes.
Same jaw.
Same scar above the eyebrow.
It was like looking at a version of myself that had lived a completely different life.
He looked at me.
“You finally found me.”
I stared.
“You knew I was looking.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Clara asked me to.”
I glanced toward her room.
“What do you want?”
“Nothing.”
I almost laughed.
“Everyone wants something.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I wanted you to survive.”
“From what?”
“Our family.”
He walked toward me.
“I spent thirty years believing you were part of the problem.”
“I didn't even know you existed.”
“I know.”
“My mother hid you.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your father chose you.”
I felt anger rise.
“He chose me?”
“To inherit everything.”
“What happened to you?”
Daniel looked away.
“He sent me away.”
“Why?”
“Because I refused to become him.”
That answer hit me.
“You walked away from the organization?”
“Yes.”
“Then why come back?”
“To protect you.”
I didn't trust him.
“You attacked Clara?”
His face hardened.
“No.”
“Moretti?”
“No.”
“Serena?”
He hesitated.
“Serena made mistakes.”
“What does that mean?”
“She was working undercover.”
I stared.
“For whom?”
“Federal investigators.”
I felt the world shift.
“She's a federal informant?”
“She was trying to bring down Moretti.”
“Then why was she with me?”
“Because Moretti believed she was loyal to him.”
I thought of Serena.
The lies.
The jealousy.
The drama.
Maybe some of it had been real.
Maybe some of it had been an act.
Daniel continued.
“She was trying to find out who ordered the attack.”
“Who?”
He looked toward Clara's room.
“Your mother.”
I shook my head.
“She died nine years ago.”
“Yes.”
“So how?”
“She didn't.”
I stopped.
“What?”
“She faked her death.”
Silence.
My mother was alive.
Somewhere.
Daniel handed me a photograph.
It showed an older woman standing outside a private estate.
My mother's face.
I felt sick.
“When was this taken?”
“Two weeks ago.”
I stared.
“Why would she attack Clara?”
“Because Clara found the records.”
“What records?”
“Your father left evidence proving she had arranged his murder.”
I couldn't breathe.
“And Clara?”
“She was going to expose everything.”
“Why didn't she tell me?”
“Because she knew you'd go after her.”
I looked at Clara through the glass.
She was asleep.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“She loved you enough to choose your life over revenge.”
That sentence stayed with me.
For years, I had believed power meant making people afraid.
Now I understood something else.
Clara had possessed more courage than I ever had.
She had stood alone against my family.
And I had repaid her by betraying her.
I walked into her room.
She opened her eyes.
“Did you meet him?”
“Yes.”
She smiled faintly.
“Now you know.”
I sat beside her.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I wanted you to have one year of peace.”
“One year?”
“I found the truth a year ago.”
My heart broke.
“That was when I started seeing Serena.”
“I know.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“And you stayed?”
“I hoped you'd come back.”
I looked down.
“I don't deserve that.”
“No.”
She smiled.
“But I hoped anyway.”
I took her hand.
“I will spend the rest of my life trying to deserve you.”
She looked at me.
“Don't make promises.”
“Then I'll prove it.”
For the first time, she smiled.
Outside, thunder rolled across Chicago.
Daniel stood in the hallway.
Mateo approached him.
“What happens now?”
May you like
Daniel looked toward the city.
“We find our mother.”
