I couldn’t breathe.
Richard Vale stood at the bottom of the staircase.
Alive.
Older than the photographs I’d seen, but unmistakable.
The same sharp eyes.
The same face Damien had inherited.
The same man whose death had started everything.
Damien stared at him as though he’d seen a ghost.
“Father?”
Richard said nothing.
He simply looked at his son.
Damien’s expression changed from disbelief to anger.
“You’re alive.”
Richard’s eyes softened.
“Yes.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I had to.”
“You let me bury an empty coffin?”
Richard looked away.
“I had no choice.”
Damien laughed bitterly.
“No choice?”
His voice shook.
“You watched me destroy myself trying to find your killer.”
“I know.”
“You watched me hate Jonathan Bell.”
“I know.”
“You let me believe Amara’s father murdered you.”
Richard’s eyes moved to me.
“I needed you to believe it.”
I stepped forward.
“Why?”
Richard looked at me.
“Because if Damien knew the truth, Evelyn would have killed him.”
I glanced at Evelyn.
“She controls everything?”
“Not everything.”
Richard’s expression darkened.
“But enough.”
Damien struggled against the men holding him.
“Then why didn’t you come back?”
Richard looked at his son.
“Because five years ago, the Crimson Circle discovered that Amara’s mother was trying to destroy them.”
My heart tightened.
“My mother.”
“Yes.”
“She knew you were alive?”
“Yes.”
“Did she know you were hiding?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t she tell me?”
Richard’s voice became quieter.
“Because she knew what would happen if you found out.”
“What?”
“You would come looking for us.”
I frowned.
“And?”
“Evelyn would have found you.”
I looked at Evelyn.
“She already did.”
Evelyn smiled.
“Exactly.”
Damien’s eyes never left his father.
“You could have told me.”
Richard shook his head.
“You were being watched.”
“By whom?”
“The Circle.”
“Who?”
Richard looked at Evelyn.
“She wasn’t the only one.”
The room became silent.
I looked around.
“Then who else is here?”
Richard didn’t answer.
Evelyn did.
“Everyone.”
A door opened behind us.
Several people stepped into the room.
Men in expensive suits.
Women wearing diamonds.
A judge.
A police commissioner.
Two politicians.
People I’d seen on television.
People whose names I recognized from newspapers.
My stomach turned.
“The Crimson Circle.”
Evelyn smiled.
“Welcome to the family.”
I looked at Damien.
He looked furious.
“You brought them here?”
Evelyn shrugged.
“They wanted to meet the heir.”
I tightened my grip around the key.
“I’m not your heir.”
“Oh, but you are.”
“I won’t lead your organization.”
“You don’t get to choose.”
“I do.”
Evelyn’s smile disappeared.
“No.”
She walked toward me.
“You were born into this.”
“I never asked for it.”
“Neither did I.”
She stopped directly in front of me.
“But power doesn’t care what you ask for.”
She reached toward the key.
I pulled it away.
“Don’t touch me.”
Her eyes hardened.
“Give me the key.”
“No.”
She nodded.
“Then we’ll do this the difficult way.”
She turned toward Damien.
“Kill him.”
My blood froze.
The men holding Damien raised their weapons.
“NO!”
I stepped forward.
“Wait!”
Evelyn smiled.
“I knew you’d listen.”
I looked at Damien.
His eyes met mine.
He shook his head.
“Don’t give it to her.”
“Damien…”
“Whatever happens, don’t.”
One of the men pressed a gun against his head.
My hands trembled.
Evelyn held out her hand.
“The key.”
I looked at the black key.
Then at Damien.
Then at Richard.
“Fine.”
I walked toward Evelyn.
She smiled.
I placed the key in her palm.
The room went silent.
Evelyn looked down at it.
Then laughed.
“You really are your mother’s daughter.”
I stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
“She did the same thing.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“She gave me the key once.”
“And?”
“I killed her anyway.”
My blood turned cold.
“You promised to let her live?”
“No.”
Evelyn smiled.
“I never make promises.”
Damien suddenly attacked the man beside him.
The gun went flying.
Richard moved at the same time.
Chaos erupted.
Someone fired.
Glass shattered.
People screamed.
I ducked behind a table.
Damien tackled another guard.
Richard grabbed a weapon.
Evelyn disappeared into the crowd.
I searched for Damien.
“Damien!”
“Amara!”
I saw him.
He was fighting two men.
One raised a gun.
I grabbed a vase and threw it.
It struck the man’s head.
He collapsed.
Damien stared at me.
“You just saved my life.”
“Get used to it.”
He almost smiled.
Then—
A gunshot.
Richard dropped.
“FATHER!”
Damien ran to him.
I followed.
Blood spread across Richard’s shirt.
Damien knelt beside him.
“No.
No, no, no.”
Richard grabbed his son’s arm.
“Listen to me.”
“Stay with me.”
“Damien…”
“Don’t.”
Richard coughed.
“Your father didn’t kill Jonathan.”
I froze.
“What?”
Richard looked at me.
“Jonathan was alive when I last saw him.”
My heart stopped.
“That’s impossible.”
Richard shook his head.
“Evelyn made everyone believe he was dead.”
My voice disappeared.
“What happened to him?”
Richard looked toward the staircase.
“He found the vault.”
“What vault?”
“The original vault.”
Damien stared at him.
“Where?”
Richard reached inside his jacket.
He pulled out a small piece of paper.
He handed it to Damien.
“Your father left this for you.”
Damien opened it.
His face changed.
I leaned closer.
There was only one sentence:
**THE VAULT IS BENEATH THE PLACE WHERE AMARA WAS BORN.**
My heart stopped.
“Where was I born?”
Richard looked at me.
“St.
Catherine’s.”
I froze.
The abandoned hospital.
The hospital where my mother had given birth to me.
Richard’s breathing became weaker.
“Go there.”
Damien held his hand.
“I’m not leaving you.”
“You have to.”
“No.”
“Damien…”
Richard looked at me.
“Protect her.”
Damien’s eyes filled with tears.
“I will.”
Richard smiled faintly.
“Then perhaps…”
He coughed.
“…your mother didn’t sacrifice everything for nothing.”
His eyes closed.
“Father?”
Damien shook him.
“Father!”
Nothing.
I touched Richard’s neck.
No pulse.
Damien lowered his head.
For several seconds, he didn’t move.
Then he looked up at me.
His eyes were filled with pain.
“We have to go.”
I nodded.
But before we could move—
The lights went out.
A woman’s voice echoed through the darkness.
“Running already?”
Evelyn.
Then the lights returned.
She stood at the entrance.
And she was holding Nadia.
A knife rested against my sister’s throat.
My blood froze.
“Amara!”
Nadia’s eyes filled with tears.
“Don’t come closer!”
Evelyn smiled.
“You have the key.”
She raised it between two fingers.
“But now I have something much more valuable.”
She pressed the knife closer.
“Your sister.”
I stepped forward.
“Let her go.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Not yet.”
She looked at Damien.
“Because I haven’t shown you the most interesting part.”
She pointed toward the hallway.
A screen came alive.
On it was an old security recording.
My mother.
Jonathan.
Richard.
And Evelyn.
All standing together.
Then the footage changed.
A younger Damien appeared.
And beside him—
**me.**
As a child.
Damien stared at the screen.
“I’ve seen that photograph.”
Evelyn smiled.
“Yes.”
She looked at him.
“Because you were there that night.”
Damien’s face went pale.
“What night?”
Evelyn’s
smile widened.
“The night Amara’s mother disappeared.”
I looked at Damien.
He stared at the screen.
And slowly—
his eyes filled with recognition.
“I remember.”
My heart stopped.
“What do you remember?”
He looked at me.
His voice barely came out.
“I remember holding your hand.”
Silence.
“And then…”
He swallowed.
“I remember someone screaming.”
I stared at him.
“Who?”
Damien’s face went completely white.
“Your mother.”
Evelyn smiled.
“Now you finally remember.”
And I realized something terrifying.
Damien hadn’t just been connected to my past.
**He had been there when my life was destroyed.**