Chapter 4: The Secret My Father Never Told Me
Chapter 4: The Secret My Father Never Told Me
For the first time since I entered the detention center, I felt uncertain.
Not afraid.
Not defeated.
Just uncertain.
Because Nathan Ashford had spent four years trying to break me.
He had lied.
Manipulated.
Humiliated.
Destroyed everything he could reach.
But there was one thing he had never been able to control.
My father.
Alexander Vale.
The man who had always been ten steps ahead.
The man who taught me to observe before reacting.
The man who prepared me for the day someone would try to take advantage of my kindness.
And now Nathan was telling me that my father had secrets.
I stared across the table.
“Why would I believe anything you say?”
Nathan smiled slightly.
“Because you know me.”
I almost laughed.
“No, Nathan. I knew the person you pretended to be.”
His expression changed.
A flash of anger crossed his face.
But he quickly hid it.
“You really think your father is perfect?”
I stayed silent.
“Evelyn, you spent your entire life believing Alexander Vale was just protecting you.”
He leaned closer.
“But what if he was also hiding something from you?”
I looked at him carefully.
“Is this your new strategy?”
“My company is collapsing, so now you want to attack my family?”
Nathan shook his head.
“You still don’t understand.”
He lowered his voice.
“I’m not trying to save myself.”
That was when I noticed something.
For the first time in years...
Nathan wasn’t acting.
His fear looked real.
“What are you talking about?”
He glanced toward the security cameras in the corner.
Then back at me.
“Your father didn’t become powerful by accident.”
I waited.
“He made enemies.”
The room became quiet.
“Dangerous ones.”
I looked at him.
“And?”
Nathan swallowed.
“And those people are not going to disappear just because I’m gone.”
A cold feeling moved through me.
Because there was one thing about Nathan I knew better than anyone.
He loved himself too much to sacrifice his own interests.
If he was warning me...
There had to be a reason.
“Who are they?”
Nathan leaned back.
“That’s the problem.”
“You don’t know.”
I stood up.
The conversation was over.
But before I walked away, Nathan said something that stopped me.
“Ask your father about Project Blackthorn.”
My hand froze on the door.
A name.
A simple name.
But it meant something.
Because Blackthorn wasn’t just the name of our estate.
It was a name my father had never explained.
I turned around.
“What did you say?”
Nathan smiled.
“Ask him.”
Then he leaned forward.
“And watch his face when he realizes you finally know.”
When I arrived at my father’s home, I didn’t tell anyone about my conversation with Nathan.
Not even him.
I needed to see the truth myself.
My father was in his private office, reviewing documents.
The same office where I had spent countless childhood afternoons watching him work.
The same man who always seemed to have every answer.
“Dad.”
He looked up.
Immediately, he noticed something was wrong.
“What happened?”
I closed the door behind me.
“I met Nathan.”
His expression hardened.
“Why?”
“Because he told me something.”
A pause.
“What did he tell you?”
There it was.
A reaction.
Small.
Almost invisible.
But I saw it.
And my heart sank.
“Nathan mentioned something called Project Blackthorn.”
The room went completely silent.
My father stopped moving.
For several seconds, he didn’t speak.
And that was all the answer I needed.
“You know what it is.”
He slowly stood.
“Evelyn.”
“No.”
My voice was quieter than I expected.
“I spent four years being lied to by my husband.”
“I won’t spend another minute being lied to by my father.”
His face softened.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
He looked away.
For the first time in my entire life...
My father looked afraid.
Not worried.
Not concerned.
Afraid.
Finally, he walked to the window.
“When you were young, I told you I built my companies through hard work.”
“That was true.”
“But it wasn’t the entire truth.”
I waited.
“Before Vale International became what it is today, I created a private intelligence network.”
My eyes widened.
“Intelligence network?”
He nodded slowly.
“Security. Information gathering. Threat prevention.”
I stared at him.
“You mean spies?”
“No.”
His voice became serious.
“People who protected innocent lives.”
I crossed my arms.
“And Project Blackthorn?”
My father closed his eyes briefly.
“It was created to identify powerful people who used their influence to hurt others.”
A chill ran through me.
“Like Nathan?”
He looked at me.
“Yes.”
The answer was immediate.
Too immediate.
“What does that mean?”
My father sat down.
“Evelyn, Nathan was never the first person we investigated.”
I felt my stomach tighten.
“What are you saying?”
He looked at me with sadness.
“I’m saying your marriage was not the only thing that brought Nathan into our lives.”
I stared at him.
“Dad...”
His voice lowered.
“Nathan Ashford was connected to something much bigger.”
The room felt colder.
“What?”
My father looked toward the locked cabinet behind his desk.
“The company he built.”
“The money he stole.”
“The people he worked with.”
“None of it started with him.”
I whispered:
“Then who started it?”
My father opened the cabinet.
Inside was a black file.
On the cover was one word.
BLACKTHORN.
He placed it on the desk.
Then he looked at me.
“The person behind everything…”
“Is someone you know.”
My heart stopped.
“Who?”
My father opened the file.
And the first photograph inside made my entire world collapse.
Because the person staring back at me...
Was someone I trusted.
Someone who had been beside me for years.
May you like
Someone I never suspected.
To be continued...
