Chapter 9: The Daughter of the Empire
Damian didn't speak for nearly a minute.
His mother sat across from him, her hands clasped tightly in her lap.
Ethan looked as though someone had punched him.
Sofia stood near the door, trying to understand how one family could contain so many secrets.
Finally, Damian asked the question.
"What child?""
Margaret looked directly at him.
"Your sister.""
"Isabella?""
"Yes.""
"Why would Father steal his own daughter?""
"Because Isabella was born with a different mother, and because Alexander believed she was the only child capable of continuing his business without question.""
Ethan shook his head.
"He was seven when he took her away. She was a little girl.""
"He didn't care.""
Margaret's voice cracked.
"He arranged for her to be educated by people he trusted. He gave her a new identity. He made sure she never learned that I had raised her.""
Damian leaned back.
"And you knew where she was?""
"Not at first. Elena found her years later.""
Sofia looked up.
"My mother found Isabella?""
Margaret nodded.
"Elena worked at a medical clinic where Isabella was receiving treatment. She recognized the crescent necklace your mother had given her.""
Damian remembered the necklace in the photograph.
"What treatment?""
Margaret hesitated.
"She had been injured.""
"How?""
"Your father wanted to teach her a lesson after she tried to escape.""
Ethan's hands tightened.
"What kind of man does that to his own child?""
Margaret looked at him sadly.
"Your father never believed children belonged to themselves.""
A knock interrupted them.
Hale entered, followed by a young officer.
"Mrs. Cross, we need to move you. The press has discovered your identity.""
Damian stood.
"Where?""
"An undisclosed safe location.""
"No.""
Hale looked at him.
"Mr. Cross—"
"She's coming with us.""
"That's not possible.""
Damian stepped closer.
"Do you know how many times people have told me something isn't possible in the last twenty-four hours?""
Hale remained silent.
Then he lowered his voice.
"Your father's people have access to this station. If we move her through the main exit, she'll be dead before she reaches the street.""
Damian glanced at Marcus.
"Can you get us out?""
Marcus nodded.
"There's a vehicle in the underground parking garage.""
Hale looked at the detective.
"You're going to help us?""
Hale removed his badge.
"I've spent eleven years following orders because I believed my daughter was alive. If Alexander is still holding her, I'm done protecting him.""
Damian studied him.
"Where is she?""
Hale looked at Sofia.
"Ask Elena's daughter.""
Sofia frowned.
"Why me?""
"Because your mother was the last person to see my daughter.""
Sofia shook her head.
"I don't understand.""
Hale took out a photograph.
It showed two young girls standing beside a hospital bed.
One was Isabella.
The other was a little girl with dark eyes and a familiar scar above her eyebrow.
Sofia.
Sofia stared at the picture.
"I don't remember this.""
"You were five," Hale said.
"Your mother brought you to the clinic. Isabella was recovering from an operation, and the two of you became friends.""
Margaret nodded.
"Elena told me about it.""
Hale continued.
"Three weeks after this photograph was taken, my daughter disappeared. Alexander told me she had died in an accident.""
He looked at Damian.
"But now I know he lied.""
Sofia moved closer.
"Why would my mother know where she is?""
"Because she gave her something.""
"What?""
"A key.""
Hale took a small envelope from his pocket.
Inside was a tiny silver key with the number 27 engraved on its surface.
Sofia recognized it immediately.
"My mother had one of these.""
Damian turned.
"Where?""
"At our old apartment.""
"What's it for?""
"I don't know.""
Hale looked at her.
"Your mother told me that if anything happened to her, you would eventually understand.""
Sofia's face tightened.
"She died four years ago.""
"I know.""
He looked down.
"I'm sorry.""
The group left through the underground garage.
Marcus drove.
Damian sat beside his mother while Ethan occupied the rear seat with Sofia.
The city passed outside in a blur of headlights and wet streets.
Margaret held Damian's hand.
"You've changed.""
He looked at her.
"I had to.""
"I know.""
"I became someone you wouldn't recognize.""
She squeezed his fingers.
"I would recognize you anywhere.""
Damian looked away.
For years, he had imagined hearing those words.
Now that he had, they hurt more than he expected.
They reached a modest apartment building on the outskirts of Boston just after sunrise.
The building had peeling paint and a broken mailbox.
Sofia stood outside the entrance, staring at the third-floor window.
"This is where we lived.""
Damian looked at her.
"You grew up here?""
She nodded.
"My mother used to say we were lucky because the apartment had two windows. She said sunlight was free, and we should never waste it.""
Ethan smiled faintly.
"Sounds like Elena.""
They climbed the stairs.
Sofia unlocked the door.
The apartment smelled of dust and old wood.
Everything had been left almost exactly as it was four years earlier.
A small table stood beside the kitchen window. A faded blanket lay over the sofa. Books were stacked beside a narrow bed.
Sofia walked into the bedroom.
She opened the wardrobe.
Behind a row of old dresses was a small wooden box.
The silver key fitted its lock.
Inside were several letters, a photograph, and a folded map.
Damian picked up the photograph.
It showed Margaret, Elena, and a young girl standing beside a hospital entrance.
On the back were three names.
*Margaret. Elena. Isabella.*
Beneath them, someone had written:
The daughter who remembers everything.
Sofia unfolded the map.
A location had been marked near the harbor.
"What's there?"" Damian asked.
She studied the address.
"A warehouse.""
Ethan looked at the map.
"Which one?""
Sofia read the number.
"Pier 27.""
Hale immediately stood.
"That's where my daughter was last seen.""
Damian looked at him.
"Then that's where we're going.""
Margaret caught his arm.
"Wait.""
She pointed toward the bottom of the box.
A small cassette recorder lay beneath the papers.
"Elena left something.""
Damian inserted the tape.
Static filled the room.
Then a woman's voice emerged.
Elena.
"If you're hearing this, then my daughter has finally found the key.""
Sofia covered her mouth.
Her mother's voice continued.
"There's something I never told you, sweetheart. The Cross family didn't simply take Isabella from her mother. They took another child too.""
A pause.
Then Elena whispered:
"Damian, Ethan, if you're listening, you need to understand that your father didn't have two sons and one daughter.""
Damian looked at Ethan.
The tape crackled.
"He had four children.""
Nobody moved.
Elena continued.
"One was taken. One was hidden. One was raised to inherit the empire.""
Then her voice broke.
"And the fourth was given to me.""
Sofia's knees weakened.
Damian caught her.
"What does she mean?"" he whispered.
The tape continued.
"Your father believed that blood determined who deserved power. But he made one mistake.""
A long silence.
Then Elena spoke the final words.
"The child he gave away was never his.""
The recording stopped.
Sofia stared at the machine.
Ethan slowly looked toward Damian.
"Do you understand what this means?""
Damian shook his head.
Before anyone could answer, Hale's phone rang.
He looked at the number.
His face went white.
"That's impossible.""
"What?"" Damian asked.
Hale answered.
A woman's voice came through the speaker.
"Hello, Daddy.""
Hale's eyes filled instantly.
"Isabella?""
"Yes.""
"Where are you? Are you safe?""
She laughed softly.
"That depends on who you're standing with.""
Hale looked toward Damian.
Then toward the door.
A second voice came through the phone.
An older man's voice.
Alexander Cross.
"Good morning, gentlemen.""
Damian's blood turned cold.
Alexander continued.
"I believe you've all been looking for my daughter.""
A pause.
"Well, I have a little surprise for you.""
The call ended.
A message arrived seconds later.
It contained a photograph of Isabella sitting in a chair, her hands tied.
Behind her stood a man wearing a familiar black suit.
Victor Cross.
Damian stared at the image.
"Victor is dead.""
Ethan moved closer.
"Look at his face.""
Damian enlarged the photograph.
There was no blood.
No injury.
No sign of the gunshot wound Marcus had witnessed.
Then he noticed the date printed in the corner.
The photograph had been taken two days before Victor supposedly died.
Sofia whispered.
"That isn't possible.""
Damian looked at the image again.
Then he saw the detail that made his stomach turn.
The man standing beside Isabella wasn't Victor.
It was his twin brother.
Arthur Cross.
The uncle nobody had mentioned in twelve years.
The uncle whose name had been removed from every family record.
And beneath the photograph was a message.
*BRING THE LEDGER TO PIER 27. COME ALONE.*
Damian's phone vibrated again.
This time, the message was from an unknown number.
*AND BRING THE GIRL. SHE BELONGS TO US.*
Damian slowly raised his eyes toward Sofia.
For the first time since the garage accident, he understood that the secret hidden inside Ethan's wrecked roadster had never been about the past.
May you like
It was about Sofia.
And someone had been waiting years to claim her.
