CHAPTER 8 — The Daughter Who Remembered Her Father
Within minutes, the bridge became a battlefield.
SWAT officers rushed forward.
Richard fled toward the opposite end.
Rowan ignored every command shouted around him.
He ran only toward Maren.
When he reached her, neither of them spoke.
For an instant, they simply looked at each other.
A year of pain.
A year of lies.
A year of silence.
Then Rowan whispered the words he should have said long ago.
"I'm sorry."
Maren closed her eyes.
"I know."
She didn't say she forgave him.
She wasn't ready.
Some wounds were too deep.
Suddenly, a tiny voice interrupted them.
"Daddy?"
Rowan froze.
Standing beside an FBI agent was Emma.
She had been rescued from a private estate owned by Richard only an hour earlier.
She held the faded blue blanket Eleanor had kept hidden for so long.
The little girl looked uncertain.
"I remember you."
Rowan slowly knelt.
"You do?"
Emma nodded.
"When I had bad dreams..."
"I always dreamed someone carried me."
"I never saw his face."
"But I knew he smelled like cedar wood."
Tears filled Rowan's eyes.
He had used cedar cologne for years.
Without another word, Emma wrapped her tiny arms around his neck.
For the first time in her life...
She hugged her real father.
Nearby, Maren quietly cried.
Not because the nightmare was over.
But because one impossible dream had finally come true.
Then Detective Mason hurried toward them.
"We've arrested Richard."
"But..."
Rowan looked up.
"There's another problem."
"The company accounts are empty."
"What?"
"Someone transferred nearly two billion dollars overnight."
"To offshore accounts."
"And the authorization..."
He looked directly at Tessa.
"...came from your executive office."
Tessa slowly lowered her head.
"I can explain."
"No," Rowan replied.
"You already have."
He realized that exposing the conspiracy had only uncovered the first layer.
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The money was gone.
And someone else had been waiting in the shadows all along.
