CHAPTER 11 — THE SACRIFICE
Marcus moved before anyone heard the bullet.
He threw himself toward Lily.
At the same instant...
Samuel lunged toward Ethan.
BANG!
The bullet struck Samuel in the shoulder instead.
The old man collapsed against the tunnel wall.
Lily screamed.
"Grandpa Sam!"
Marcus caught both children behind a concrete pillar as another explosion ripped through the estate.
Dust poured from the ceiling.
Emily fired twice.
Cassandra disappeared into the smoke.
"She's escaping!" Viktor shouted through the radio.
Marcus didn't chase her.
Not yet.
Samuel was bleeding heavily.
He grabbed Marcus's sleeve.
"There isn't much time."
"Listen carefully."
Marcus knelt beside him.
Samuel reached inside his coat and removed a yellowed envelope sealed with red wax.
"I promised Elena..."
"...I would only give this to you if everything fell apart."
Marcus took it.
His hands trembled.
The seal carried Elena's initials.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
Marcus unfolded it.
The first sentence stole the air from his lungs.
Marcus... if you're reading this, then I failed to protect our children.
Children.
Plural.
Marcus looked at Lily.
Then Ethan.
Then back at the letter.
His eyes raced across the page.
Elena explained everything.
Years earlier, she had secretly given birth to twins.
A boy.
And a girl.
Before she could tell Marcus, Adrian's organization discovered the children.
To keep them alive, they were separated.
The little girl entered the foster system under a false identity.
The little boy disappeared.
Marcus adopted Lily years later...
Never knowing she was his biological daughter.
He had spent seven years searching for Elena.
Never realizing he had been raising his own child all along.
Marcus looked at Lily.
Tears streamed silently down his face.
"You've always been mine..."
Lily didn't understand.
She simply hugged him.
"I know."
"I've always felt it."
Samuel smiled weakly.
"I think..."
"...she knew before anyone else."
His hand slowly slipped away.
Marcus caught it.
"No."
"Stay with me."
Samuel smiled one last time.
May you like
"I kept my promise..."
Then his eyes closed forever.
