Chapter 5 - THE FIVE FAMILIESHannah stared at the pocket watch in utter disbelief.
"My father... an accountant for the mob?" she gasped, her hands shaking slightly.
"Not just any accountant," Alexander explained, setting the pocket watch on the small table between them. "Marcus Caldwell held the master encryption keys to the Elysium Fund—a shadow treasury containing four billion dollars belonging to the Commission. Twenty years ago, the Vane family tried to murder Marcus to steal the fund. Your father fled, took a false identity in Queens, and spent the rest of his life pretending to be a poor watchmaker to keep you safe."
Tears filled Hannah’s eyes as memories of her childhood rushed back—her father constantly changing their home address, checking the window locks three times every night, wearing old, patched clothes while hiding billions in dark money.
"He suffered... so I could live a normal life," Hannah sobbed, burying her face in her hands.
Alexander pulled her tightly into his lap, wrapping his massive arms around her, holding her close as she wept against his chest.
"He gave up everything to protect you," Alexander whispered fiercely into her hair. "And when I found you three years ago... I swore on his grave that no one would ever hurt you again."
"Did Trevor’s family know who my father was?" Hannah asked, looking up, wiping a tear from her cheek.
"Trevor didn't," Alexander said coldly. "He was too stupid and arrogant to look beyond your faded clothes. But his mother, Eleanor Vane... she knew. That's why she forced Trevor to abandon you seven years ago. She was searching for your father’s ledger."
Before Hannah could speak, the secure satellite phone on the nightstand flashed with a bright crimson light.
SECURITY BREACH: RED HOOK HOLDING FACILITY.
Alexander picked up the phone, pressing it to his ear.
"Report," Alexander commanded.
"Don Alexander!" Arthur’s voice boomed through the speaker amid the sound of intense gunfire. "An armed mercenary unit just raided the Red Hook docks! They broke Trevor Langley out of custody!"
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"Who ordered the raid?" Alexander growled.
"Eleanor Vane," Arthur reported. "And Don Alexander... she just released a statement to the High Council. She claims Mrs. Cross is holding the four-billion-dollar Elysium ledger... and put a fifty-million-dollar bounty on her head!"
