Chapter 10 - The LegacyThe news alert flashed across my phone screen in bold, inescapable letters: GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT SCANDAL: THE MERCER FILES RELEASED.
Within seconds, my phone began to buzz continuously—text messages from journalists, local news stations, and unknown numbers flooding in all at once. The deep-state conspiracy my father had spent his entire life burying had just been blasted across the global internet.
Raymond looked at the screen, then slowly looked up at me, a strange, weary chuckle escaping his lips.
"Well," my father said, leaning back in his chair with a helpless shrug. "I suppose retirement was getting a little boring anyway."
I picked up the phone, silenced the notifications, and tossed it onto the kitchen counter. For the first time in my life, the weight of secrets, lies, and paranoia lifted entirely off our shoulders. The truth was out there, for better or worse, and we were finally facing it together in the light.
May you like
I stood up, walked around the counter, and pulled my father into a firm, grounding hug.
"Come on," I whispered, glancing toward the stairs where my wife and children were sleeping peacefully. "Let's go home. For real this time."
