Chapter 13 - The Choice Between Revenge And Mercy
The signature remained on the screen.
Damian Romano.
Hazel stared at it.
Her mind searched for an explanation.
Any explanation.
But there was none.
Not one that made sense.
"You signed it."
Her voice was quiet.
Too quiet.
Damian didn't answer.
And that silence destroyed whatever hope she had left.
Hazel stepped back.
"You signed a document about me."
"Hazel."
"No."
She looked at him.
"Don't say my name like that."
The room became still.
Because everyone saw it.
For the first time since she arrived at the Romano estate, Hazel was not afraid.
She was hurt.
And Damian knew the difference.
"You told me you were protecting me."
"I was."
"Then why does it look like you planned everything?"
Damian looked at the screen.
The document.
The signature.
The past he had spent years burying.
"Because I did."
The words hit harder than she expected.
Hazel froze.
Marcus looked at him.
Antonio remained silent.
Even Wyatt looked shocked.
Damian took a breath.
"But not the way you think."
Hazel laughed once.
A broken sound.
"Of course."
She shook her head.
"There's always another explanation."
"Hazel."
"No."
Her eyes filled.
"I trusted you."
Those words affected him more than anger.
Because Damian could handle hatred.
He understood enemies.
But trust?
Trust was something he never knew how to keep.
"I signed that document twelve years ago."
Hazel looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because your father asked me to."
The answer stopped her.
"What?"
Damian walked toward the desk.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Like he was approaching something fragile.
"Thomas Brooks knew he was being hunted."
The room became quiet.
"He knew the archive would put you in danger."
Hazel wiped her tears.
"So he made you sign something?"
"No."
Damian looked at her.
"He made me promise something."
"What?"
His voice lowered.
"That if anything happened to him, I would protect you."
Hazel shook her head.
"Then why hide it?"
"Because the people after the archive were watching everyone connected to Thomas."
A pause.
"And they were watching me."
Hazel looked at the document again.
"Then why does it say my name?"
Damian didn't answer immediately.
Because this was the part he feared.
"The agreement was not about controlling you."
"Then what was it?"
"Protecting your identity."
Hazel frowned.
"My identity?"
Damian nodded.
"Thomas discovered that your family was connected to the original founders."
Silence.
"You were not targeted because of something your father did."
A pause.
"You were targeted because of who you were born as."
Hazel felt cold.
"Who am I?"
Nobody answered.
Not immediately.
Then her mother stepped forward.
"Someone who was never supposed to survive."
Hazel looked at her.
Her mother's face was full of regret.
"Your father found out there was a plan."
"What plan?"
"To remove every person connected to the old families."
Damian nodded.
"Your father found the list."
"The list of names?"
"Yes."
Hazel looked around the room.
"Then why am I still alive?"
A painful silence.
Then Wyatt answered.
"Because your father traded everything to save you."
Hazel looked at him.
"You knew?"
Wyatt lowered his eyes.
"I knew pieces."
"You knew my father died because of this."
"Yes."
"And you still left me."
His face changed.
"I thought leaving was the only way."
She looked away.
"Everyone always decides what is best for me."
Nobody spoke.
Because she was right.
Everyone had protected her.
Everyone except her.
Damian stepped closer.
"I was wrong."
Hazel looked at him.
The words surprised her.
Because Damian Romano rarely admitted anything.
"I thought keeping you away from the truth would keep you safe."
He paused.
"But I only made you feel alone."
Her anger weakened slightly.
Not disappeared.
But changed.
Because for the first time, Damian wasn't defending himself.
He was admitting he failed.
Then the vault alarms sounded.
Everyone turned.
Marcus checked the system.
His face changed.
"What happened?"
"The archive room."
Damian immediately looked at him.
"Again?"
Marcus nodded.
"Someone accessed the original files."
"Who?"
Marcus hesitated.
Then:
"Not someone."
A pause.
"Something."
Damian frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Marcus opened the security footage.
The camera showed the archive room.
Empty.
Then the image distorted.
Static filled the screen.
And a message appeared.
FINAL COPY UPLOADED.
Hazel felt uneasy.
"Uploaded where?"
Marcus typed quickly.
Then stopped.
His expression changed.
"To every major news outlet."
The room went silent.
Damian understood immediately.
"If that file goes public..."
Antonio finished:
"The entire organization collapses."
Marcus nodded.
"But there's more."
Damian looked at him.
"What?"
Marcus turned the screen around.
A countdown appeared.
10:00
Hazel stared.
"What is that?"
Marcus looked serious.
"A release timer."
"For what?"
Marcus swallowed.
"The full archive."
Damian stepped closer.
"Can you stop it?"
"No."
"Try."
Marcus moved quickly.
Everyone watched.
The numbers continued.
08:43
08:42
08:41
Hazel looked at Damian.
"Who did this?"
Nobody answered.
Then Wyatt noticed something.
A small symbol in the corner of the screen.
His face changed.
"No."
Hazel looked at him.
"What?"
Wyatt stepped closer.
"That's impossible."
Damian saw it.
And immediately understood.
"What is it?"
Wyatt pointed.
"The symbol."
A small mark.
Almost invisible.
A circle with a line through it.
Hazel frowned.
"Why does that matter?"
Wyatt looked at Damian.
"Because only one person used that symbol."
Damian's expression darkened.
"Who?"
Wyatt whispered:
"The person who taught Antonio everything."
The room went silent.
Antonio stepped forward.
"He's dead."
Wyatt looked at him.
"No."
A pause.
"He wanted everyone to think he was."
Hazel felt the air change.
Another person.
Another secret.
Another ghost from the past.
Damian looked at the countdown.
05:00
Then the security cameras throughout the estate turned on.
Every screen showed the same image.
A man sitting in a dark room.
Older.
Calm.
Watching them.
Hazel stared.
She had never seen him before.
But everyone else had.
Antonio took one step back.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
Damian whispered:
"No..."
The man on the screen smiled.
"Hello, Antonio."
Nobody moved.
The man continued.
"You thought you buried the truth."
A pause.
"But you only buried the wrong person."
Damian stepped closer to the screen.
"Who are you?"
The man looked directly at him.
And smiled.
"I am the reason your father never told you who you really were."
The countdown continued.
03:00
Hazel looked at Damian.
Then back at the screen.
Because the man had one final message.
Not for Damian.
Not for Antonio.
For her.
"Hazel Brooks..."
The man leaned closer.
"You need to know what your father did before he died."
The screen went black.
The countdown reached:
May you like
01:00
Then every lock in the estate clicked open at the same time...
