Chapter 6 - The Daughter of the Forgotten Enemy
The first thing I heard was my father’s voice.
Not in my memory.
Not in a dream.
On the screen in front of me.
A voice I thought I would never hear again.
"Elena, if you're watching this, it means they found you."
My entire body froze.
The abandoned hotel disappeared.
The people around me disappeared.
There was only that voice.
A voice from a man I had spent half my life believing was gone.
My father.
The man everyone told me had died.
The man whose absence shaped every decision I ever made.
I looked at Cassian.
He wasn't watching the screen.
He was watching me.
And that hurt more.
Because I realized he had carried this secret for years.
He knew.
He knew my father was alive.
He knew there was a chance I would discover the truth.
And he still said nothing.
The video continued.
My father appeared older than I remembered.
Tired.
Different.
But alive.
"Elena, I don't have much time."
He looked directly into the camera.
"I need you to listen carefully."
A strange feeling moved through me.
Because even after all these years...
I recognized that look.
The same look he had the night before he disappeared.
Fear.
Not fear for himself.
Fear for me.
"Your mother and I didn't leave you."
My breath caught.
"I need you to understand that."
My hands started shaking.
Because that was the lie I had lived with.
The belief that they chose to leave.
That they abandoned me.
That I wasn't important enough to stay.
But my father continued.
"We were trying to protect you from someone inside our own family."
Everyone became silent.
Even the person who brought the video looked uncomfortable.
Cassian lowered his eyes.
I noticed.
And that scared me.
Because Cassian already knew what was coming.
My father continued.
"The person who destroyed our family wasn't Lorenzo Voss."
A pause.
"The person was someone we trusted."
My heart raced.
The screen flickered.
Then a photograph appeared.
A family gathering.
A picture from years ago.
I knew everyone in it.
My parents.
Cassian's father.
Lorenzo.
And someone standing behind them.
Someone smiling.
Someone I had never suspected.
The person who brought us here stepped closer.
"Now you understand."
I looked at them.
"No."
My voice was barely audible.
"No, that can't be true."
Because the person in the photograph was someone I knew.
Someone who had been part of my life.
Someone who had comforted me.
Someone who had always acted like they cared.
Cassian finally spoke.
"Elena."
I turned toward him.
"How long?"
His face tightened.
"How long did you know?"
He didn't answer.
That silence broke something inside me.
"How long, Cassian?"
"Since before our wedding."
The words hit harder than I expected.
Before our wedding.
Before he promised me forever.
Before he looked into my eyes and told me there would never be secrets between us.
I stepped back.
"You knew everything."
"No."
His answer came immediately.
"I knew pieces."
"Pieces?"
My voice became sharper.
"You knew my father was alive."
"Yes."
"You knew why he disappeared."
"Yes."
"You knew I was connected to your past."
Cassian looked away.
That was enough.
I laughed quietly.
Not because it was funny.
Because I didn't know what else to do.
"The man who saved me tonight was also the man who knew the truth about my entire life."
"Elena..."
"No."
I shook my head.
"Don't."
The pain in his eyes was real.
But right now, I couldn't separate the man who loved me from the man who hid everything.
Mara looked between us.
"Cassian wasn't trying to hurt you."
I looked at her.
"You knew too?"
She looked down.
That answer was enough.
Everyone knew.
Except me.
The one person this story belonged to.
I walked toward the laptop.
I needed to hear the rest.
The video continued.
My father looked directly into the camera.
"Elena, if Cassian is with you when you watch this..."
He paused.
My heart stopped.
"Then I need you to know something important."
The room became completely silent.
"Cassian Voss did not destroy our family."
I looked at him.
My father continued.
"He saved you."
A tear escaped before I could stop it.
Because that was the one thing I couldn't understand.
How could the person who hid the truth also be the person who protected me?
The video continued.
"When everything happened, Cassian was the only person who tried to get you away."
My father looked away.
"He was young. He had no power. No army. No protection."
A pause.
"But he still chose you."
Cassian closed his eyes.
I looked at him.
For the first time that night, I saw something beyond guilt.
Pain.
The kind that came from carrying something alone for too long.
My father continued.
"But someone betrayed us."
The screen showed another photograph.
This time, a document.
A signature.
A name.
And suddenly Cassian stepped forward.
"Stop the video."
Nobody moved.
"Cassian?"
His voice changed.
"Stop it."
The person who brought the drive smiled.
"Why?"
Cassian stared at the screen.
Because he had recognized something.
Something he didn't want me to see.
But it was too late.
The document appeared.
A contract.
A deal.
Signed twenty years earlier.
Between my family...
And someone else.
Someone who had promised protection.
Someone who had received money.
Someone who had a reason to erase my family from existence.
I looked at the signature.
My hands became cold.
Because I knew that name.
Everyone knew that name.
It belonged to the most powerful person in Cassian's world.
The person who had raised him.
The person who taught him everything.
The person who everyone believed had died years ago.
Cassian's father.
I turned toward him.
"Cassian..."
He didn't look at me.
Because he already knew.
The video wasn't finished.
My father's voice returned.
"The person who betrayed us was not my enemy."
The screen went black for a second.
Then one final message appeared.
A recording date.
A location.
And a name.
Cassian stepped back.
Because the location was not an old battlefield.
Not a hidden warehouse.
Not some forgotten place.
It was our home.
The place where we had lived together.
The place where we thought we were safe.
Then the laptop made a sound.
A new file appeared.
Created only minutes ago.
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The title was:
"Elena, your father is waiting outside."
