The black cars stopped.
One after another.
My heart pounded so hard that I could hear it in my ears.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Then the doors opened.
Men stepped out.
Five.
Then seven.
Then more.
All dressed in black.
All carrying weapons.
My mother grabbed my hand.
"Lina, stay behind me."
I stared at her.
"Behind you?"
She looked at me.
"I won't lose you again."
Again.
The word stayed with me.
"What do you mean, again?"
She didn't answer.
Malik stepped forward.
"Everyone stay calm."
One of the men raised his weapon.
"Lina Grant."
My stomach tightened.
"How do you know my name?"
The man smiled.
"We've known your name longer than you have."
Adrian immediately raised his weapon.
"Take another step and you'll regret it."
The man laughed.
"Adrian Cole."
Adrian froze.
"You remember me?"
"I remember everyone."
The man looked toward Victor.
"And you."
Victor slowly stood.
"You shouldn't have come here."
"We were sent."
"By who?"
The man smiled.
"You already know."
Victor's face hardened.
"Tell me."
The man looked at me.
"By the woman who started this."
My mother went completely still.
I looked at her.
"Mom?"
She shook her head.
"No."
"Who are they talking about?"
"I don't know."
The man laughed.
"You still haven't told her?"
My mother's face went pale.
"Don't."
"Tell her what?"
The man took a step forward.
"Ask your mother who gave you the bracelet."
I looked down at my wrist.
"The bracelet?"
My mother whispered,
"Lina, don't listen to him."
"Who gave it to me?"
She didn't answer.
"Mom."
Still nothing.
"Who?"
Finally, she whispered,
"Samuel."
I frowned.
"But you said it belonged to Dad."
"It did."
"Then why are they saying you gave it to me?"
My mother closed her eyes.
"Because I took it from Samuel."
My stomach dropped.
"When?"
"The night you were born."
I stared at her.
"You're saying Dad gave you this bracelet when I was born?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because he knew something would happen."
"What?"
She looked at the men.
"They wanted you."
My heart stopped.
"Who?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
Victor interrupted.
"You do."
My mother looked at him.
"Don't."
Victor's voice became cold.
"You know exactly who they are."
The armed men began moving closer.
Malik stepped in front of me.
"Enough."
The leader pointed his gun toward him.
"You're not part of this anymore."
Malik didn't move.
"I decide that."
The man's eyes narrowed.
"You've protected her for twenty years."
My heart skipped.
Twenty years.
I looked at Malik.
"You've been protecting me since I was born?"
He looked at me.
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because your father made me promise."
I shook my head.
"Everyone keeps using my father's name to explain their lies."
Malik stepped closer.
"I never wanted to lie to you."
"But you did."
"Yes."
I looked away.
I didn't know whether I wanted to slap him or hold him.
Maybe both.
The leader suddenly raised his gun.
Adrian fired first.
The cemetery erupted into chaos.
Malik pulled me behind a stone wall.
Daniel dragged my mother down.
Victor disappeared behind a tree.
Shots echoed through the night.
I covered my ears.
"Stay down!" Malik shouted.
"I can't!"
"You have to!"
"I need to know what's happening!"
Malik grabbed my face.
"Lina, listen to me."
His eyes were filled with fear.
"If anything happens to me, take the bracelet and run."
My heart stopped.
"Don't say that."
"Promise me."
"No."
"Lina."
"I said no!"
He stared at me.
Then smiled sadly.
"I always knew you'd be stubborn."
A bullet struck the stone beside us.
Malik pulled me closer.
"Now run!"
We moved.
Daniel covered us from behind.
Adrian fired repeatedly.
Victor appeared from the darkness and took down one of the men.
Then suddenly—
Silence.
The attackers stopped shooting.
I looked around.
Some were down.
Others had disappeared.
The leader was gone.
Adrian lowered his weapon.
"They're retreating."
"Why?"
Nobody answered.
Then I saw it.
A black envelope lying on the ground.
My name was written across it.
LINA GRANT.
I picked it up.
Malik immediately said,
"Don't open that."
I looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because whoever left it wants you to."
I stared at the envelope.
"Then maybe I want to know why."
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
My breath caught.
It showed my father.
Samuel.
But he wasn't alone.
He was standing beside a woman.
A woman I recognized.
My mother.
But the photograph was dated twenty-three years ago.
Three years before I was born.
On the back was a message.
ASK YOUR MOTHER WHO THE REAL FATHER IS.
I looked up slowly.
"Mom?"
She was crying.
"Lina…"
"You said Samuel was my father."
"He was."
"Then why would they say he wasn't?"
She stepped toward me.
"Because they're trying to confuse you."
"Are they?"
She stopped.
I held up the photograph.
"Who is this man?"
My mother looked at it.
Her face completely changed.
I had never seen that expression before.
Fear.
Pure fear.
"Mom?"
She whispered a name.
"Gabriel."
I frowned.
"Who is Gabriel?"
Nobody answered.
Then Victor walked toward us.
He looked at my mother.
"You finally said his name."
She looked at him.
"You knew?"
"Yes."
Malik suddenly stepped backward.
I noticed.
"Malik?"
He didn't answer.
"Do you know Gabriel too?"
His silence was enough.
My heart sank.
"You all know him."
Adrian lowered his weapon.
"Lina, you need to understand something."
"What?"
"Gabriel isn't dead."
The night seemed to stop.
"Where is he?"
Adrian looked toward the road.
"He's been watching you."
I swallowed.
"For how long?"
Adrian's voice was barely a whisper.
"Since the day Samuel died."
A phone rang.
Everyone froze.
It was my mother's phone.
She stared at the screen.
No number.
Just one word.
DAD.
Her hands began trembling.
I looked at her.
"Answer it."
She shook her head.
"Mom, answer it."
She pressed the button.
She put the phone on speaker.
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Then a man's voice came through.
Deep.
Calm.
Terrifyingly familiar.
"Hello, Lina."
My blood turned cold.
The voice continued.
"It's time you met your real father."