CHAPTER 7: THE TRAP THAT LASTED SIX YEARS
CHAPTER 7: THE TRAP THAT LASTED SIX YEARS
Dominic stared at the business card for a long time.
Only one sentence.
But it changed everything.
"Your father's enemies didn't cause the accident. Someone else wanted you to find the boy."
He looked at Marcus.
"Bring him up."
Five minutes later, Special Agent Nathan Cole entered the private family consultation room.
He wore a plain gray suit, carried no visible weapon, and looked more like a history professor than the FBI agent who had spent ten years investigating the Mercer organization.
Clara stiffened.
"The FBI?"
Cole nodded politely.
"I'm not here to arrest anyone."
Dominic remained standing.
"Then explain your note."
Cole placed a thick folder on the table.
"We've been investigating Victor Mercer for years."
"I already know my father."
"No," Cole replied quietly.
"I don't think you do."
He opened the file.
Inside were photographs spanning nearly a decade.
One showed Clara leaving her apartment while an unmarked sedan followed her.
Another showed a young Eli walking home from kindergarten.
Another...
Eli playing in a city park.
Dominic's blood ran cold.
"They were watching him."
Cole nodded.
"Since the day he was born."
Clara gasped.
"No..."
"I wish I were wrong."
Cole slid another photograph across the table.
Victor Mercer.
Speaking with two men outside a private cemetery.
"The day after your divorce."
Dominic frowned.
"What is this?"
"The men weren't bodyguards."
Cole answered.
"They were contract killers."
The room fell silent.
"They had been hired by one of Victor's rivals."
"They intended to kidnap your unborn child."
Clara covered her mouth.
Cole continued.
"Victor found out first."
"He eliminated both men before they could move."
Dominic looked confused.
"So my father..."
"Saved Eli."
Cole nodded.
"More than once."
Dominic struggled to process it.
"My father separated us..."
"...to protect him?"
Cole sighed.
"Partly."
"He believed your family could never survive together."
"He also believed the only way to protect the child..."
"...was to make the world think he didn't exist."
Clara whispered,
"So everything..."
"...was built on fear."
Cole looked at her sadly.
"Yes."
That afternoon...
Dominic confronted Victor one final time.
This time...
Not in a hospital.
But inside the Mercer estate.
The mansion felt colder than ever.
Victor stood beside the fireplace.
"You finally came."
Dominic threw the FBI file onto the table.
"You lied."
"Yes."
"You destroyed my marriage."
"Yes."
"You stole my son's childhood."
Victor closed his eyes.
"Yes."
Dominic's voice trembled.
"Why?"
For the first time in decades...
Victor looked old.
"When your mother died..."
His voice was barely above a whisper.
"...I promised myself no Mercer child would ever be buried again."
Silence filled the room.
"I knew they would come for your baby."
"So I made the child disappear."
Dominic answered quietly.
"You didn't make him disappear."
"You took him away from me."
Victor looked toward the window.
"I chose the lesser evil."
"No."
Dominic shook his head.
"You chose for everyone."
Victor walked to a cabinet and removed a small wooden box.
"I've kept this for seven years."
He handed it to Dominic.
Inside...
Was a tiny knitted blue baby sweater.
Still wrapped in tissue paper.
Attached was a gift tag.
From Grandpa.
Dominic looked up in disbelief.
"I bought it the week before he was born."
Victor's voice cracked.
"I thought..."
"...one day..."
"...things would be different."
Tears filled Dominic's eyes.
"You never came."
May you like
Victor answered with heartbreaking honesty.
"I didn't know how."
