Dangerous Memory {ONC 2021}

Chapter 12

Her eyes stopped shining with rage, and her smile turned into a straight line.

How can he say such a horrendous lie?

"How dare you disgrace my father!" She was panting, and she hugged the gun tighter with both of her hands.

"It's the truth. I'm your father."

"Stop saying that! Stop lying!"

"Bunny, I know it's hard to accept it-"

She turned her gun to Axel. "You think I can listen to anything you have to say? Your father was a Neva. You are a Neva. And you?" She looked at Rob. "After knowing that, how could you bring him here, if you are not a traitor yourself?"

"I'm not my father!" Axel said the words through gritted teeth. "He's a sick bastard who got what he deserved. I have nothing to do with those people."

Alba pursed her lips, unable to answer back.

"Put the gun down. We can't have a proper conversation like that," Rob said.

Let them tell you the truth. You have plenty of time to kill them later.

"Fine." She lowered her hands and left the gun on the desk, centimeters away from her right hand.

"Your father, the man who raised you, was my best friend. The one I lost, the one I hadn't talked with in years. Your mother was an excellent woman, and I had to trust her with your upbringing."

"If you say the truth, then why did you give me to them?"

"Your mother, your biological mother, was the only woman I loved. I didn't know that she was pregnant with you because I was a new agent at that time, and I was gone for a few months on an undercover mission. When I returned, she was seven months pregnant with you."

"She was an agent?" Alba said more like an affirmation than a question.

Rob nodded. "We didn't want to raise a child in here. We didn't want you to live a life full of grey and black. That's why we left. When the time came..." He sighed and closed his eyes. "The doctor didn't come immediately, and there were complications. She died a few hours later during the sunrise. That's why I named you Alba. I was devastated. I didn't know how to raise a child. All I knew was how to be an agent."

Alba shallowed and smiled bitterly. "So you decided to give up on me."

"I wanted the best for you. I knew that my best friend was struggling to have a child and when they met you..." His eyes became watery. "Your mother's eyes brightened up and that's when I knew what I had to do. They promised to love you and protect you, and I left. I was checking on you from time to time, but I never dared to meet you."

"What was my mother's name?"

"Estelle." He smiled and his eyes looked younger.

Star. Her name means star.

"The necklace..." she whispered.

Mom said it was a gift for my birth.

"You gave it to me after Bratislava. I can return it if you want. Now, it means more to you," Axel explained.

"Did you kill my parents?" The question was simple, yet her voice was full of sorrow.

"I could never do that!" Rob made a few steps toward the desk.

"Then why did you go to Chicago?"

"I thought you were in the plane with them. I had to check. You have no idea how relieved I was when I learned you were alive, and how devastated I was when I realized that your parents were dead."