The name echoes in the car like a gunshot.
Eduardo Valez.
My father.
For a moment I can’t breathe.
The frozen frame on Marcus’s laptop shows the exact second before everything changed.
Rain streaks across the windshield.
Adrian’s car is inches from the guardrail.
The SUV behind us is still closing in.
And in the opposite lane—another vehicle swerves violently toward us.
Marcus zooms further into the image. The driver’s face becomes clearer through the rain-blurred glass. Older. Sharp jaw. Familiar eyes.
My chest tightens painfully. “No,” I whisper.
Marcus exhales slowly. “That’s definitely him.”
Adrian hasn’t moved. His gaze remains fixed on the screen. Cold. Unblinking.
“That’s your father,” Marcus says quietly.
“I know,” Adrian replies.
My pulse pounds violently in my ears
