Episode 14: My Princess
1496 Words
For several seconds, Ariana couldn't move.
The world around her disappeared.
The photographs.
The locked room.
The sound of Daniel shouting outside.
None of it mattered.
Only the man sitting in front of her mattered.
Her father.
Alive.
His eyes filled with tears.
“My princess.”
Ariana's breath broke.
“Dad?”
The word came out like a question.
Like she was afraid that saying it too loudly would destroy the moment.
The man slowly stood.
He looked older than she remembered.
His hair had turned gray.
There were scars on his face.
Years had passed.
Years Ariana could never get back.
But his eyes were the same.
The same warm brown eyes that had watched her ride her first bicycle.
The same eyes that had kissed her forehead when she was sick.
The same eyes.
Ariana took one step forward.
Then another.
“Dad…”
He opened his arms.
That was all it took.
Ariana ran to him.
She crashed into his chest and began crying.
Not quietly.
Not gently.
Years of pain came out all at once.
Her father held her tightly.
“I thought you were dead,” she cried.
“I know.”
“They buried you.”
“I know.”
“I visited your grave.”
His arms tightened around her.
“I know.”
Ariana pulled away and stared at him.
“How?”
Her father looked at her.
“I watched you.”
She froze.
“What?”
“I couldn't come close.”
Ariana stepped back.
“You watched me?”
“I had to make sure you were safe.”
“You were alive.”
Her voice became louder.
“You were alive all these years!”
“I know.”
“And you let me believe you were dead?”
Pain filled his face.
“There was no other choice.”
Ariana laughed bitterly through her tears.
“Everyone says that.”
Her father looked confused.
“What?”
“Everyone keeps saying they were protecting me.”
Leon lowered his eyes.
Lila stood silently beside the door.
Ariana pointed at her father.
“My mother lied.”
“Yes.”
“Leon lied.”
Her father's eyes moved toward Leon.
“Yes.”
Ariana's voice broke.
“And you lied the most.”
Silence filled the room.
Her father slowly nodded.
“You're right.”
Ariana hadn't expected that.
“I should have found another way.”
“Why didn't you?”
Her father looked at the floor.
“Because Daniel wasn't alone.”
Ariana remembered Victor.
The voice behind the other door.
“What happened?”
Her father looked toward Lila.
Then at Leon.
“You all deserve the truth.”
A loud sound came from outside.
BANG!
Daniel was trying to break through the door.
Leon immediately turned.
“We don't have much time.”
Ariana's father walked toward an old desk in the corner.
He opened a drawer.
Inside was a thick file.
Ariana stared at it.
“What is that?”
“The reason everything happened.”
He placed it on the table.
The front page contained a single name.
THE ORION PROJECT
Ariana frowned.
“What is Orion?”
Her father's face became serious.
“Years ago, Daniel and Victor created a private network.”
“For what?”
“To control people.”
Ariana stared at him.
Her father continued.
“Politicians. Businessmen. Police officers. Doctors.”
Leon looked shocked.
“You told me Daniel was involved in illegal business.”
Her father nodded.
“Because that was the part you were allowed to know.”
Ariana looked at the photographs on the walls.
“Was my family involved?”
“Daniel was.”
“And Mom?”
Her father became silent.
Ariana's heart sank.
“Dad.”
“Your mother made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“She trusted Daniel.”
Ariana's breathing stopped.
Her father continued.
“She believed he was helping us.”
Ariana shook her head.
“Helping with what?”
“Protecting our family.”
Lila suddenly laughed bitterly.
“Protecting us?”
Her father looked at her.
Pain appeared in his eyes.
“Lila…”
“Don't.”
Her voice was cold.
“You don't get to say my name like you know me.”
Ariana looked at her sister.
Lila's eyes were filled with tears.
“You had Ariana.”
Her father said nothing.
“You got to watch her grow up.”
“Lila, I searched for you.”
“For how long?”
He froze.
Ariana felt the tension grow.
Lila stepped closer.
“How many years?”
Her father's voice was barely audible.
“Every day.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“I never stopped looking.”
“But you stopped looking where Daniel told you to.”
Silence.
Ariana looked at her father.
“What does she mean?”
Lila laughed.
“Ask him.”
Ariana was becoming tired of those words.
Ask him.
Ask her.
Ask Leon.
Every answer created another secret.
She slammed her hand against the table.
“Enough!”
Everyone became silent.
Ariana looked at all of them.
“No more secrets.”
Her eyes moved to her father.
“Start from the beginning.”
A loud crash came from outside.
Leon grabbed the file.
“Ariana, we really need to leave.”
“No.”
“Ariana—”
“No!”
She looked at the locked door.
“Daniel wants this room.”
Her father nodded slowly.
“He wants the evidence.”
“Then we take it.”
Another crash.
This time the metal door bent slightly.
Lila looked terrified.
“He's getting in.”
Ariana's father opened another drawer.
Inside were four small black devices.
“Take these.”
Ariana frowned.
“What are they?”
“Encrypted drives.”
Leon immediately understood.
“The evidence.”
Her father nodded.
“Copies of everything.”
Ariana grabbed one.
“So why did Daniel need the room?”
Her father looked toward the wall.
“Because the original evidence is here.”
Ariana followed his gaze.
One photograph was different.
It showed all five of them.
Her father.
Her mother.
Ariana.
Lila.
Daniel.
The photograph had been taken before everything happened.
Her father removed it from the wall.
Behind it was a small safe.
Ariana stared.
The safe opened.
Inside was a black notebook.
Daniel's footsteps suddenly stopped outside.
Everyone became silent.
Then Daniel's voice came through the door.
“You really thought you could hide forever?”
Ariana's father went pale.
Leon whispered, “We need to move.”
Daniel laughed.
“Hello, brother.”
Ariana's father froze.
Ariana looked at him.
Brother?
Daniel wasn't her father's brother.
Daniel was connected to her mother.
Her father whispered—
“He knows.”
Daniel laughed again.
“I always knew.”
Ariana stepped toward her father.
“What does he mean?”
Her father didn't answer.
Ariana's heart pounded.
“Dad.”
Daniel shouted from outside.
“Tell your daughter who I really am!”
Ariana stared at the door.
Then back at her father.
Her father closed his eyes.
Leon looked alarmed.
Lila whispered, “No…”
Ariana's voice became quiet.
“Who is he?”
Her father looked directly into her eyes.
And for the first time, Ariana saw fear.
Not fear for himself.
Fear of what she was about to learn.
“Daniel is not your uncle.”
Ariana froze.
Her father continued.
“He never was.”
Outside, Daniel began laughing.
Ariana slowly stepped backward.
“What?”
Her father swallowed.
“Daniel is…”
The lights suddenly went out.
Complete darkness.
Ariana screamed.
A gunshot echoed.
BANG!
Someone fell.
“Dad!”
“Ariana, RUN!” Leon shouted.
Another gunshot.
Lila grabbed Ariana's hand.
They ran blindly through the darkness.
Behind them, Daniel's voice echoed through the room.
“You can't run from your blood!”
Ariana stopped.
Her blood?
Daniel's voice came again.
And this time, he said something that made Ariana's entire world collapse.
“Ask your father who your real mother is.”
Ariana couldn't breathe.
Lila slowly released her hand.
Leon turned toward Ariana.
Her father was somewhere in the darkness.
Possibly injured.
Daniel was getting closer.
And Ariana realized that after everything she had learned—
she might not even know who she truly was.
Her phone suddenly lit up.
A new message appeared.
LETTER 207
Ariana opened it with shaking fingers.
There was only one sentence.
THE WOMAN YOU CALL MOM IS NOT THE WOMAN WHO GAVE BIRTH TO YOU.
Ariana stared at the words.
Then another message appeared.
FIND THE WOMAN IN THE RED COAT.
Ariana slowly looked toward the wall of photographs.
One picture showed a woman standing behind her father.
Ariana had never noticed her before.
She wore a red coat.
And her face had been scratched out.
To be continued...
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