Alexander sat in his study, a cigar burning between his fingers.
The meeting was over. The encrypted phone sat on his desk, a constant reminder of the choice he had made.
Help them destroy Alpha Dark.
Betray the man he had served for decades.
All to protect Emma. All to keep his secret buried. All to maintain the fragile illusion that he was her father, not her kidnapper.
Alexander took a long drag of the cigar, exhaling smoke slowly into the dim light of his study.
The house was quiet. Emma was upstairs, probably texting Zayn or studying or doing whatever twenty-three-year-olds did when they were not worrying about their fathers collapsing from stress.
She had no idea what was coming.
No idea that in two days, the world she knew would implode.
Alexander closed his eyes, trying to push away the guilt that never quite left him.
And then something clicked in his mind.
