Prologue
The Man Who Never Died
Unknown POV
The dead were supposed to stay dead.
That was the first rule.
The second was never to trust a woman who cried too easily.
And the third?
Never underestimate a daughter who has finally discovered what her family did to her.
I watched the photograph on my desk.
Two newborn babies.
One boy.
One girl.
Elias and Lillian.
My children.
I traced a finger over the girl’s tiny face.
She had her mother’s eyes.
That was unfortunate.
Her mother had always been too beautiful for her own good. Too clever, too stubborn, and far too convinced that she could outrun the consequences of her decisions.
She had taken my children from me.
She had buried my name.
She had allowed the world to believe I was dead.
And now, after all these years, my daughter was wearing another man’s ring.
Damien Cross.
I laughed quietly.
Thomas had always been an idiot. He believed fear was enough to control a family. He never understood that real power came from knowing what people loved most.
And I knew exactly what Lillian loved.
I picked up my phone.
“She’s engaged,” I said.
The voice on the other end was silent.
“Do you want me to handle it?”
I smiled.
“No.”
I looked at the photograph again.
“I want her to come to me willingly.”
“And if she refuses?”
My smile disappeared.
“Then we’ll remind her what happens when a daughter disobeys her father.”
I ended the call.
Then I turned the photograph over.
There was another name written on the back.
A name Lillian had never heard.
The name of the child who was supposed to be born third.
And that was a secret nobody was ready to uncover.
