Inside was a single letter… and a smaller folder stamped: CLASSIFIED.
The letter was written in a steady hand, but the ink had bled in places—as if even a general couldn’t keep control of everything.
Selena,
If you’re reading this, then I’ve already failed you one last time.
But everything I did… I did to keep you alive.
My fingers tightened.
I kept reading.
Thirty years ago, your mother uncovered something she was never meant to see. Names. Deals. Men in power who would destroy anyone to protect it.
She came to me for protection.
I gave her a choice: disappear… or die with the truth.
My heart started pounding.
We staged your deaths.
New identities. New lives. No connection to me.
Because if they knew you were my daughter… you would have been a target from the moment you could speak.
I stopped breathing for a second.
