My chest constricts.
"My daughter."
The words blur before my eyes. My knees give out and I grab Asa's desk for support.
All these years, I've carried his ghost like a torch—the brave journalist who died for the truth, who chose exposure over silence, principles over safety. I built my entire identity around his sacrifice. Made it my north star.
But I was wrong.
He didn't die for the truth.
He died forme.
My eyes scan faster now, desperate to understand.
The file lays it all bare—the precursor program, asset logs, surveillance reports.
Our house had been watched. Our phones tapped. My entire childhood mapped out by people who saw me not as a fourteen-year-old girl, but asleverage.
The warning came on a Tuesday. I remember because I had a big game that weekend, and Dad promised he'd be back from D.C. in time to watch. He never showed.
Now I know why.
The choice they gave him wasn't about truth or lies. It was simpler than that: expose Orchid Protocol, and your daughter becomes collateral damage.
So he chose.
He choseme.
And I've spent nearly two decades hating him for it.
I don't realize I'm crying until a tear splashes onto the keyboard.
The screen swims before me, but I can't look away. Can't stop reading. Can't stop the past from rewriting itself in brutal new colors.
I sense Asa watching, his quiet strength beside me as I crumble. His voice loses its usual edge.
"Sloane." Gentle, for him. "You need to keep it together. Lucia needs you."
"I can't... I can't do this, Asa. My father died because of me. Everything I believed—it was all wrong."
His hand hovers near my shoulder, unsure. "Listen to me. Your father made a choice. He chose to protect you. His decision, not yours."
The truth cuts deep, but grief still crushes me. I look up at him through tears. "Why didn't he tell me? Why keep it secret?"
"Because you'd have fought back," Asa says with cold logic. "You'd have chased the truth no matter what it cost. He wanted better for you—a life beyond all this."
I sink into the chair, head dropping to my hands. "What if he was wrong? Max, Lucia, Logan—I've put them all at risk." My voice cracks. "What if I'm not worth it?"
Asa goes rigid, eyes sharp. "Give up now and you prove Granger right. Prove you're exactly what he thinks—a liability. A weakness."
I flinch, but the harsh words hit their mark. He steps closer, solid but not invasive.
"Want to honor your father? Fight as hard as he did. Show Granger you're more than he expects. That you can't be broken."
I lift my tear-streaked face. "How?"
His cold intelligence weighs the question. "Start by standing up. Turn that pain to strength. Lucia needs you at your best. Not broken. Not beaten. The fierce journalist you've always been."
