Chapter 5
514words
Miranda burst into laughter at the sight of him.
"Uncle Lewis! Have you come to play hero? What can a cripple do against an army?"
She shoved Alex forward.
"Tell him, Alex. Tell him it's over."
Alex looked at Lewis, guilt flashing across his face before he masked it.
"Lily, Uncle Lewis," he said softly. "Don't make this harder than it needs to be. Just kneel and swear loyalty to Miranda…"
"She'll be merciful. You have my word."
The others watched with smirks, waiting for our surrender.
I glanced at Lewis, knowing he was too smart to come without a plan.
Sure enough, he dropped to one knee—not before Miranda, but before me.
"Forgive my tardiness, Miss Johnson."
Black SUVs screeched to a halt around us. From the lead car stepped an elderly man in dark sunglasses.
A dozen armed men surrounded Miranda and Alex, guns trained on their heads.
"Who dares threaten my granddaughter on my territory?" the old man growled.
The blood drained from Miranda's face.
"Sir! This—this is all a misunderstanding!"
"Misunderstanding?" he barked. "You destroy my granddaughter's organization, hold her at gunpoint, and call it a misunderstanding?"
Miranda spun around, frantically signaling her men to release me.
"Just a game! We were just playing around with Miss Johnson!"
"Quick, put their sign back up! Now!"
She barked orders, but my grandfather wasn't fooled. His gaze shifted from my face to Alex, who stood frozen in shock.
"Is this the man you've been pining for?" he asked me. "Your taste is appalling."
Alex stared at my grandfather, his body shaking uncontrollably.
"You're… her grandfather?"
"Sir, it's not what it looks like. I've always loved Lily."
"I can explain everything."
Grandfather ignored him completely, his attention fixed solely on me.
"What will it be, granddaughter? Come home with me, or stay with this… person?"
Alex looked at me, his eyes pleading, desperate.
I yanked my arm away from his reaching hand.
"I'm coming home."
It had been ten years since I'd seen my grandfather. Ten years since my father's death had driven me away.
I'd convinced myself I was alone in the world.
Grandfather sat in his chair, face impassive, while I stood before him in silence.
After what felt like an eternity, he released a heavy sigh.
"Don't blame me, child. I had no choice back then."
"Come home. This is where you belong. All of this will be yours someday."
"I need nothing else but to have you home again."
He rose with difficulty and held out his walking stick to me.
His hair had gone completely white in the decade since I'd seen him. His eyes glistened with unshed tears.
In those eyes, I saw ten years of longing for the granddaughter he'd lost.
"When Lewis told me what happened—that you were in trouble, that your gang was falling apart—it broke my heart."
Looking at him now, regret washed over me. I'd wasted years nursing hatred when I could have been home.
He had never forgotten me.
"Yes," I whispered. "I'm home."
