Chapter 6: The Man Who Taught Me How to Fight
The photograph shook between my fingers.
Not because I was afraid.
Because my mind refused to accept what my eyes were seeing.
Marcus Vale.
My father’s best friend.
My mentor.
The man who taught me how to throw my first punch.
The man who stood beside my father at every important moment of my childhood.
The man who came to our house after my father’s funeral and promised he would protect us.
That man.
The man I trusted more than anyone after my father was gone.
The man who taught me how to survive.
Was the person my father warned me about.
Jake stared at the photograph.
“No.””
His voice was barely a whisper.
“That can’t be Marcus.””
Nobody answered.
Because everyone knew it could.
I looked at Claire.
“You knew.””
She looked away.
That hurt more than if she had admitted it.
“You knew.””
“I suspected.””
“Since when?””
Claire swallowed.
“Since the night your father disappeared.””
The room went silent.
I put the photograph down.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Like if I moved too quickly, something inside me would break.
“Tell me everything.””
Claire sat down.
Her hands trembled.
“The night your father vanished, Marcus was the last person who saw him.””
I looked at Daniel.
“And you?””
Daniel nodded.
“I was there too.””
“Then why didn’t anyone tell me?””
Claire looked at me.
“Because you were seventeen.””
“I wasn’t a child.””
“No.””
Her voice softened.
“You were a boy who had just lost his father.””
The words irritated me because they were true.
I remembered that night.
The police lights.
The rain.
My mother crying.
Marcus standing outside our house with his hand on my shoulder.
Telling me:
“Your father would want you to be strong.””
I remembered believing him.
I remembered being grateful.
I hated that memory now.
Jake looked at the photograph.
“He was like family.””
Claire closed her eyes.
“He wanted you to think that.””
My chest tightened.
“What does that mean?””
She hesitated.
“Marcus didn’t just help your father build Black Crown.””
Victoria answered.
“He helped destroy it.””
I looked at her.
“You keep talking like you know everything.””
Victoria’s expression remained calm.
“I know enough.””
“That doesn’t make you innocent.””
“No.””
For the first time, she admitted it.
“I am not innocent.””
That surprised me.
Most people like her spent their entire lives pretending they were the hero.
Victoria didn’t.
She knew exactly what she was.
“But Marcus?””
She looked at the photograph.
“He was different.””
“How?””
“He believed power belonged to whoever was willing to take it.””
Daniel nodded slowly.
“Your father thought Marcus was his brother.””
“And Marcus?””
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“Marcus thought your father was standing in his way.””
A memory surfaced.
I was twelve years old.
My father and Marcus were in the garage.
They thought I was outside.
But I heard them arguing.
“You don’t understand what you’re creating,” my father had said.
Marcus laughed.
“You’re the one who started this, Richard.””
My father’s voice was angry.
“I started a competition. You created an empire.””
At the time, I didn’t understand.
I thought they were just adults arguing.
Now?
Now every word sounded different.
I looked at Claire.
“Why didn’t you tell me about him?””
“Because Marcus disappeared after your father.””
“Disappeared?””
“Yes.””
“Where?””
“No one knew.””
Victoria smiled faintly.
“I knew.””
Everyone looked at her.
She continued.
“He went underground.””
“Working for Black Crown?””
“Not exactly.””
“Then what?””
Victoria looked at me.
“He was building something of his own.””
A cold feeling moved through me.
“What?””
She didn’t answer.
Daniel did.
“A private network.””
“Of fighters?””
“No.””
He looked at me.
“Of people who owed him everything.””
I understood.
Debts.
Fear.
Control.
The same things Black Crown used.
Except worse.
“He copied them.””
Victoria shook her head.
“No.””
She looked toward the window.
“He improved them.””
Jake stepped back.
“So Marcus is the reason all this happened?””
Claire looked at him sadly.
“Not all.””
That caught my attention.
“What do you mean?””
She looked at me.
“Your father made mistakes.””
I nodded.
“I know.””
“But he tried to fix them.””
“And Marcus stopped him.””
“Yes.””
I stared at the photograph.
For years, I thought my father’s death was a tragedy.
Now it felt like a war.
A war that everyone knew about except me.
Then my phone vibrated.
Everyone froze.
The sound was small.
But in that room, it felt like an explosion.
I pulled it out.
Unknown number.
One message.
*STOP LOOKING.*
A second message appeared.
*OR ASK YOUR BROTHER WHY HE NEVER TOLD YOU ABOUT THE NIGHT YOUR FATHER DIED.*
My blood ran cold.
I slowly looked at Jake.
He looked confused.
“What?””
I turned the phone toward him.
His face changed.
Not because he knew.
Because he remembered.
“Jake.””
“I don’t…”
“Don’t lie.””
“I’m not.””
“You reacted before you read it.””
His breathing became uneven.
“I didn’t.””
“You did.””
The room went quiet.
Claire stepped closer.
“Jake?””
My brother looked at the floor.
“No.””
My voice dropped.
“Tell me.””
He shook his head.
“Ethan, I swear—”
“Tell me.””
The anger wasn’t loud anymore.
That scared him.
Because Jake knew that voice.
The same voice I used before a fight.
The one that meant I had already made a decision.
Jake sat down.
“I didn’t know everything.””
“What did you know?””
He covered his face.
“When Dad disappeared…”
I waited.
“When Dad disappeared, I heard something.””
My stomach tightened.
“What?””
“I heard Marcus talking.””
The room froze.
Jake continued.
“I was hiding upstairs.””
“How old were you?””
“Seven.””
My chest tightened.
A seven-year-old kid.
Listening to something he couldn’t understand.
“What did he say?””
Jake looked at me.
“He said your father made a mistake.””
I stared.
“What mistake?””
“I don’t know.””
“Jake.””
“I don’t know!””
His voice broke.
“I was scared.””
I softened slightly.
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
“Because Marcus found me.””
Silence.
“What?””
Jake wiped his eyes.
“He found me hiding.””
I felt my entire body go cold.
“What did he do?””
“He told me I was brave.””
Jake swallowed.
“Then he told me if I ever told anyone what I heard…”
His voice cracked.
“He said you would get hurt.””
My fists clenched.
Claire covered her mouth.
“Oh my God.””
“I was seven,” Jake whispered.
“I didn’t understand.””
He looked at me.
“I thought I was protecting you.””
The anger inside me shifted.
Because suddenly I wasn’t looking at my brother.
I was looking at a scared child.
A child who had carried a secret for eleven years.
I sat beside him.
“Jake.””
He looked at me.
“You should have told me.””
“I know.””
“No.””
I shook my head.
“You should have trusted me.””
Tears filled his eyes.
“I was scared you’d go after him.””
I didn’t answer.
Because he was right.
I would have.
The old Ethan would have.
The fighter.
The angry kid.
The man Black Crown created.
But I wasn’t that person anymore.
At least I thought I wasn’t.
Then Daniel walked toward the table.
He picked up the file.
“There’s something else.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
He opened a hidden section.
Inside was a small memory card.
“This was found with your father’s belongings.””
Victoria’s face changed.
“What is that?””
Daniel looked at her.
“You don’t know?””
“No.””
He held the card.
“Then maybe you’re not as informed as you pretend.””
For the first time, Victoria looked uncertain.
Daniel placed the card on the table.
“Your father recorded everything.””
“About Marcus?””
“Yes.””
“Then why didn’t you watch it?””
Daniel looked at me.
“Because it was encrypted.””
“Can we open it?””
He nodded.
“I brought someone who can.””
“Who?””
Before he answered, the lights flickered.
Everyone stopped.
A second later, the apartment door exploded inward.
Not opened.
Exploded.
Men rushed inside.
Not Black Crown soldiers.
Different.
More organized.
Black suits.
Earpieces.
Weapons.
Victoria immediately stepped back.
“They’re not mine.””
That was the first time I heard fear in her voice.
Daniel grabbed the memory card.
“Move!””
We ran.
The hallway filled with shouting.
Jake grabbed my arm.
“Ethan!””
I turned.
A man stood at the end of the hallway.
Older.
Gray hair.
Calm.
Watching me.
I knew him.
Not from memory.
From the photograph.
From my childhood.
From every story my father ever told.
The man raised his hand.
And smiled.
“Ethan.””
My blood froze.
Because I had spent my entire life trying to become like him.
The man who taught me how to fight.
Marcus Vale.
He looked at me and said:
“You have your father’s eyes.””
Then he looked at the memory card in Daniel’s hand.
“But unfortunately…”
May you like
His smile disappeared.
“…you have no idea what your father was protecting you from.””
