After all the previous events, Celine's family moved with their grandmother to a new house in the neighboring city. Ryan took care of Marcus' and the grandmother's houses, completely clearing them out and wiping everything down to ensure that no evidence linking them to the organization remained. He also took care of Eva's house, removing everything that needed to be removed from her computer, including her research and her calls with Celine.
The new house was quiet, but this quietness was not the absence of sound. It was a different kind of silence: the soft sound of the wind moving through the trees mingled with Marlene's footsteps as she arranged the cushions on the sofa, and Celine's quiet laughter as she helped Lilia open the curtains to let the sunlight in.
Every small movement carried meaning; every touch seemed to redraw the details of a life they had reclaimed for themselves.
After the family finished breakfast and went into the living room, a soft knock was heard at the door.
It was neither sudden nor anxious. It was slightly hesitant, as though whoever was outside did not want to disturb the peaceful atmosphere he had sensed from within.
Marcus raised his head first. Their eyes met briefly, then Marlene wiped her hands with a napkin and headed toward the door.
When she opened it, she found Ryan Marshall standing there, a small child in his arms. The child was wrapped in a soft blanket and fast asleep.
"Good morning. I apologize for disturbing you…" the man said in a quiet voice.
Lilia, who was standing behind Marlene, felt something strange in her chest. It was neither fear nor recognition, but an inexplicable feeling. Her mother smiled and invited him inside.
Ryan stepped in carefully, as though afraid of waking the child. The house was warm, and that finally allowed him to breathe with relief.
"I'm sorry for coming without any warning," he said. "There's something I need to discuss with you."
Celine looked at the child in his arms. He had blond hair and a peaceful face. Yet she felt as though she had seen him before, though she could not remember where.
Suddenly, she cried out:
_Aaaah, I remember!"
Everyone looked at her in confusion, so she explained:
_I'm sorry for suddenly shouting. I just remembered where I saw this child. I saw him in one of the photographs with Lilia and me."
In fact, this was the same child who had appeared in the photograph given to Celine by that man from the organization, inside the envelope filled with old photographs.
Lilia took a step forward, her eyes never leaving the child.
_"Is he… all right?"
_"Yes." Ryan said quickly, as though the question had touched a sensitive place within him "He's just… exhausted."
They all sat in the living room. Marcus gestured for Ryan to sit, so Ryan carefully placed the child on the sofa, supporting his head with a cushion. The grandmother approached and covered him with the edge of a blanket without saying a word.
A brief silence settled over the room, but it was not a heavy one.
Lilia broke the silence:
_What's his name?"
Ryan hesitated, only for a moment.
Then he said:
_His name is Lucian."
The name settled into the room smoothly, as though it had been there all along.
A little while later, after they had made sure that the child would not wake up, Ryan looked directly at Lilia. His gaze was neither strange nor scrutinizing. It was filled with something resembling caution… and regret.
_"Lilia," he said her name as though he were learning how to pronounce it "I… know that my appearance like this is confusing. But I wanted to be honest with you."
Lilia straightened in her seat
_"Go ahead."
He took a deep breath.
_"I knew your mother."
A faint stillness passed through the room.
_"Mary Fallon," he continued. "She was a journalist. Braver than she should have been. And stubborn."
Lilia felt a tightness in her chest. The name was not new to her, but it had never been present with such clarity.
_"She was…?"
Ryan nodded slowly.
_"Yes. She died years ago."
Lilia closed her eyes for a moment, as though trying to absorb the weight of the sentence.
_"I…" Ryan hesitated, then continued in a quieter voice. "I wasn't there as I should have been. I wasn't a good father. And perhaps… I wasn't a father at all. I wasn't a husband either. I went through difficult circumstances and was under threat. My marriage to your mother was secret, and we never told anyone about it.
_"Then you were born... When you were two years old, your mother helped prepare a report about a suspicious politician. She conducted research and discovered something she should never have learned, to the point that she couldn't even share it with her fellow journalists. Unfortunately, that politician discovered what she knew, and he had no choice but to kill her to protect himself. He even erased all traces of her body and made sure that none of her colleagues knew anything."
He took a breath, then continued:
_During her investigation, your mother wasn't coming home because of her work. I was also conducting scientific research and spending long hours in the laboratory. What I wasn't aware of at the time was that my superior had assigned someone to monitor me.
Fortunately, one of my colleagues overheard a conversation between the person following me and my superior, so he told me about it.
I told you that I kept my marriage and your birth a secret. That was because the rules of that institution did not allow researchers to have relationships. The rule was supposedly meant to preserve the confidentiality of their work. I thought it was complete nonsense, and I wanted to live my life like any other human being."
He sighed:
_Even so, I wanted to protect you, in case anything happened. So I changed your name to Lilia Farkel."
To be Continued...