SIENNA.
I swallowed repeatedly, and it felt foreign in my throat. As I clicked on a folder in the drive, it was named Ellison Archive. My breath hitched as my finger hovered over the mouse, wondering what I was going to find there. What if this broke everything?
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Belinda asked, glancing at me with concern etched on her face. Her brown eyes were wide, reflecting both her curiosity and fear.
I nodded, my throat dry. "I have to know, Belinda. My father... he left me this for a reason."
"Come on then, let's do it," Belinda said, sensing my hesitation. As her shoulder brushed mine, that gave me an anchor through the chaos I knew I was about to unleash on us.
"Okay," I clicked on the folder and as it spilled open to reveal scanned documents, audio files, blurry photos, I heaved a sigh as my eyes settled on a sub-folder inside it, perhaps because it was just there, like a shell inside another shell.
"Wow," Belinda breathed, her eyes darting across the screen. "This looks intense."
"Journal Scans." I read out the title as I opened it, and pages of my Dad's slanting handwriting filled the screen. I scrolled through the content, which dated back to before I was born.
"I think this will be our guide to understanding all these documents," Belinda said beside me. Her breath fanned my cheeks. My stomach suddenly started to twist as I scrolled through the words scribbled down in my father's writing. They were about shipments, deals, and names I didn't recognize. Until I saw that each section of the journal was written with a caption on each page, divided into three parts. Cartel, territory, blackmail.
"I'd be damned" I whispered, realizing that he had actually been a part of this dark world. I only had few pages to know just how involved he was at it.
"Look at this," I said, pointing to a passage that detailed Frederick Ellison's rise to power through manipulation and blackmail. "They were ruthless." My father had been at the center of it all, pulling strings in a dark game I had never known existed.
Belinda leaned closer, her brow furrowed. "And your dad was part of this?"
I swallowed hard, trying to process the implications. "It seems so. He was one of the leaders, one of the four."
"Sienna..." Belinda's hand gripped my arm. "Are you okay?"
I didn't answer. I couldn't. My eyes burned as I continued to read on, each line peeling back the lie I had lived with my whole life. In thirty minutes, I found out everything I had known for over twenty-five years was mere acting. And he was such a fine actor if he had fooled me that effortlessly. My father had always portrayed himself as a man of integrity in front of me, but these documents painted a different picture. He was a man who thrived in chaos.
I read out the content. "March 3rd 90s... Meeting at the docks. I proposed a new power structure with rotating leadership. The others agreed, but I could see the calculation in their eyes. No one trusts anyone."
Belinda's lips parted. "He documented everything?"
"Everything," I whispered. "Even the meetings they thought were off the record. He had them all recorded. He had always been a lover of writing anyway."
I clicked on another file. "They were all afraid of him," I said. "But they needed him because he had the leverage over them; we just needed to find out what it was."
I felt tears prick at the corners of my eyes. "This is... this is so much darker than I ever imagined."
Belinda reached over and squeezed my hand. "You don't have to keep reading."
I shook my head, trying to clear the fog of disappointment and anger clouding my mind. "But I have to understand who he really was... who I really am." I owed it to myself, to the girl who had believed her father was a hero. I owed it to the woman I was becoming.
The next entries were darker. "I started blackmailing them by recording their criminal conversations. I kept evidence of every crime, every secret deal they were involved in. I threatened to destroy them if they ever crossed me."
I looked at Belinda, "He was supposed to be their equal. But he wanted to be their only leader."
She nodded. "Absolute power corrupts. It always does."
I scrolled further. The entries grew more frantic. He wrote about his plans hastily, then came the betrayal. "Here, it says they tried to kill him. But he was always one step ahead. He bought their men. He knew everything planned before they carried out the plans."
Belinda's jaw tightened. "He had eyes everywhere."
I found the entry that changed everything. "He hired an assassin to take out Gregory Calloway. He succeeded. But Butler and Anderson fought back. They killed him and burned our house to the ground."
"Gregory Calloway? As in Zane Calloway's dad? Oh my world," Belinda squeaked and then hastily clasped a hand over her mouth.
I stared at the screen as I remembered the words of the men who had killed my parents. For the good of the realm.
I shook my head. "He was a monster. And I never saw it."
"Wait, roll back. I am confused. Could you summarize all these findings for me in simple language? I am lost."
"Okay. Gregory Calloway, who is Zane's father, along with Frederick Ellison, Hilary Butler, and Wilson Anderson, were the four leaders of every cartel and gang operating in LA and beyond its shores. All four shared equal power and control in the operations until Frederick Ellison, my father, decided it was time to split power on a rolling basis. Initially, they agreed that he should take the lead. However, he began to blackmail the other three in order to remain in power till death. He would record their discussions, document their secret deals, and every atrocity that had incriminating evidence, which, if discovered, could ruin the leaders and even political leaders. Hence, the three continued to obey him while secretly resenting him. They met and decided to put an end to him, knowing he had become too power-hungry and could ruin them. But Elisson had bought their men, and this plan was snitched to my father just before they could carry out their plans. He hired an assassin to take out the most threatening of them, Gregory Calloway. He was successful, but before he could kill the other two, they ganged up on him, killing and burning down his house for the good of the realm."
Belinda squeezed my hand again. "Now this is messed up. Zane's father? Your father. I have always known that this was all connected in some way, but never so deeply. We are screwed babe."
We sat in silence as I thought of the man who had taught me to ride a bike, who had cheered at my piano recitals, who had tucked me in at night with stories of bravery and honor. How could that man be the same one who had orchestrated murders, who had ruled through fear and manipulation?
I felt the tears before I realized I was crying. Belinda pulled me into a hug, her arms wrapping around me tightly.
"It's okay," she whispered. "It's okay to be angry. Let it all out."
I buried my face in her shoulder, letting the grief wash over me. For the innocence I would never get back.
I pulled away, wiping my eyes. "Bel, I have always wondered why he gave me this drive before he died. Now I get it. He wanted me to have it. To continue what he started."
"Wait," Belinda said suddenly, "If your dad was blackmailing them... what if he had something on your dad too?" The thought sent a chill down my spine.
"Look here," I said, scrolling down to an entry that detailed how my father had managed to turn the other leaders against each other. "He played them like chess pieces."
Belinda frowned. "And it ultimately led to Calloway's death."
Belinda's eyes searched mine. "What are you going to do?"
I stared at the screen, at the evidence that could destroy Zane. "I could use this," I said slowly. "I could take control and fight off the other gangs."
Belinda's voice was gentle. "Is that what you want?"
I didn't answer. I didn't know. All I knew was that I was standing at a crossroads, the weight of my father's legacy pressing down on me. I could become the new devil, hungry for revenge. Or I could walk away, leave the darkness behind.
But could I ever really escape?
I pressed my hands to my mouth, trying to choke back the sob clawing its way up. "He wasn't who I thought he was."
She didn't say anything, just watched me, her jaw tight, her eyes soft with something like pity. Then she leaned closer, her voice steady but gentle. "You didn't know. None of this is on you."
"But it is," I snapped, shoving my chair back and standing, my hands curling into fists. The room suddenly felt too small.
"He gave me this drive. He wanted me to know. Why? So I could take his place? Be like him. "He was a villain, Belinda. The worst of them. And I spent my whole life thinking he was a hero."
She stood too, crossing her arms, her eyes tracking me. "Maybe he thought he was giving you a weapon to survive in his dark world."
"This is poison. This could destroy Zane, sure. But it would destroy me, too. My father's legacy is built on blood, and I'm supposed to... what? Move in?"
Belinda's gaze softened, but she didn't back down. "You don't have to do anything. You could burn it all down by exposing it all, then walk away. Or..." She hesitated, her lips pressing into a thin line. "You could use it. Take control. Push Zane out, take the cartel, fight off the others."
I froze, staring at her. "You sound like him."
She flinched, but her eyes held mine. "I'm not saying you should. I'm saying you could. This drive could be your leverage."
I turned away, my hands gripping the edge of the table. She wasn't wrong. Zane had been different these past few days, acting suspicious with his questions about my past, and it would get worse when he found out about my father's role in his father's death.
"I need to think" I muttered,
"You're not him, Sienna. You're not defined by what he did."
"But I am," I said. "I have been working for Zane, falling for him, thinking I could live clean and free for once. But it's all built on blood. My father's blood, Zane's father's blood. And now I'm holding the key to it all. What am I supposed to do with this? Use it to take Zane down? Become the new queen of this hellhole? Or expose it all and lose everything... Zane, my life, myself?"
She leaned back, her fingers tapping the glass, her expression calm. "Zane's not clean either, you know that." She trailed off, letting the implication hang.
I looked away, as I stared out at the city. "He's been good to me," I said softly, almost to myself. "He's kept me safe. But if he knew about this..." I shook my head, the thought too heavy to finish. Would he protect me still? Or would he see me as a threat, a loose end to be tied off?
Belinda sipped her wine, her eyes never leaving me. "You really do love him. You don't have to decide tonight," Belinda said. "But you need to be careful. Zane's not just your boss, from this all, he's a player in this game. And players don't stay loyal when their throne is at stake."
I nodded, knowing she was right. The drive could end him, could give me the power to take his place, to fight off the rival gangs circling us. But it would mean becoming the monster my father had been. "I need time to figure out what I'm willing to lose."
Belinda nodded, no judgment in her eyes, "Whatever you choose, I'm here."
I managed a small smile, "Thanks," I said, and meant it.
We sat in silence while I considered my options. I was at a crossroads and didn't know which path to take.
