From Vengeance To Forgiveness (Revenge)

Farewell

On the road...

Emily didn't know how long they had been driving, when the colonization became sparse and the vegetation thicker. Suddenly, David drove off the main road and straight into the forest, where one could only drive on a dirt road. The car was skidding back and forth as he tried to avoid the potholes, and Emily clung to the seat. Under normal circumstances she would have been frightened now, but she was well equipped. In her pocket she had her cell phone, which had recorded their conversation in the beach house; In her bra sewn-in a mini-tracker, which would give her whereabouts away when she switched it on. Nolan had not wanted to let her go back to the beach house without these precautions. As if he had guessed David was going to see her there. He had also given her the gun, which she was to use in an emergency. So she was very well prepared. But the closer she got to the dungeon, the more she had doubts to turn her father in. He'd been through enough in the past decades. She had been relieved when he had confessed to her that he had not killed Conrad. So he was not an ice-cold murderer, as she had originally believed, but only a man who wanted to take revenge, but in a way that wouldn't hurt anyone. He just wanted to get back what had been stolen from him. And the idea of kidnapping Conrad and then blackmailing him in leaving the country was a brilliant move in her opinion. She could even understand him a little, because she almost did the same a few years ago. If she was thinking about her plan to fake her own death and put the blame on Victoria, she was still inwardly shivering. She was not much better than David, it flashed through her mind. Should she accuse him of what she almost had done herself? She shook her head involuntarily and noticed how he gave her a questioning look.

"What's the matter?" He asked, frowning.

"Is it far away?" She looked out of the window and saw nothing but shrubs and trees, which rushed past them and partly also brushed the car.

David nodded. "It's not far. We're almost there."

"How did you learn about the dungeon?" She asked, trying to distract herself from her thoughts.

"After I escaped twenty years ago, I've been hiding there for a while," he explained. "It's an old dugout, hidden in the forest, surrounded by a rocky landscape. No one suspected me there, and I could submerge that way without leaving any traces."

"What about food and water?" She asked curiously.

"I stole most of it or searched garbage cans." He grimaced. "I don't want to think about these days. I've literally lived like a vagabond for a while. But after I had left the US and got a new identity, everything fell into place."

"Did you have people who helped you?"

He nodded. "I still knew people, former inmates. They gave me the new identity and allowed me to leave the country."

"Why have you never tried to get in touch with me?" She had wanted to ask him this question earlier, but she didn't know how.

"I didn't know if you would have believed me that I was innocent," he confessed to her. "Besides, I was threatened that you got killed if I wouldn't leave the country and got out of your way."

"Who threatened you?" She frowned at him. "Conrad?" When her father nodded, the puzzle-pieces-clicked together. She understood better now why he had Conrad kidnapped and wanted to fake his death.

"I'm sure he did all of this to keep me away from Victoria," he said bitterly. "He couldn't bear the thought that she loved me and not him."

"You probably still think she's an innocent victim," Emily began reluctantly. "But I'm sure she knew what Conrad was up to."

"What gives you that idea?" He asked, confused.

"I have been able to get to know her in the last few years and I know what she is capable of doing. She's not as innocent as you may believe. She knows exactly how she can manipulate people. And even if I think she really had feelings for you at the time, she didn't mind that you were arrested. I'm sure she knew that Conrad wanted to frame you." Startled, she screamed as he jammed on the brakes and then stopped the car.

"She called..." he murmured, looking at her.

"What?"

He nodded. "You're right. Just before I was arrested, I got a call from Victoria," he remembered. "She probably wanted to warn me. But it was too late."

"So you believe me?" She asked, surprised.

He nodded hesitantly. "That explains why she avoided me at the time and visited me in jail only once. It was probably Conrad's doing too. She was only his puppet."

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely, carefully placing her hand on his arm. "If I had known earlier that you were still alive, I would have helped you to rectify the injustice that was done to you. But now..." She shrugged.

"Now you are a different person and don't want to take revenge," he continued her sentence and nodded. "I understand." He opened the door and got out. "We have to take a walk. Then we are there."

After a short walk through the forest, Emily finally saw the dugout, where Conrad Grayson was supposedly held. She hesitated a moment before turning to her father, determined by her decision. "Go back!" She gestured along the path they had come. "Take the car, drive to the airport and leave the country!"

He looked at her confused. "What are you talking about?"

She slowly pulled the cell phone out and then grabbed under her shirt and tore the tracker from her bra. "Here!" She held the two things under his nose. "Everything is recorded, our entire conversation in the beach house. And when I press the button on the tracker, everyone knows where I am. It's your last chance!" She said urgently. "I don't want them to arrest you again, but that will happen if someone links you to Conrad's abduction."

"You have... fooled me...?" He stammered disbelievingly.

"My God! Just go!" She shouted and pushed him. "It's my fault that your plan didn't work. And I know if you stay, you'll lose more than just wealth and power and Victoria Grayson! They'll put you in jail, and this time they'll make sure you stay there for good!"

For a moment, they just looked at each other, and it almost broke Emily's heart as she realized she was going to lose her father again. Silently, she took the bunker-key, which he gave her and swallowed the tears down bravely.

"Amanda..." he said softly, touching her cheek tentatively. "I promise you, I'll get in touch with you as soon as I'm safe and out of the country."

She couldn't hold back the tears any longer as he turned around and disappeared between the bushes. She had been brave all the time, but now her arduous façade collapsed. The thought that she was all alone in the deserted forest not knowing what she would find behind the iron door of the dugout, triggered anxiety in her. She had the tracker and her cell phone, she tried to console herself. But she couldn't use both. She had to give him a head start. She didn't know how long she had been sitting on a rock in front of the dugout when she spontaneously decided that enough time had passed. Her hand trembled slightly as she put the key in the lock of the heavy iron door and then slowly turned it around...