Beyond the Divorce

Top Secret

After the nurse left and closed the door, Atlas spoke solemnly, "Dad, rest assured. Everyone here is on our side."

When sitting up, my father appeared even more frail, which tugged at my heartstrings.

He looked at us with adoring eyes.

"Celine orchestrated the past events in collaboration with the leader of the organization. Later, Celine bribed Clark. To give that plane crash a perfect and logical conclusion, I was replaced by one of the organization's men to make everything look seamless," my father explained.

"How did you find out they swapped you in the plane crash?" I asked, puzzled.

"At first, I had no idea. It was later when I saw the reports of the event, that I found out about it. But by then, the crash had happened long ago." My father's expression was despondent as he spoke. "Later, I got confirmation from Clark."

"How did you know about Mom's death?" I asked. Though I didn't want to bring up that topic, it was important information we needed.

"Before sending me to Navi, Clark confessed everything to me. He told me these things while Celine was hunting him down," my father said.

"He told me that Celine and the organization designed everything. But turns out it was Lucille who noticed the flaw. That's why they killed her." As my father spoke, he began trembling.

I was worried and quickly reassured him, "Dad, please don't dwell on it."

"Stella, your mom sacrificed her life for me. She was originally a princess from Yare, but gave up everything to be with me. Yet, she met such an end. How can I not think about it? It's all my fault."

He finished speaking and fiercely punched his leg. I grabbed his hand.

"But I have a duty. I can only live on, clinging to life without dignity. I had only one thought in mind, which was to meet you all again. Otherwise, I would have gone with Lucille long ago."

My father cried like a child. I hugged his frail body as he trembled severely.

"Dad, your health doesn't tolerate such emotional fluctuations. You have to listen to the doctor." I comforted him like a child, constantly patting his back where his backbone felt brittle.

My nose tingled, but I took a deep breath. I was afraid that if I cried, he would feel even more distressed.

After a while, he calmed down his emotions and continued in a soft voice, "Atlas, Celine's motive for the killing was not the Pierce family's fortune but your dad's BZ plan."

"The BZ plan?"

Atlas fell into deep thought. Then he looked up at my father and said, "I vaguely remember him mentioning the BZ plan. But after my parents deaths, it was never brought up again. I was young then, so I didn't pursue it further. What kind of plan was it?" Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

My father looked at Atlas with a serious expression. "Atlas, the BZ plan was a treasure plan. It took Louis and me twelve years to compile a global map of mineral deposits and a mining plan. The plan was called the BZ plan, but it was just a plan between us."

My father's words shocked me and Atlas, and we exchanged glances.

"No one else knew about it?" Atlas and I asked simultaneously.

I had only learned about the mining business when Ardie mentioned it to me last month. Before that, I had no idea about Atlas's many mining interests.

But from my father's words, it was evident that even Atlas was unaware of the BZ plan.