Chapter Fifty-Five: "It Was Me"
The prison visiting room was eerily quiet, the kind of silence that seemed to press against your ears and weigh down your chest. David sat across from the table, hunched over slightly, hands gripping the edge, a mixture of exhaustion, rage, and disbelief etched across his face. Years of power, influence, and manipulation had led to this moment of vulnerability—and it was unbearable.
Lucia entered the room alone, moving with calm precision. She didn't sit immediately. Instead, she allowed her presence to fill the space, her gaze locked onto him like a predator studying prey. David's eyes followed her, a flicker of recognition—and fear—running through them.
She finally took her seat, folding her hands neatly in front of her. Her voice, soft yet deliberate, cut through the tension. "Do you know why I'm here, Papa?"
David swallowed hard, trying to regain composure. "You… you've already done enough. You… the world knows. You—"
Lucia raised a finger to pause him, leaning slightly forward, her expression unreadable but her eyes burning with resolve. "No. You need to hear this from me. You need to understand. Every move you've seen, every revelation, every humiliation, every arrest… it wasn't luck. It wasn't chance. It wasn't chaos. It was me."
David's mouth fell open. "Wh-what… what are you saying?"
She leaned closer, her tone calm, chillingly so. "I'm saying that I destroyed you, Papa. Every step of your public unraveling, every leak, every exposure, every piece of evidence that the world has now seen… I orchestrated it. I planned it. I executed it. And you… you had no idea it was happening under your nose."
David's hands tightened into fists, knuckles white. "Impossible… you're just a child! You… you can't—this… I raised you! I protected you!"
Lucia shook her head slowly, her voice quiet but absolute. "You didn't protect me. You trained me. You taught me to watch, to listen, to anticipate. Every lesson you thought you were giving me—I turned into a weapon. And now, that weapon… is in full control."
David's eyes darted frantically around the room, searching for some way to reclaim authority, some way to regain control, but there was none. Every move he had ever made, every plan, every lie, every manipulation had been anticipated, observed, and countered.
"You… you can't…" he muttered, disbelief mixing with desperation. "You're… you're just a child! How… how could you—"
Lucia's lips curved into a faint, cold smile. "Child? Once. But I am no longer the obedient, frightened girl you thought you could control. I am the daughter who has seen everything, endured everything, and now… acted decisively. I am the storm you never anticipated."
David's face drained of color, realization sinking in with horrifying clarity. "You… you did all of this… for Margret?"
"Yes," she said softly. "For her. For the truth. For justice. You tried to destroy her, to destroy me, to destroy everything that mattered. And now… it's you who is destroyed."
David slumped back in his chair, the weight of her words, her calm certainty, and the complete exposure of his life pressing down on him. For the first time in decades, he felt powerless, stripped of his authority, stripped of his illusions. He had built an empire of fear, lies, and manipulation—and it had crumbled at the hands of the very person he had underestimated most: his own daughter.
Lucia's eyes held his, unyielding, as she leaned in slightly. "It was me, Papa. Every step. Every move. Every revelation. I controlled it all. You thought you were untouchable. You weren't. And now, the world sees you for exactly who you are."
David opened his mouth, stammering, trying to find a word, an excuse, a defense—but nothing came. The truth was undeniable. The daughter he had dismissed, the girl he had believed was weak, had orchestrated the collapse of everything he had built.
Lucia's voice softened just enough to chill him completely. "You taught me to survive. You taught me to observe, to anticipate. You never imagined I would use those lessons not for fear, not for power, but for justice. And now… it is done. I destroyed you. And there is nothing you can do about it."
The silence that followed was suffocating. David's empire, his power, and even the control he thought he held over his family and the world lay in ruins. The truth, executed by the hand of the daughter he had underestimated, had dismantled everything.
Lucia stood slowly, the shadow of her figure stretching across the room. She paused at the door, looking back at him one last time. "Remember this, Papa. It was me. And I will never forget what you did. But unlike you, I acted for truth, not selfishness. That is the difference between us."
David slumped into his chair, broken, silent, powerless. The daughter he had once believed weak had revealed the full scope of her power—and it was absolute.
Lucia left the room quietly, her footsteps echoing down the corridor, leaving David alone with the staggering realization: the destruction of his life, his reputation, and his empire had been at the hands of the one person he never saw as a threat—the daughter he thought he controlled.