The Prize of Freedom

Chapter 13: Broken Chains, Unbroken Vows

Aiden sat in front of the TV, his mind racing as the events of the last few hours unfolded. His father's downfall was being broadcast on every major news outlet. The president—his father—was being exposed for all the monstrous crimes he had committed: drug dealings, murders, and corruption. The once-respected leader was now a public enemy, and Aiden couldn’t help but feel a twisted sense of satisfaction. His lips curled into a faint smile.

Marco had done it. Aiden’s friend had successfully executed the plan.

It was Aiden who had given Marco the USB disguised as a bullet necklace. Inside was damning evidence of the president’s illegal activities. Aiden had warned Marco that if things spiraled out of control, he was to release the contents to the public. And that’s exactly what Marco had done, hacking into every news outlet to expose the president's crimes.

But even as Aiden watched the news unfold, his thoughts were elsewhere. He couldn’t believe the latest revelation—that the masked figure who had taken Isla when she was just ten years old was none other than his mother. The woman who had been commanding Isla’s every move, who had orchestrated so many events from the shadows, was his own flesh and blood.

It didn’t stop there. The truth kept unraveling, each revelation more shocking than the last. The massacre that had destroyed Isla’s family—it had been ordered by the president himself. His father.

Aiden’s stomach twisted at the thought. It was all connected—Isla’s suffering, her trauma, and his own complicated family ties.

And then the final blow came. The president wasn’t even his real father. The man Aiden had believed to be his father for his entire life was nothing more than a power-hungry tyrant. The real truth? Aiden’s biological father was the leader of a Japanese clan—the same clan that had ownership of the microdot. His biological father had been the one to create the microdot to securely hide the map that so many people had killed and died for.

Aiden clenched his fists as the weight of it all settled in. His entire life had been a lie. His real father had been hidden from him, and the president had used him as a pawn in his ruthless game for power.

He thought of Isla, of everything she had been through because of his so-called family. And now, with his mother being the leader of the secret organization that had taken Isla in, everything felt even more twisted and wrong.

But Aiden knew one thing: the truth was out now. And while his father may have fallen, there were still more battles to fight—starting with figuring out where his loyalty truly lay.

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Isla’s world collapsed the moment Aiden’s mother uttered the truth. Her breath hitched, and her vision blurred. The president—the man who had been exposed for his crimes on national television—had been the one who ordered the massacre of her family. Her mother. Her father. Her two younger siblings. All murdered in cold blood.

The president, who was an influencial Senator that time, had always been a man willing to do whatever it took to maintain power, and Isla’s family had become a threat he couldn’t afford to overlook.

Her parents had once been high-ranking government officials, trusted advisers who had worked closely with the president and others in his inner circle. They had been privy to many secrets of the regime, but none more dangerous than the one involving the microdot—a key to a hidden treasure that had been the center of a deadly chase for years. Isla’s father had been entrusted with a crucial piece of information by Aiden’s biological father, the leader of a powerful Japanese clan. That information, if revealed, could have exposed the president’s deep ties to illegal activities like drug smuggling, arms dealing, and a web of corruption that spanned the nation.