Page 36 of Severance

“I don’t get her importance in all of this,” I interject and Kai quickly glances at me with a mixed expression. “Sorry,” I add as Anthony winces.

“It’s fine,” Anthony replies, brushing it off. “Everyone had their own motives for them being married. Aliana wanted the fortune, which I condoned, and Luca wanted us tied together as assurance that if he ever went down, I would go down with him. And Kai was only doing what he thought was right to hold up his end of our deal. As we know now, Luca and Aliana were using Kai to keep their relationship hidden from the rest of us.”

“And Luca is the only one who can tell that story.” Kai frowns as he crosses his arms over his chest.

Anthony’s eyes are sad as he nods. “If only the dead could talk.”

He lost his daughter and we’ve been too ignorant to even acknowledge that.

“I’m sorry, for what happened to her,” I offer him some type of condolence. Kai glances over me with a knowing look and grabs my hand and squeezes it lightly.

“My father won’t get away with this,” he adds.

Anthony takes another sip of his drink and smiles as he swallows. “Oh, I know. I’ve already made arrangements to ensure that he properly pays for what he did. Aliana may not have been a good person, but she was my daughter and for that, Luca will suffer.”

Kai tenses beside me and clenches his jaw. “We plan on paying Luca a visit tomorrow.”

Anthony’s brow furrows as he purses his lips and shakes his head. “That won’t be necessary; he’ll be taken care of by then.”

“What have you done?”

“It’s already done.” Anthony smiles. “The plan is firmly in place and being followed.”

Kai drops my hand as he quickly jumps to his feet. “Call it off, Anthony. We’re dealing with this.”

Hesitantly, I rise to my feet and stand next to Kai. “Anthony,” I say lightly. “With all due respect for Aliana, we can handle this. We will take care of Luca.”

Anthony tilts his head to the side. “You two don’t get it.”

“What’s to get, Anthony?” Kai barks. “Aliana can’t avenge her own death, but we can.”

And he will pay for what he did to us.

Anthony disregards Kai and refills his glass. “You know, regardless of how much you do in the world, your greatest accomplishment will always be your child. Even when they don’t turn out the way that you intended.” Anthony gives us a sad smile. “I’m sorry that the two of you never got the chance to know her. Maybe if you did, you would have a better understanding.”

“Know who?” Dahlia demands, but her voice is fragile. “You have another daughter?”

“Fuck, no. One was enough for me.”

Slamming his hands on the desk, Kai leans down in Anthony’s face. “Who the fuck are you talking about?”

He looks back and forth between us, his eyes laced with sorrow. He takes a big gulp of his drink before taking a deep breath.

“Your daughter.”

Kai

Our daughter?

We have a daughter?

I glance over at Dahlia as the color drains from her face. My heart slams against my rib cage as my stomach drops to my feet.

It’s not possible.

Looking back at Anthony, I narrow my eyes at him. “You’re a fucking liar.” I bark as I slam my fists on his desk. “I don’t know what you’re trying to do here, but—”

“Kai,” Dahlia’s voice is quiet as she cuts me off. “I don’t think he’s lying.”

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