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Damien was pissed at the thought of his father not doing everything he could for Amelia. If he were in that position, he would most definitely do something to protect the woman he loved. There was just no way for him to abandon Katherine over someone else.

If his father loved Amelia, why didn't he leave the household? How important was prestige for his father to be kept on a leash by the Park Family?

All this time, Damien thought his father was tough. That his father—despite the dark traits that he possessed—was a smart and formidable man capable of managing so many people and even ruling the underworld.

It turned out that he was wrong about his father. His father, Lawrence Park, was nothing but a coward.

A coward who couldn't protect his real family. An idiot who let go of someone he loved in exchange for wealth and power. Damien was enraged at the thought of his father choosing anything else over Amelia.

Seeing the change of expression on her son's face, Amelia guessed what he must be thinking. She reached for his hand and enfolded it with hers, squeezing it as she told him, "Damien, don't hate your father. He has done what he could during those times. It may not be the best choice that he could have made, but he chose to be everything to everyone."

"How could you still defend him after what he has done? If he truly loved you, he would have left the household and started a new life with you somewhere. What kind of man makes his woman suffer?" His brows furrowed as he spat the words, evidently hurt and affected because of his father's actions.

A tear rolled out of her eyes at the same time that the corners of her mouth curled up. Raising her hand, she caressed her son's cheek and he closed his eyes. "My son, you are a very good man. But you also have to understand your father. Before he met me, he had his goals and dreams. Throughout his whole life, he wanted nothing but to achieve those. He wanted great things for his people. I never wanted him to give up on those dreams just because I was already part of his life. That's what love is, isn't it? It doesn't matter… as long as your loved one is happy.

"But shouldn't he have been responsible and dedicated to you?"

"He was. Always. He was. He worked hard so that he could be powerful enough to oppose his father. He fought and did what he thought was best for you and me. It was why he brought me with him to live in the Park Mansion. Don't blame him, son… I was the one who was weak. I couldn't handle being there with people who intimidated me. I was young and naive at that time, thinking that leaving you with your father was the only way that you could grow up happy. I had nothing in my name. I wouldn't be able to provide you what you needed."

Damien understood what she was saying but he still couldn't accept what his father chose to do. He thought that his father just didn't do enough.

Amelia straightened up and took a sip of her tea. It was getting cold so she decided to make a new batch. "I guess Katherine told you everything she knew," she started as she went to the kitchen and Damien followed after her.

"Just things related to her…" He sat on a stool and watched his mother move about in the kitchen. It was still quite surreal for him that he was talking to her so casually like this. There was a newly found fondness that made him eager to connect with her. 

"The Shadow that she knows now isn't how Shadow was when it first started. I was part of the pioneer team when they established it. A few months after I left… the Park Mansion, I was looking for a job in another state. Your grandfather was an influential man, I couldn't get any job in Esmea, so I had to start somewhere. Just when I was about to leave the state, a man came to me and asked me if I wanted a job."

"Is it that man called Parker?" he wondered.

Amused that Katherine really had told her son everything, she smiled. She turned the electric kettle on and faced her son, leaning over the kitchen island as she answered, "No, not Parker. It was another man, his name was Frankie Bianchi. Frankie was the original founder of Shadow and Parker was his right-hand man. When Shadow started, there were about a dozen recruits and I was one of them. Shadow was a security agency—well it still is but as I said, it's not the same as how it started.

"When Frankie recruited me to be part of the team, I was thrilled. The pay was good and I'd be working for the government too. We underwent necessary training and I passed every single one. I became an agent in less than a year and from then, we started operations that included surveillance, infiltration, and other covert operations. I never doubted Frankie because he was the one who helped me and we all believed that Shadow was what they said it was."

"What do you mean?"

"Frankie told us that we were a division under the country's intelligence agency. We never doubted him because from time to time, we would see government officials who would visit the base and have long meetings with him. We were sworn to secrecy and never talk about whatever we see within the walls of the base. But it wasn't until many years later that I learned the truth, Shadow was actually a counter-government unit."

Damien was stunned, just like Katherine, his mother was also fooled by Shadow. They let her think that they were doing everything for the good of the country. But as it turns out, they were actually doing the dirty deeds for corrupt officials.

"What happened then? Couldn't you expose all their dirty secrets?"

"It's not that easy. I couldn't know for sure who I could trust. Anyone could be anyone. People aren't who they say they are. And if I make a wrong move, I could end up dead in just a flick. Knowing the secret is one thing, keeping it is another, and whatever you do with the secret can either save you or kill you. I choose to live. There's no point if I wasted my life when Shadow will still continue to run its operations. Which is why it's been years but I'm still nowhere near seeing my end goal."

Amelia couldn't wait for the day when Shadow will cease to exist. There must be justice somewhere… She just got to have faith.

"Did you leave as soon as you learned about the truth?" Damien was curious as to which point in her life she was able to get away from that organization.

Shaking her head, Amelia uttered, "I couldn't leave right away. By then I knew that if I did, they would have to hunt me down for knowing too much. I only left Shadow several months after that mission with the Youngs."

He was baffled and then remembered what Katherine told him. "Katherine told me it was you that night… Did it have something to do with why you left Shadow then?"

The kettle's button popped, indicating that the water was ready but Amelia remained immobile as she stared at the island counter.

"I wasn't supposed to be on that mission. And Frankie found out about it later. He confronted me about it… and told me that he learned about your existence."

Amelia looked up and saw her son waiting for her to continue and the words that she never thought she would ever say in front of him just came out of her mouth, "So I killed him."