*One Week Ago*

It was as if my entire life was falling apart. My boyfriend was nowhere to be found, and now I was in a "bank", that wasn't really a bank, but the headquarters of MI6, a complete surprise to me. I wasn't here for that little reveal though because, after all, why would they tell a fourteen-year-old something as important as that? That was insane unless there was a reason for it, and unfortunately for me, there was.

The red velvet chair was not in the least comfortable, especially when the office door opened behind me with a creak. I shot up and spun around.

"Hello Katherine. I'm Tulip Jones."

The woman who entered was black and masculine-looking, wearing a business suit with a slightly pained look on her face. What had I done?

"Why am I here?" I blurted out before I could stop myself.

"Take a seat. I have a lot to tell you."

"That doesn't sound so good, ma'am, if I may be so blunt with you."

She smiled tightly and moved to sit down behind her desk, and motioned for me to sit in my seat, which I did, hesitantly.

"My dear, you're not in trouble in the slightest. Did your father ever explain to you that you were adopted?"

"Yeah, but he never told me who my real parents were."

"I may be able to explain. I was young and new to MI6, and while in Ireland, I had a one night stand with someone that I never should have. Later, I found out that I was pregnant."

I saw where she was going with her story, and I wanted to laugh at how absurd this was. What were the odds that I had resulted from something that hadn't been love? I had always joked about it, sure, but the fact that it was true sent a dagger straight through my heart. In my dreams, I had imagined what it would be like to meet one or both of my parents, and this resembled nothing that I thought it would.

"There was no way that you would have been safe had I kept you; your father's line of work would have prevented a healthy upbringing. I gave you to my good friend who had always wanted a baby of his own, who to my understanding, made sure that everything was taken care of."

"Wait, hold up. Who's my father? What does he do? Where is he? Why did you give me away?" My rapid fire questions erupted out of me without pause, making the woman flinch.

She closed her eyes before answering me. "I'm not authorized to tell you."

"What? Why not?" I was angry with that. She had called me here to tell me that she wasn't going to reveal who my father was. It was so unfair.

"Sweetheart, it's a matter of national security. Your father is a criminal, that's all you need to know. I couldn't risk you getting hurt."

"Does he even know that I exist? Can you at least tell me his name?"

"He doesn't know. Yassen left the day after your conception."

I was immediately offended. "Is that all I am to you? An inconvenience that needed to be given to someone else to save yourself? You know what, I could have gone my entire life without knowing what you just told me. And if dad is such an awful person, then you shouldn't have gone anywhere near him. Thanks for nothing."

She had remained silent while I screamed at her, and only spoke when I turned to leave. "I am truly sorry that you feel that way, and I only wish for you to forgive me one day for being foolish enough to think that you would be happy with my telling you of your true roots. I should have known that you would react as you have. You are much like your father; everything has to go to plan. I suppose that comes with his being an assassin."

"What are you talking about, he's an assassin?" That made no sense.

"I've said too much already."

Of course she wouldn't tell me anything else, but now I knew why she had given me away like I was nothing. A person who killed for a living and another who was supposed to stop them having a child was a disgrace to both professions. That didn't make me feel any better though.

"Yassen Gregorovich was a man that could be anything and everything to a girl who was nursing a broken heart in a bar. Neither one of us knew who the other was until the next morning. We swore to never mention it, and to act as if nothing had ever happened."

The door burst open, slamming against the wall, and scaring me half to death. A man in a suit rushed in, gave me a strange look, and then looked back at Ms. Jones.

"Alex Rider has been compromised."

The sanity I had been holding onto shattered into a million pieces. I could barely hear her response before I fainted, hitting my head on the doorframe. My forehead exploded in pain, and I blacked out.