Chapter 13
1500 Words
THE BETRAYAL
The stranger smiled.
Not nervously.
Not cautiously.
He smiled like he’d already won.
Adrian stepped in front of me, gun raised.
“Take one more f*****g step and I’ll put you on the floor.”
The man’s smile widened.
“Still playing hero, Adrian?”
“Shut the hell up.”
I looked at Isabella.
She wasn’t afraid.
That was the first thing I noticed.
She stood beside the stranger with her arms folded, completely calm.
Too calm.
“Isabella,” I said. “What the f**k is going on?”
She tilted her head.
“You’re finally asking the right question.”
“Who is he?”
She glanced at the man.
“My brother.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
Gabriel stared at her.
“That’s impossible.”
Isabella laughed.
“Oh, Dad. You really should stop saying that.”
Gabriel’s face hardened.
“Who is he?”
The stranger stepped forward.
“My name is Nathan Vale.”
Gabriel went completely still.
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“Vale?”
Nathan smiled.
“Half brother.”
I looked at Gabriel.
“You have another son?”
Gabriel didn’t answer.
Nathan laughed.
“Apparently Daddy forgot to mention me.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“You died.”
“That’s what everyone thought.”
“Your mother told me you were dead.”
Nathan’s smile disappeared.
“My mother lied.”
I looked at Isabella.
“And you knew about him?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Since I was sixteen.”
My jaw dropped.
“You’ve known all this time?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve been lying to me since the moment I met you.”
“I had to.”
“Had to?”
I stepped toward her.
“You pointed a f*****g gun at me.”
“I didn’t shoot you.”
“You brought someone who did!”
“I was trying to scare you.”
“You call shooting through a f*****g window scaring me?”
Isabella’s expression finally cracked.
“I didn’t order that.”
Nathan looked at her.
“Enough.”
She immediately stopped talking.
That told me everything.
He was in control.
I looked at him.
“So you’re the one who killed Daniel?”
Nathan’s eyes stayed on me.
“Yes.”
Adrian tightened his grip.
“Why?”
Nathan smiled.
“Because Daniel Cross deserved it.”
“Bullshit.”
Adrian’s voice shook with rage.
“You murdered my father.”
“He murdered mine.”
“That doesn’t give you the right.”
Nathan laughed.
“Right?”
He looked around the room.
“Look at this f*****g family. Everyone here has blood on their hands.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“You’re lying.”
Nathan looked at him.
“Am I?”
He reached into his coat and pulled out a photograph.
He threw it onto the table.
Marcus stared at it.
His face turned white.
I picked it up.
It showed Marcus standing outside the hospital on the night I was born.
Beside him was Daniel Cross.
And behind them—
Nathan.
Younger.
Watching them.
My hands trembled.
“You were there?”
Nathan nodded.
“I watched Daniel take the first child.”
My heart pounded.
“Which child?”
Nathan looked at me.
“You.”
Silence.
I stared at him.
“What?”
“He took you.”
My mother collapsed into a chair.
“No…”
Nathan looked at her.
“You remember, don’t you, Sophia?”
My mother covered her face.
“I didn’t know what he was going to do.”
“You knew enough.”
“I was terrified.”
“You should have been.”
I turned toward my mother.
“You let him take me?”
“No!”
Her voice broke.
“I thought he was protecting you.”
“Protecting me from what?”
Nathan answered.
“Gabriel.”
I looked at my father.
He shook his head.
“No.”
Nathan laughed.
“Tell her.”
Gabriel stared at me.
“I wasn’t going to hurt you.”
“Then why did Daniel hide me from you?”
“Because he believed I was dangerous.”
“Were you?”
Gabriel hesitated.
That hesitation hurt more than the answer.
I whispered:
“Were you?”
Gabriel looked at me.
“I’ve done things I’m not proud of.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No.”
He took a breath.
“I wasn’t innocent.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Of course you weren’t.”
Nathan interrupted.
“He’s still lying.”
Gabriel glared at him.
“You don’t know what happened.”
“I know exactly what happened.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“You killed our father.”
Gabriel’s eyes flashed.
“No.”
Nathan’s voice became louder.
“You killed him!”
“I didn’t!”
“Then why did you disappear?”
“Because Daniel framed me!”
Nathan froze.
Adrian lowered his gun slightly.
“What?”
Gabriel looked at Adrian.
“Your father wasn’t killed by me.”
“Then who killed him?”
Gabriel looked directly at Nathan.
“His killer is standing right there.”
The room went dead silent.
Nathan’s smile disappeared.
Adrian’s eyes widened.
“You?”
Nathan said nothing.
Gabriel pointed at him.
“Nathan killed Daniel.”
Nathan suddenly pulled a gun.
“Enough!”
Adrian fired first.
BANG!
The bullet struck the wall beside Nathan.
Everyone screamed.
Nathan fired back.
Glass exploded behind me.
I ducked.
“GET DOWN!”
Adrian grabbed me and pulled me behind the sofa.
Another gunshot.
Then another.
“f**k!”
I covered my ears.
Victoria crawled toward my mother.
Marcus disappeared behind the dining room wall.
Gabriel moved toward Nathan.
“You son of a b***h!”
Nathan fired.
Gabriel fell.
“DAD!”
I screamed.
Adrian grabbed my shoulder.
“Stay down!”
“He shot him!”
“I know!”
I looked around.
Blood was spreading across Gabriel’s shirt.
My father.
The man I’d waited twenty-four years to meet.
He was bleeding on the floor.
I crawled toward him.
“Elena!”
Adrian tried to stop me.
“Get the f**k off me!”
I reached Gabriel.
His eyes opened.
“Don’t…”
“Don’t what?”
“Trust…”
He coughed.
Blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.
“Trust who?”
He grabbed my wrist.
His fingers were surprisingly strong.
“Isabella.”
I looked toward the stairs.
She was gone.
“Where is she?”
Gabriel whispered:
“She knows where they kept the records.”
“What records?”
“The third birth certificate.”
My heart raced.
“Where?”
Gabriel’s eyes began to close.
“Under…”
He struggled to breathe.
“Under the chapel.”
“The chapel?”
He nodded weakly.
Then he whispered something that made my entire body go cold.
“Your sister isn’t Isabella.”
I froze.
“What?”
Gabriel looked at me.
“She isn’t your twin.”
My heart stopped.
“Then who is she?”
Gabriel’s eyes closed.
“Find…”
He coughed.
“Find the other girl.”
“Dad!”
His hand went limp.
“No!”
I grabbed his shoulder.
“Dad!”
Adrian pulled me back.
“Elena.”
“No!”
“He needs medical attention.”
“Then f*****g call someone!”
“I already did.”
Sirens began screaming in the distance.
Nathan was gone.
The front door stood wide open.
Rain blew across the floor.
I looked toward the staircase.
Isabella had vanished too.
Victoria came toward me, crying.
“Elena…”
I pushed her away.
“Don’t.”
She stopped.
“You knew.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“Everybody says that.”
I stared at her.
“I’m sick of hearing that f*****g excuse.”
Then I looked at Adrian.
He was staring at the doorway.
“What?”
He didn’t answer.
“What is it?”
He slowly turned toward me.
“There’s something you need to know.”
“What now?”
He held up his phone.
On the screen was a message from an unknown number.
STOP LOOKING FOR THE THIRD CHILD.
Below it was a photograph.
I stared at the image.
It was taken only minutes ago.
It showed me standing beside Gabriel.
But that wasn’t the terrifying part.
In the background was someone standing behind me.
Watching.
A woman.
Dark hair.
Hazel eyes.
A small scar above her eyebrow.
My face.
My exact face.
I stared at the photograph.
Then whispered:
“That’s not Isabella.”
Adrian looked at me.
“No.”
I felt my blood turn cold.
“Then who the hell is she?”
Another message appeared.
SHE’S BEEN WATCHING YOU SINCE THE DAY YOU WERE BORN, b***h.
I stared at the screen.
And suddenly the entire house went dark.
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