Chapter 15
1492 Words
THE DEAD MAN
Nobody moved.
Daniel Cross stood in the doorway as if he had walked out of a grave.
I stared at him.
The man I had buried in my memories.
The man Adrian had spent years believing was dead.
The man whose murder had supposedly started this entire nightmare.
Alive.
Standing right in front of me.
My mouth went dry.
“You’re Daniel Cross.”
He smiled.
“You’re Elena.”
My hands curled into fists.
“You’re supposed to be dead.”
“So I’ve heard.”
Adrian raised his gun.
“You son of a bitch.”
Daniel’s smile vanished.
“Put the gun down.”
“Go to hell.”
Adrian took a step forward.
“You murdered my father.”
Daniel looked at him calmly.
“No.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“Then who did?”
Daniel looked at Gabriel.
“Ask him.”
Gabriel was still bleeding from the gunshot wound, but he pushed himself against the wall.
“Don’t listen to him.”
Daniel laughed.
“Still lying to her?”
Gabriel glared at him.
“You don’t get to speak.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Your father has always been good at manipulating people.”
I felt my stomach twist.
“Which father?”
Daniel smiled.
“Exactly.”
I stepped forward.
“I’m done with riddles.”
My voice shook with anger.
“I want the truth.”
Daniel nodded.
“Then ask me.”
“Were you responsible for the babies being taken?”
“Yes.”
My mother gasped.
I turned toward her.
She was crying.
I looked back at Daniel.
“Why?”
“Because I knew what they would become.”
“What the f**k does that mean?”
Daniel walked farther into the room.
“They weren’t ordinary children.”
I almost laughed.
“They were babies.”
“Four babies.”
He corrected me.
“Four girls.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“You took us.”
Daniel looked at her.
“I saved you.”
“You kidnapped me.”
“I protected you.”
“You locked me away!”
Her voice cracked.
“I grew up believing nobody wanted me!”
Daniel’s expression remained cold.
“You were safer without them.”
“Without who?”
“Everyone.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“You’re a f*****g liar.”
Daniel smiled.
“Perhaps.”
I looked at Adrian.
He hadn’t lowered his weapon.
“Adrian.”
He looked at me.
“Don’t.”
“I need to know.”
“So do I.”
I faced Daniel.
“Why did you fake your death?”
He stared at me for several seconds.
“Because someone was trying to kill me.”
“Who?”
“Your father.”
Gabriel laughed from the floor.
“You’re still blaming me?”
Daniel looked at him.
“You had every reason to kill me.”
“I didn’t.”
“Then who shot me?”
Gabriel shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel turned to Adrian.
“Your father did.”
Adrian froze.
“What?”
“Daniel Cross was not the man your father hated.”
Daniel paused.
“He was the man your father feared.”
Adrian’s expression changed.
“What did you do to him?”
Daniel looked away.
“Something I regret.”
“Tell me.”
“No.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“I said tell me!”
Daniel suddenly pulled a gun from beneath his coat.
Adrian raised his weapon.
“Don’t f*****g move.”
Daniel smiled.
“Good.”
He pointed the gun toward Gabriel.
“This is where you finally learn the truth.”
I moved between them.
“No!”
Daniel looked at me.
“Move.”
“f**k you.”
Everyone froze.
Daniel’s eyebrows lifted.
I could feel my entire body shaking, but I didn’t move.
“You’ve lied to me my entire life.”
“Elena—”
“You don’t get to point a gun at anyone and expect me to stand there.”
Daniel lowered the weapon slightly.
“You have your mother’s courage.”
“My mother lied to me too.”
He smiled.
“That’s true.”
My heart sank.
“Why?”
“Because she had no choice.”
My mother cried out.
“I did have a choice.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You chose survival.”
She shook her head.
“I chose my children.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“You chose the wrong child.”
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
He looked directly at me.
“You weren’t supposed to be Elena.”
I felt cold.
“What?”
“You were supposed to disappear.”
My breathing became shallow.
“Why?”
“Because you were evidence.”
“Evidence of what?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
Evelyn did.
“Your birth proved Gabriel was innocent.”
I looked at her.
“How?”
She stepped closer.
“Because you weren’t his daughter.”
I turned toward Gabriel.
He looked devastated.
Daniel said quietly:
“Gabriel believed you were his.”
My stomach twisted.
“He raised me?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Daniel looked at my mother.
She began crying harder.
I whispered:
“Mom.”
She shook her head.
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
“I was afraid.”
“Afraid of Daniel?”
She nodded.
“Why?”
“Because he threatened to kill you.”
The room went silent.
Daniel didn’t deny it.
I stared at him.
“You threatened my mother?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she knew too much.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You’re f*****g insane.”
Daniel smiled.
“Maybe.”
Then his eyes moved toward Victoria.
“Ask your sister.”
I turned.
Victoria was standing near the staircase.
She looked terrified.
“Victoria?”
Daniel nodded toward her.
“She knows.”
My stomach dropped.
“Knows what?”
Victoria began shaking her head.
“No.”
“Tell me.”
“I can’t.”
“Tell me!”
Daniel smiled.
“She was the one who opened the hospital records.”
Victoria’s face went pale.
I stared at her.
“You did what?”
“I was eighteen.”
“You altered my records?”
“I didn’t understand what I was doing.”
“You knew.”
“I knew enough.”
My voice broke.
“You knew enough to let me live my whole life inside a f*****g lie.”
Victoria cried.
“I was trying to protect you.”
I stepped toward her.
“You’re all obsessed with that word.”
Daniel suddenly laughed.
“Protection.”
Everyone looked at him.
“That’s what every liar calls betrayal when they don’t want to admit what they’ve done.”
Silence.
Then Daniel looked at me.
“There’s one final truth.”
I swallowed.
“What?”
He slowly lowered his gun.
“Your father didn’t die.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
Daniel looked at Gabriel.
“He did.”
I stared at him.
“Then who the hell died in my father’s study?”
Daniel smiled.
“A man who looked exactly like him.”
Adrian’s face changed.
“What?”
Daniel continued.
“The body you buried wasn’t your father.”
My stomach turned.
“Then where is my father?”
Daniel looked directly into my eyes.
“Right now?”
He paused.
“Standing in this room.”
I looked at Gabriel.
He stared back at me.
I couldn’t breathe.
Daniel smiled.
“Gabriel Vale isn’t your father.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
Daniel continued:
“He’s your father’s brother.”
I froze.
“What?”
Adrian whispered:
“That’s impossible.”
Daniel looked at him.
“No.”
He pointed toward Gabriel.
“Gabriel Vale is Daniel Cross’s brother.”
I stared at them.
Two men.
One secret.
One family.
And suddenly the photograph from the hospital made sense.
But before I could process it, Gabriel spoke.
“Daniel is lying.”
Daniel smiled.
“Am I?”
Then the front door slammed open.
Police officers stormed into the mansion.
“EVERYONE PUT YOUR HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!”
Adrian immediately dropped his gun.
I raised my hands.
Daniel smiled.
And then he whispered to me:
“Ask the police who ordered your father’s murder.”
I looked toward the officers.
One of them stepped forward.
My blood turned cold.
I recognized him.
He had been in the old photograph.
Standing beside Daniel.
Standing beside Marcus.
Standing outside the hospital the night I was born.
The officer smiled at me.
“Hello, Elena.”
Daniel’s smile widened.
“This is the man who started it all.”
The officer raised his gun.
And pointed it directly at me.
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