Chapter 11
1473 Words
THE MAN OUTSIDE
The mansion suddenly felt too small.
Too quiet.
Too f*****g quiet.
I stared at the red rose in my hand, unable to take my eyes off the message.
YOUR FATHER LIED ABOUT WHO I AM.
Adrian stood beside me.
Marcus remained at the end of the hallway.
My mother was crying downstairs.
And Victoria hadn’t said a single word.
That scared me more than anything.
“Victoria.”
She looked up.
“What?”
“You know something.”
Her eyes widened.
“No, I don’t.”
“Don’t f*****g lie to me.”
“I’m not.”
“You’ve been lying to me since I came back.”
She looked away.
I stepped toward her.
“Six years ago, you knew about Isabella.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
My voice cracked.
“Protect me from what?”
Nobody answered.
I laughed bitterly.
“Jesus Christ. Does anyone in this family actually know how to tell the truth?”
Adrian stepped between us.
“Enough.”
I glared at him.
“Don’t tell me enough.”
“Elena—”
“No. I’m f*****g done with people deciding what I can handle.”
I held up the photograph.
“Gabriel Vale is alive.”
Adrian nodded.
“Yes.”
“He’s been watching me.”
“Yes.”
“He knows who I am.”
“Yes.”
“And apparently my father lied about him.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
“Then I want to meet him.”
“No.”
His answer came instantly.
I blinked.
“What?”
“You’re not meeting Gabriel.”
“Why?”
“Because we don’t know what he wants.”
“He’s my father.”
“We don’t even know if that’s true.”
Marcus spoke from behind us.
“It is.”
Everyone turned.
Adrian stared at him.
“You’re certain?”
Marcus nodded.
“DNA records were altered, but I saw the original report.”
My heart pounded.
“Where?”
Marcus hesitated.
I stepped closer.
“Where is the original report?”
“In the old hospital archives.”
“Then we’re going.”
Adrian shook his head.
“Absolutely not.”
I stared at him.
“You’re not my father.”
“No.”
“Then stop acting like one.”
His expression darkened.
“You have no idea what you’re walking into.”
“Neither do you.”
“I know Gabriel Vale.”
“No, you know stories about him.”
“I know what he did.”
“What did he do?”
Adrian went silent.
I stepped closer.
“What did Gabriel do?”
He looked at Marcus.
Marcus shook his head.
“Not here.”
“f**k that.”
I slammed the photograph onto the table.
“Everyone keeps saying not here, not now, you’re not ready. I’m sick of it.”
My voice echoed through the hallway.
“I want the truth.”
Marcus finally looked at me.
“You want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“Then prepare yourself.”
“For what?”
Marcus’s face became expressionless.
“Gabriel Vale didn’t disappear after you were born.”
I frowned.
“Then where did he go?”
Marcus whispered:
“He went to prison.”
Silence.
I stared at him.
“For what?”
“Murder.”
My stomach dropped.
“Whose murder?”
Marcus looked at Adrian.
Adrian’s face had gone completely cold.
“My father’s.”
I looked at Adrian.
“What?”
“Gabriel Vale was accused of murdering Daniel Cross.”
I shook my head.
“But Daniel was Adrian’s father.”
“Yes.”
“Then why the hell would my biological father murder his own enemy?”
Adrian’s voice was quiet.
“That’s exactly what we need to find out.”
I looked toward the window.
Something moved outside.
A shadow.
I froze.
“Did you see that?”
Adrian immediately turned.
“What?”
“There.”
The curtains moved slightly.
Adrian crossed the room and pulled them open.
Nothing.
Only darkness.
Rain.
Trees moving in the wind.
Then—
A flash of lightning illuminated the driveway.
For half a second, I saw someone standing beneath the trees.
A man.
Tall.
Wearing a black coat.
Watching the mansion.
Watching me.
“Adrian.”
He turned.
I pointed toward the window.
“He was there.”
Adrian looked outside.
“Stay here.”
He ran toward the front door.
“Wait!”
He disappeared.
Marcus rushed after him.
Victoria grabbed my arm.
“Elena, don’t.”
I pulled away.
“I saw him.”
“You don’t know who it was.”
“I know what I saw.”
My mother came toward me.
“Please.”
I looked at her.
“Mom, if you know something, now is the time.”
She wiped her tears.
“There is something you need to understand.”
“What?”
“Gabriel didn’t abandon you.”
I stopped.
“What?”
“He tried to find you.”
My heart twisted.
“Then why didn’t he?”
“Because your father wouldn’t let him.”
I stared at her.
“My father kept him away?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She looked toward the front door.
“Because Gabriel knew the truth.”
“What truth?”
My mother lowered her voice.
“You weren’t the child they were trying to hide.”
I felt a chill run through me.
“What does that mean?”
Before she could answer, a gunshot exploded outside.
BANG!
I screamed.
Victoria pulled me to the floor.
Another shot.
BANG!
Glass shattered somewhere downstairs.
Adrian shouted from outside.
“GET DOWN!”
Marcus yelled for everyone to stay away from the windows.
My heart was pounding so hard it hurt.
“Who the hell is shooting at us?”
Nobody answered.
Then the front door opened.
Adrian rushed inside.
Blood covered his sleeve.
“Adrian!”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding!”
“It’s not mine.”
He slammed the door shut.
I stared at the blood.
“Whose is it?”
He looked at me.
“The man outside.”
My breathing stopped.
“You caught him?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know?”
Adrian reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a small piece of black fabric.
“I found this where he was standing.”
Marcus stared at it.
His face changed.
“What?”
Adrian looked at him.
“You recognize it.”
Marcus didn’t answer.
“Marcus.”
He finally whispered:
“It’s Gabriel’s.”
My mother gasped.
I stared at the fabric.
“No.”
Adrian looked at me.
“He was here.”
“Why?”
Nobody answered.
Then something slid underneath the front door.
A photograph.
Adrian picked it up.
My stomach tightened.
He handed it to me.
I looked down.
It showed three babies.
Three newborn girls.
My mother was standing beside them.
Daniel Cross stood behind her.
And next to him—
Gabriel Vale.
But that wasn’t what made my hands shake.
Someone had circled one of the babies in red ink.
Underneath the photograph was a message.
YOU’RE LOOKING AT THE WRONG CHILD.
I stared at it.
“Which one is me?”
Adrian looked at the photograph.
“I don’t know.”
Marcus stepped closer.
Then suddenly froze.
“What?”
I looked at him.
He was staring at the third baby.
“The baby in the middle…”
His voice trembled.
“What about her?”
Marcus swallowed.
“She wasn’t supposed to exist.”
The room went silent.
I looked at the photograph again.
Three babies.
Three lives.
Three secrets.
And suddenly I understood.
Maybe the question had never been:
Who is Elena’s real father?
Maybe the real question was:
Who is Elena?
A loud knock came from the front door.
Everyone froze.
Three slow knocks.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Adrian raised his gun.
Marcus whispered:
“Don’t open it.”
Another knock.
Then a man’s voice came through the door.
Calm.
Deep.
Familiar.
“Elena.”
My blood turned cold.
Adrian looked at me.
The voice continued.
“I think it’s time you met your father.”
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t breathe.
Then the man outside said the words that destroyed everything I thought I knew.
“And before you open that door…”
A pause.
“You should know something.”
My fingers tightened around the photograph.
“Your father didn’t kill Daniel Cross.”
Adrian’s face changed.
The voice continued.
“I did.”
The entire mansion went silent.
And then—
The door handle began to turn.
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