Chapter 12
1670 Words
THE MAN AT THE DOOR
The door handle moved.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Nobody breathed.
Adrian raised his gun.
“Everyone get behind me.”
For once, I didn’t argue.
I stepped backward with Victoria and my mother while Marcus remained frozen in the middle of the hallway.
The handle stopped moving.
Then came a knock.
Three soft taps.
“Come on, Elena.”
The man’s voice was calm.
Almost gentle.
“You’ve waited twenty-four years.”
My heart hammered.
Adrian glanced at me.
“Don’t listen to him.”
The voice outside laughed quietly.
“Still protecting her, Adrian?”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“Gabriel.”
Silence.
Then—
“Yes.”
My knees almost gave out.
That was him.
Gabriel Vale.
My biological father.
The man my family had spent my entire life hiding.
The man Adrian’s father had supposedly been murdered by.
The man who had just claimed he killed Daniel Cross.
I stepped forward.
“Elena.”
Adrian caught my wrist.
“No.”
“Let go.”
“Absolutely not.”
“He’s my father.”
“And he just admitted to murder.”
“So has half this f*****g family.”
Marcus stared at me.
I pulled my wrist free.
Adrian looked furious.
But he didn’t stop me again.
I approached the door.
“Why did you kill Daniel?”
Gabriel didn’t answer immediately.
Then he said:
“Because he killed someone first.”
“Who?”
“My son.”
I froze.
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re lying.”
“No.”
Gabriel’s voice became colder.
“Daniel Cross murdered my son.”
Marcus suddenly stepped forward.
“That’s impossible.”
Gabriel laughed.
“You’ve spent twenty-four years telling everyone what was impossible.”
Marcus went pale.
“What son?”
Gabriel answered:
“Daniel’s.”
I frowned.
“What the hell does that mean?”
Gabriel continued.
“Twenty-five years ago, Daniel discovered that my wife was pregnant.”
My mother covered her mouth.
Gabriel continued.
“She was carrying a child.”
Marcus whispered:
“Catherine.”
I looked at him.
“Catherine?”
Gabriel said:
“Yes.”
My stomach twisted.
“Catherine was your wife?”
“Yes.”
The room went silent.
I remembered Catherine’s face.
The gun.
Her hatred.
Her obsession with my father.
Her claim that he stole her child.
I whispered:
“Isabella.”
Gabriel didn’t answer.
“Is Isabella your daughter?”
“Yes.”
My heart dropped.
“But if Catherine was your wife, then why did she say my father stole her child?”
“Because he did.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“You’re saying Daniel kidnapped Isabella?”
“I’m saying Daniel orchestrated the entire thing.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
Gabriel’s voice sharpened.
“You knew.”
“I didn’t.”
“You were there.”
Marcus said nothing.
Gabriel continued.
“You were standing outside that hospital when Catherine gave birth.”
I looked at Marcus.
“Is that true?”
He didn’t answer.
“Marcus!”
“Yes.”
The word came out barely above a whisper.
“Yes, I was there.”
My mother began crying.
I turned toward her.
“And you?”
She couldn’t look at me.
“You were there too.”
I felt something inside me break.
“All of you were there.”
My voice trembled.
“You all watched this happen.”
“Elena—”
“No!”
I screamed.
“You watched babies being taken from their mother and said nothing!”
My mother sobbed.
“I was afraid.”
“Afraid?”
I laughed bitterly.
“You were afraid for twenty-four years while I grew up believing everything you told me?”
Gabriel spoke through the door.
“She didn’t know everything.”
I looked at the door.
“Then tell me.”
A pause.
“Open the door.”
Adrian immediately said:
“No.”
Gabriel laughed.
“Adrian, if I wanted Elena dead, she would already be dead.”
Adrian tightened his grip on the gun.
“Try me.”
“Still angry.”
“I should be.”
“You should be asking questions.”
“I am.”
“No.”
Gabriel’s voice became serious.
“You’re protecting the wrong people.”
Adrian went silent.
Gabriel continued.
“Your father wasn’t killed because of money.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“He was killed because he discovered the truth.”
“What truth?”
Gabriel answered:
“The three children weren’t all Marlowe children.”
I stared at the photograph.
Three babies.
Three identities.
Three secrets.
“Then who were they?”
Gabriel said:
“One was mine.”
My heart pounded.
“One belonged to Daniel.”
Another pause.
“And the third?”
Gabriel’s voice lowered.
“The third belonged to someone neither family knew about.”
Marcus suddenly whispered:
“That’s impossible.”
Gabriel replied:
“You said that last time.”
I looked at Marcus.
“Who was the third baby’s father?”
Gabriel didn’t answer.
Instead, the door suddenly opened.
Adrian raised his gun.
A man stood outside.
Tall.
Broad shoulders.
Dark hair streaked with gray.
A long black coat soaked from the rain.
His face was older than the photograph, but I recognized him immediately.
The eyes.
The jaw.
The expression.
Gabriel Vale.
My father.
He looked directly at me.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then his eyes filled with tears.
“Elena.”
Hearing my name from his mouth felt strangely painful.
I stepped closer.
“You’re really him.”
“Yes.”
“You’re my father?”
Gabriel looked at me.
“Yes.”
I swallowed.
“Then why did you leave me?”
His face broke.
“I didn’t.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I never left you.”
“Then where the hell were you?”
“In prison.”
I stared at him.
“For twenty-four years?”
“No.”
He took a breath.
“Only for eleven.”
I froze.
“What?”
“I escaped.”
Adrian raised his gun slightly.
“Escaped?”
Gabriel looked at him.
“I had help.”
“From who?”
Gabriel’s eyes moved toward Marcus.
Marcus looked terrified.
Gabriel said:
“Your uncle.”
I turned toward Marcus.
“You helped him escape?”
Marcus shook his head.
“I didn’t know who he was.”
Gabriel smiled bitterly.
“You knew exactly who I was.”
Marcus’s face went pale.
Gabriel looked at me again.
“But none of that matters now.”
“Why?”
He reached inside his coat.
Adrian immediately aimed his weapon.
“Slowly.”
Gabriel pulled out a small envelope.
He held it toward me.
“This belonged to your father.”
I didn’t move.
“What is it?”
“The final letter he wrote before he died.”
My heart stopped.
“My father wrote a letter?”
“Yes.”
“Where was it?”
Gabriel looked at Marcus.
“Hidden where he knew no one would search.”
I took the envelope.
My name was written across it.
My father’s handwriting.
My fingers trembled.
I opened it.
There were only a few lines.
Elena,
If you’re reading this, Gabriel has finally found you.
Do not trust him.
My heart sank.
I looked up.
Gabriel’s expression had changed.
“Keep reading.”
I did.
But don’t trust Marcus either.
I looked at Marcus.
His face had gone completely white.
I continued.
The man who betrayed us is closer than you think.
Then the final sentence.
And Elena, whatever happens, never let them find the third child.
I stopped.
The room became silent.
Adrian stared at the letter.
Victoria whispered:
“The third child…”
Gabriel looked at me.
His expression was filled with fear.
I slowly lowered the letter.
“Where is the third child?”
Gabriel didn’t answer.
“Dad.”
His eyes met mine.
“She was never taken.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
Gabriel whispered:
“She was raised right here.”
Everyone stared at him.
I looked around the room.
My mother.
Marcus.
Victoria.
Adrian.
Gabriel.
Then my eyes stopped on Victoria.
She was crying.
But not because she was scared.
Because she already knew.
I stared at her.
“Victoria?”
She didn’t answer.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Her lips trembled.
“Elena…”
I stepped toward her.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
She backed away.
“Victoria.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“I can’t.”
“Can’t what?”
She covered her face.
Then whispered:
“I’ve known since I was eighteen.”
My heart stopped.
“Known what?”
She looked directly at me.
“The third child.”
I felt the room disappear around me.
“Who is she?”
Victoria’s eyes filled with tears.
Then she said:
“She isn’t missing.”
A pause.
“She isn’t dead.”
Another breath.
“She has been living in this house for years.”
I stared at her.
“Who?”
Victoria looked toward the staircase.
And whispered:
“Isabella.”
My blood turned to ice.
“No.”
A woman’s footsteps echoed from upstairs.
Slow.
Careful.
Coming closer.
Everyone turned toward the staircase.
Then Isabella appeared.
She looked at me.
And smiled.
“Hello, sister.”
But this time, she wasn’t alone.
A man stood behind her.
And the moment Gabriel saw him, the color drained from his face.
“That’s impossible.”
I looked at Gabriel.
“Who is he?”
Gabriel stepped backward.
His voice trembled.
“Elena…”
He stared at the man.
“That’s the man who killed Daniel Cross.”
Adrian raised his gun.
The stranger smiled.
Then he said:
“And now…”
He looked directly at me.
“…I’m here to finish what he started.”
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