Chapter 7
1360 Words
THE WOMAN WITH THE GUN
ELENA’S POV
The gun was pointed directly at me.
For a second, I couldn’t hear anything.
Not the rain.
Not the clock.
Not Victoria whispering my name.
Nothing.
All I could hear was my own heartbeat.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Adrian stepped in front of me.
“Elena, get behind me.”
I couldn’t move.
The woman holding the gun smiled.
She looked strangely calm.
Too calm for someone standing inside a house where secrets had just exploded into the open.
“Still protecting people who don’t deserve it, Adrian?”
His shoulders stiffened.
“Put the gun down.”
She laughed.
“You haven’t changed.”
“Neither have you.”
“Oh, I’ve changed.”
Her eyes moved toward my mother.
“Especially after what your family did to mine.”
I looked at my mother.
She was crying.
“Who is she?”
Mother couldn’t answer.
I turned toward Isabella.
“Who is she?”
My sister stood halfway down the staircase.
She looked at the woman with the gun.
Then at me.
“Her name is Catherine.”
The woman’s smile disappeared.
“Don’t call me that.”
Isabella’s expression remained cold.
“That’s your name.”
I looked between them.
“Someone please explain what the hell is happening.”
Nobody answered.
I felt anger rising inside me.
I stepped out from behind Adrian.
“Elena!”
He grabbed my arm.
I pulled away.
“No.”
“Don’t.”
“I’m tired of hiding.”
I looked directly at the woman.
“If you’re going to kill me, at least tell me why.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Because your father destroyed my family.”
“What did he do?”
“He lied.”
My heart sank.
“About what?”
She laughed bitterly.
“Everything.”
I looked at Mother.
“Did Dad kill her family?”
Mother whispered:
“Not exactly.”
I stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
Catherine raised the gun slightly.
“Your father stole something from me.”
“What?”
“My child.”
Silence.
My stomach twisted.
I looked at Isabella.
Then at Mother.
Then back at Catherine.
“Your child?”
Catherine nodded.
“Twenty-four years ago, I gave birth to a daughter.”
My breathing stopped.
She continued.
“Your father took her.”
I stared at Isabella.
“No.”
Catherine’s eyes filled with tears.
“They told me my baby died.”
She pointed toward Isabella.
“But she didn’t.”
Isabella’s face remained emotionless.
I whispered:
“Isabella…”
She looked at me.
“She’s my biological mother.”
My entire world seemed to stop.
I shook my head.
“No.”
Isabella nodded.
“Yes.”
“But Mom—”
“She’s your mother.”
I looked at Sophia.
My mother.
The woman who had raised me.
She couldn’t look at me.
I felt something inside me break.
“You knew?”
She nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
My voice cracked.
“You knew she was Isabella’s mother?”
“Yes.”
“For twenty-four years?”
“Yes.”
I backed away.
“Why?”
My mother finally looked at me.
“Because your father threatened her.”
Catherine laughed.
“He didn’t just threaten me.”
She lowered the gun slightly.
“He destroyed my life.”
I looked at Adrian.
“You knew?”
He shook his head.
“Not everything.”
“Then what did you know?”
“I knew Isabella wasn’t who she claimed to be.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
He looked at my sister.
“She contacted me six years ago.”
My heart dropped.
“Six years ago?”
Isabella nodded.
“I found Adrian after I learned who I was.”
I looked at her.
“You knew about me?”
“Yes.”
“You knew I existed?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you come home?”
She looked away.
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of who?”
She looked directly at Catherine.
“Her.”
Catherine’s expression hardened.
“You should be grateful.”
“For what?”
“For surviving.”
Isabella stepped down another stair.
“I didn’t survive because of you.”
“Don’t lie.”
“You abandoned me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You left me.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
Their voices became louder.
I stood between them, completely overwhelmed.
My entire life had been built on lies.
And somehow, every person standing in this room had known more about me than I knew about myself.
Then Adrian suddenly looked toward the window.
His expression changed.
“Someone else is outside.”
Everyone froze.
Catherine turned toward the window.
Adrian moved quickly.
He grabbed my arm and pulled me down.
A gunshot shattered the window.
Glass exploded across the room.
I screamed.
Adrian pushed me behind the sofa.
“Stay down!”
Another shot.
Catherine dropped behind the table.
Marcus pulled Victoria to the floor.
Mother screamed.
“What the hell is happening?”
Adrian looked toward the broken window.
“We’re being surrounded.”
My hands shook violently.
“By who?”
He looked at me.
“The people who killed your father.”
A third gunshot struck the wall.
I covered my ears.
“We need to get out!”
Adrian nodded.
“There’s a passage beneath the house.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“Your family built escape tunnels during Prohibition.”
“You knew about them?”
“Yes.”
“Of course you f*****g did.”
He grabbed my hand.
“Come on.”
We ran toward the library.
Behind us, more gunshots echoed through the mansion.
I looked back once.
Isabella was following us.
Catherine was too.
Victoria and Marcus were behind them.
My family.
My enemies.
My sister.
And the man I wasn’t sure I could trust.
We entered the library.
Adrian moved toward the grandfather clock.
He pushed a hidden switch.
The clock moved.
A doorway opened behind it.
I stared.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“No time.”
We entered.
The door closed behind us.
Darkness swallowed us.
Adrian switched on a flashlight.
The passage was narrow.
Cold.
Dust covered the walls.
I could hear everyone breathing.
Then I felt Adrian’s hand around mine.
I looked at him.
He didn’t let go.
“Are you okay?”
“No.”
He nodded.
“Fair enough.”
I almost laughed.
Almost.
Then I heard footsteps behind us.
Fast.
Coming closer.
I turned.
“Someone’s following us.”
Adrian raised the flashlight.
The beam illuminated the darkness.
Nobody.
Then a woman’s voice whispered from behind me.
“Elena.”
I froze.
I knew that voice.
I turned slowly.
Isabella stood in the darkness.
She looked terrified.
“What’s wrong?”
She stared at me.
Then whispered:
“Don’t trust Adrian.”
I looked at him.
Adrian’s expression changed.
“Isabella—”
She interrupted.
“He knows who killed your father.”
I felt my stomach drop.
I looked at Adrian.
“Is that true?”
He said nothing.
My heart shattered.
“Adrian?”
Still nothing.
I stepped toward him.
“Tell me.”
His eyes met mine.
And finally…
he told me the one thing I had been afraid to hear.
“Yes.”
I stopped breathing.
“I know who killed your father.”
“Who?”
He looked at me.
His voice was barely a whisper.
“Your sister.”
I turned toward Isabella.
She was gone.
And somewhere deep beneath the mansion…
I heard a door slam.
Then Adrian whispered:
“We have to find her before she finds us.”
My heart was pounding.
Because I suddenly understood something.
The person I had spent my entire life wishing would come home…
might be the person who had destroyed my family.
And worse—
I wasn’t sure Adrian was telling me the truth.
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