Chapter 4 - My Father Betrayed Me to Save My Sister, but the Sister He Protected Was the One Who Had Planned to Destroy MeSabrina disappeared.
Elena spent two days searching.
Then Sabrina called.
“Meet me.”
“Where?”
“Hotel Meridian.”
Elena almost refused.
Adrien came with her.
Sabrina sat alone in the hotel's rooftop lounge.
She looked tired.
For the first time, she did not look beautiful.
She looked frightened.
“I'm sorry.”
Elena sat opposite her.
“For what?”
“Everything.”
Elena laughed.
“You'll need to be more specific.”
Sabrina started crying.
“I was desperate.”
“You signed the marriage agreement.”
“Yes.”
“You told them I wasn't good enough.”
“Yes.”
“You helped Victor.”
“I know.”
“And you tried to get me dragged back.”
“Yes.”
Elena stared.
“Why?”
Sabrina wiped her face.
“Because I thought if you married Victor, he would erase my debt.”
Elena froze.
“You owed Victor money too?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Seven hundred thousand.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“You sold me for less than a million dollars?”
Sabrina looked down.
“I thought you wouldn't care.”
“I am your sister.”
“I know.”
“You knew exactly how much it would hurt me.”
“I know.”
Elena was silent.
Then Sabrina said:
“There was another reason.”
“What?”
“Dad didn't just owe Victor.”
“He owed Malcolm Crane.”
Adrien stiffened.
Sabrina continued.
“Northbridge belongs to Crane.”
“He wants your inheritance.”
“But he also wants Adrien's.”
Elena looked at Adrien.
“How?”
Sabrina's voice trembled.
“Your marriage was supposed to transfer your shares.”
“And Crane planned to use them to pressure Moretti.”
Adrien nodded slowly.
“That makes sense.”
Sabrina stared at Elena.
“They know about the baby.”
Elena's blood went cold.
“How?”
“They have someone at the clinic.”
Adrien immediately stood.
“We leave.”
Sabrina grabbed his sleeve.
“Wait.”
She pulled out a phone.
“There is one more thing.”
A photograph appeared.
A newborn crib.
With a note.
The child belongs to the family that controls the shares.
Elena felt sick.
Adrien's expression went frighteningly calm.
“Where did you get this?”
“Crane sent it.”
“Why?”
“To show me what happens if I don't cooperate.”
Adrien looked at Elena.
“We're moving.”
They left the hotel.
That night, Adrien relocated the entire security operation.
Elena asked why he had become so protective.
He looked at her.
“Because I've lost family before.”
She didn't press.
Later, in the bedroom, he told her.
His younger sister had died when he was seventeen.
A rival family had used her as leverage.
Adrien had reached her too late.
“That is why I don't tolerate threats against women.”
Elena touched his hand.
“You were a child too.”
“Yes.”
“I'm sorry.”
He nodded.
Then he looked at her.
“I won't lose you.”
The words frightened her.
Not because they sounded possessive.
Because they sounded honest.
The next morning, Crane made his move.
He called an emergency shareholder meeting.
He claimed Elena was mentally unstable.
Pregnancy.
Stress.
Family conflict.
He wanted the board to remove her from all decision-making.
Instead, Elena walked into the room carrying her mother's files.
Everyone turned.
Crane's face changed.
“You shouldn't be here.”
“I own the shares.”
“You are emotionally compromised.”
“No.”
She placed documents on the table.
“You're compromised.”
The board stared.
The documents proved Northbridge had been siphoning money from Brooks Industrial.
Then Elena produced a second set.
Crane's personal transfers.
Then a third.
Payments to Victor.
And finally:
Payments to Sabrina.
Sabrina entered.
She was crying.
“I'll testify.”
Crane stared at her.
“You stupid girl.”
Elena looked at her sister.
“Thank you.”
Sabrina nodded.
Crane stood.
“This changes nothing.”
Adrien stepped into the room.
“It changes everything.”
The board chairman asked:
“Mr. Moretti, why are you involved?”
Adrien looked at Elena.
“Because she's carrying my child.”
The room went silent.
Then Crane smiled.
“Perfect.”
Everyone turned.
Crane's smile widened.
“That makes the child an heir to both families.”
Adrien's eyes narrowed.
“And now you understand why they wanted her marriage.”
Crane nodded.
“Exactly.”
Elena's stomach dropped.
The entire conspiracy revolved around her unborn daughter.
May you like
And for the first time, she realized that protecting the baby would require more than exposing her father.
It would require defeating the man who had designed the entire trap.
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