Chapter 5 - The Betrayal Behind the Wedding Portrait
The attack came at 1:13 a.m.
The mansion's main power failed.
Security doors locked.
Phones lost signal.
Every employee was ordered to remain in place.
Ronan had expected this.
He had moved Cormack to a protected medical suite beneath the east wing.
Tessa stayed beside him.
Marcus positioned 8 trusted men around the property.
But there was 1 thing nobody anticipated.
Preston had a key to the old chapel.
The only room without cameras.
He entered alone.
Camille followed.
Preston whispered, “Where is Ronan?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“I told you I changed my mind.”
Preston stared at her.
“You think he will forgive you?”
“No.”
“Then why help him?”
“Because you wanted him dead.”
Preston stepped closer.
“You knew what would happen when we started.”
Camille looked at the chapel's wooden altar.
“I thought we would take his money.”
“And?”
“And now people are dying.”
Preston's expression hardened.
“People have always died.”
He reached for his phone.
Camille saw the message.
The assassin was already inside the mansion.
She grabbed Preston's arm.
He shoved her away.
“Get out.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
For the first time, she saw what he truly was.
Not a lover.
Not a partner.
A man who had never believed another human life was worth more than his ambition.
Elsewhere, Ronan walked through the dark hallway.
A figure emerged.
Ronan recognized him.
Derek Sloan.
One of Preston's longtime associates.
Derek raised his gun.
Ronan moved first.
The weapon fired into the ceiling.
Ronan disarmed him.
Marcus arrived seconds later.
“Who else?”
Derek said nothing.
Ronan pressed the question.
“Who else?”
Derek whispered, “Boardroom.”
Ronan frowned.
“What?”
“There's a second team.”
At the same moment, the medical suite alarm sounded.
Tessa ran toward Cormack.
A man was already inside.
He had disconnected the oxygen monitor.
Tessa tackled him with everything she had.
Cormack's oxygen levels dropped.
Tessa restored the line.
The man escaped through a service door.
Ronan arrived seconds later.
He saw Tessa shaking.
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
Ronan looked at her.
This time, he touched her shoulder.
“Thank you.”
Tessa nodded.
“I told you I count carefully.”
Despite everything, Ronan smiled.
Then the mansion doors opened.
Police entered.
Ronan had called them before midnight.
He had sent them copies of every file.
Every transfer.
Every forged document.
Every recording.
Every photograph.
He had not intended to fight the Gallagher family with bullets.
He intended to destroy them with evidence.
Preston tried to escape through the chapel.
Camille followed him.
“Stop!”
He turned.
“You still want to help him?”
“I want this to end.”
“It ends when I win.”
“You already lost.”
He stared at her.
She reached into her purse.
Pulled out a small recorder.
“I recorded everything.”
Preston froze.
Every conversation.
Every plan.
Every payment.
Every instruction.
Camille had spent years protecting herself.
Tonight, for the first time, she had chosen someone else.
Preston lunged.
Ronan appeared behind him.
“Enough.”
Preston looked over his shoulder.
“You.”
Ronan walked forward.
“You should have left the country.”
“You should have stayed.”
Preston laughed bitterly.
“All that power, and you still couldn't keep your own wife.”
Ronan's eyes narrowed.
“No.”
He pointed to the recorder.
“I couldn't keep a liar.”
Then to the walls.
“I couldn't keep a traitor.”
Then to the papers in Marcus's hands.
“But I can keep the truth.”
Police officers entered.
Preston was arrested.
Camille stood still.
She knew her life was over.
Not her physical life.
The other one.
The life she had built around wealth, parties, and appearances.
Ronan handed her the divorce papers.
“You're free.”
Camille stared.
“You planned this?”
“I prepared.”
“You knew?”
“For 8 months.”
She started crying.
“Why didn't you confront me?”
“Because I wanted to know whether there was any part of you I could still trust.”
“And?”
Ronan looked at her.
“I found it too late.”
She signed.
Then gave him back the pen.
As she walked away, she stopped.
“There is something you don't know.”
Ronan turned.
“About Preston?”
“No.”
Her voice trembled.
“About your mother.”
Ronan's face changed.
Camille whispered, “Preston's father wasn't the only person involved in her death.”
She handed him a photograph.
A young Cormack.
A younger man beside him.
Ronan recognized the second man instantly.
His own father.
Alive.
Smiling.
And standing behind them was someone else.
A woman.
Elise Marlo.
Ronan stared.
His mother had known Elise.
Which meant the story of his mother's death had been altered too.
Camille whispered the final sentence.
“Your mother didn't die because her heart stopped.”
May you like
Ronan's hand tightened around the photograph.
“She died because somebody made sure nobody got to her in time.”
