Chapter 10 - The Father Matthew Buried Might Still Be AliveThe possibility that Daniel Carranza was alive changed everything.
We searched every record.
Hospitals.
Morgues.
Private clinics.
Nothing.
Then Gabriel found a hidden bank transfer.
A monthly payment.
For ten years.
The recipient was a private facility in Switzerland.
“That's him,” Matthew whispered.
We flew there.
The facility sat in the mountains.
No signs.
No public records.
No visitors.
An administrator met us.
“Mr. Carranza.”
Matthew stared at him.
“My father.”
The administrator nodded.
“Alive.”
Matthew closed his eyes.
“Take me to him.”
His father was in a private room.
Older.
Thin.
But alive.
Matthew stopped in the doorway.
“Dad?”
Daniel Carranza opened his eyes.
For a moment, he simply stared.
Then:
“You shouldn't be here.”
Matthew walked closer.
“You ordered my father's death.”
Daniel looked at me.
Then closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“Why?”
“To save you.”
Matthew laughed bitterly.
“You destroyed another family.”
“I thought I was preventing a war.”
“What war?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Project Avalon.”
My throat tightened.
He continued.
“Your father discovered the corruption.”
“Isabel?”
“Not only her.”
“Ambrose?”
“Yes.”
“Who else?”
Daniel's voice became weak.
“The government.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Vargas Holdings and Carranza Security were part of a private defense network.”
My stomach twisted.
“That's why the companies were so powerful.”
“Yes.”
“Why did my father try to expose them?”
“Because he discovered they were using private information to manipulate people.”
“Like me.”
“Yes.”
I stared.
Daniel reached for a metal box.
Inside was the second key.
He handed it to me.
“Your father wanted you to have this.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew Matthew would protect you.”
Matthew looked at his father.
“Did you kill Daniel Vargas?”
Daniel swallowed.
“No.”
“Then who?”
“Isabel.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“She planned everything.”
“She used me.”
“Yes.”
“She used Ambrose.”
“Yes.”
“She used you.”
Daniel nodded.
“And she used Gabriel.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“Yes.”
Daniel continued:
“Gabriel discovered her plans.”
“That’s why he disappeared.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Gabriel.
He lowered his eyes.
“I tried to stop her.”
Daniel gave me the final document.
“This is the original Project Avalon agreement.”
I opened it.
The final beneficiary was me.
But there was another condition.
The trust can only be activated by Elena Vargas and Matthew Carranza jointly.
I looked at Matthew.
“Why us?”
“Because your fathers wanted the next generation to finish what they couldn't.”
The room became silent.
Daniel continued.
“They wanted their children to choose justice over power.”
Matthew took the document.
“Then we do it.”
I nodded.
We returned to Chicago.
Isabel was being held.
Ambrose was under federal investigation.
Vargas Holdings was frozen.
Everything was collapsing.
Exactly as my father planned.
We entered the company's boardroom.
For the first time, the room belonged to me.
Every director watched.
Some looked frightened.
Others angry.
I stood beside Matthew.
“Vargas Holdings will no longer operate as a private empire.”
Someone objected.
“This company cannot be dismantled.”
I looked at him.
“It can.”
Matthew placed the trust documents on the table.
“And it will be.”
The room fell silent.
We activated the trust.
The screen behind us turned on.
Files began uploading.
Accounts.
Records.
Secret contracts.
Names.
Money.
Everything.
The directors panicked.
Phones began ringing.
Police arrived.
Then the entire building lost power.
Isabel's voice came through the emergency speakers.
“You should have killed me when you had the chance.”
I looked up.
May you like
She had escaped custody.
And she was standing in the lobby.
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