Chapter 4 - The Man Who Stole the Twins Came Back to Claim the Empire—and Called Marin His DaughterMarcus Castellano looked nothing like the monster Marin had imagined.
That frightened her more.
He was elegant.
Silver-haired.
Calm.
He wore a dark suit and carried no visible weapon.
Yet everyone in the room treated him like a loaded gun.
Rafe stepped forward.
“You're supposed to be dead.”
Marcus smiled.
“Many people have found it convenient to believe that.”
Luca raised his weapon.
Marcus looked at him.
“My boy.”
Luca's expression hardened.
“You're not my father.”
“No.”
Marcus sighed.
“But I raised you.”
“You imprisoned me.”
“I protected you.”
“From whom?”
Marcus pointed toward Marin.
“Her.”
Marin froze.
Rafe stepped between them.
“Don't.”
Marcus laughed.
“You still think you understand.”
“You separated two children.”
“To save them.”
“You killed Lucia.”
Marcus's expression changed.
“I didn't kill your mother.”
Marin stared.
“Then who did?”
Marcus looked at her.
“Gabriel.”
Silence.
Rafe shook his head.
“Liar.”
Marcus pulled out a photograph.
Gabriel holding a gun.
Lucia standing opposite him.
A shattered window.
Marin couldn't breathe.
“This was taken minutes before Lucia disappeared.”
Rafe snatched the photograph.
“Forgery.”
Marcus smiled.
“Then explain the bank transfer.”
He gave Rafe a document.
A payment from Gabriel to a shell company.
Date: the night Lucia vanished.
Marin looked at Luca.
“What do you remember?”
Luca closed his eyes.
“My father was screaming.”
“What did he say?”
“‘Marcus, you promised.’”
Marin's heart raced.
Marcus looked at her.
“Your father was supposed to surrender.”
“To you?”
“To the family.”
“And my mother?”
“Lucia tried to run.”
“What happened?”
“She took you.”
Marcus looked toward Luca.
“And left him behind.”
Luca shook his head.
“She would never.”
“She did.”
The room exploded when a gunshot struck the ceiling.
Everyone ducked.
Marcus smiled.
“You see? Someone else wants you dead.”
Rafe shouted:
“Who?”
Marcus answered:
“The person you invited into your organization.”
Marin looked at Rafe.
Rafe's face hardened.
They returned to headquarters.
One of Rafe's most trusted lieutenants had disappeared.
Three others were dead.
The evidence pointed toward a rival syndicate.
But Luca found something else.
A financial trail connecting the attacks to an account controlled by someone inside Castellano Holdings.
The name stunned them.
Nico Ferrante.
Marin stared.
“No.”
Rafe went quiet.
Nico had been beside him for years.
Loyal.
Reliable.
Family.
Then Nico appeared.
He raised both hands.
“I can explain.”
Rafe aimed his gun.
“You're compromised.”
“No.”
“Then explain the transfers.”
Nico looked at Marin.
“They're mine.”
Rafe froze.
“What?”
“I took the money.”
Marin stepped closer.
“Why?”
Nico swallowed.
“Because someone was blackmailing me.”
“Who?”
“Marcus.”
Rafe's gun didn't lower.
“What did he want?”
Nico whispered:
“Marin.”
The betrayal was bigger than money.
Marcus had been hunting Marin for years.
He needed her alive.
But why?
That question finally had an answer when Nico revealed one last document.
Lucia had left behind a trust.
A trust worth billions.
The money had been frozen twenty-one years ago.
It could only be accessed by her bloodline.
Marin.
Not Luca.
Marin alone.
“Why only me?” she asked.
Nico looked away.
“Because Lucia changed the inheritance before she disappeared.”
Rafe realized it.
“Lucia expected one of the twins to be lost.”
“Yes.”
“So she made Marin the legal beneficiary.”
Luca stared at his sister.
Marin felt sick.
“I don't want any of it.”
Rafe took her hand.
“You don't have to.”
Marcus interrupted over the phone.
“You're lying to yourself.”
Everyone turned.
His voice continued through the speaker.
“You think money is the point?”
Marin said nothing.
Marcus laughed.
“The inheritance contains something far more valuable.”
“What?”
“Proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“The names of every person involved in the empire's crimes over the last twenty-one years.”
Rafe's expression changed.
“The ledger.”
“Yes.”
Marcus continued.
“Your mother didn't leave you billions.”
“She left you a weapon.”
The line went dead.
Marin stared at Rafe.
“What happens if I destroy it?”
“People come after you.”
“What happens if I release it?”
“People come after everyone.”
She laughed bitterly.
“So either way, I'm doomed.”
Rafe looked into her eyes.
“No.”
He moved closer.
“Not while I'm alive.”
Marin's heart skipped.
For the first time, she realized she trusted him.
More than she wanted to.
Then she felt something strange.
A sudden wave of dizziness.
She pressed a hand to her stomach.
Rafe noticed.
“Marin?”
“I'm fine.”
But she wasn't.
She had been feeling sick for weeks.
She had blamed stress.
Debt.
Lack of sleep.
Now she suddenly remembered something.
Two positive pregnancy tests hidden beneath her bathroom sink.
Two weeks apart.
She had not told anyone.
Not even Rafe.
Her hand tightened over her abdomen.
She whispered:
“There is something else you don't know.”
Rafe looked at her.
“What?”
May you like
Marin swallowed.
“I'm pregnant.”
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