Chapter 8 - The Truth About the Baby
Gabriel stared at Naomi.
Every instinct screamed for an answer.
Adrian smiled.
He had achieved exactly what he wanted.
Doubt.
One sentence had reopened every wound.
Naomi stepped toward Gabriel.
“Look at me.”
He did.
“I love you.”
“I know.”
“I've never been with anyone else.”
“I know.”
But his voice was unsteady.
Naomi's eyes filled.
“Then why do you look at me like that?”
Gabriel took a breath.
“Because Adrian knows exactly where to hurt me.”
She touched his face.
“Then don't let him.”
Adrian laughed.
“You're weak.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“No.”
He raised his weapon.
“You just ran out of lies.”
Adrian stared.
Gabriel continued.
“DNA testing.”
Adrian's smile faded.
“The baby is mine.”
“You don't know.”
“I know my wife.”
Naomi cried.
Adrian shook his head.
“You said that once before.”
Gabriel looked at Serena.
“Get the records.”
Serena nodded.
A private doctor arrived within an hour.
The evidence was already obvious.
Naomi had never cheated.
Adrian had fabricated the rumor because he knew Gabriel's deepest fear.
The test wasn't even necessary.
But Gabriel ordered it anyway.
Not to prove Naomi's loyalty.
To prove Adrian's lie.
The results confirmed Gabriel as the father.
Adrian was arrested.
But he still smiled.
“You think winning one battle changes anything?”
Gabriel looked at him.
“No.”
“What then?”
“I stop playing your game.”
Adrian was taken away.
Serena stood beside Gabriel.
“I owe you an apology.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“You do.”
“I betrayed your trust.”
“Yes.”
“I'll spend the rest of my life earning it back.”
Gabriel nodded.
“I believe you.”
She cried.
Then Naomi approached.
Serena lowered her eyes.
“I don't expect forgiveness.”
Naomi looked at her.
“I don't forgive you yet.”
Serena nodded.
“But I understand why.”
Serena looked up.
That was more mercy than she expected.
Months passed.
Naomi's pregnancy progressed.
Gabriel changed.
He stopped working at midnight.
He began eating dinner at home.
He attended every doctor's appointment.
He learned how to assemble the crib.
Correctly this time.
Naomi watched him.
“You're overcompensating.”
“Yes.”
She laughed.
“I can tell.”
He kissed her forehead.
“I almost lost you.”
“You did.”
He went still.
“I haven't forgotten.”
“I know.”
One evening, Naomi entered his office.
He was staring at his father's journal.
“What are you thinking?”
“How close I came to becoming him.”
She sat beside him.
“You aren't.”
“Not anymore.”
She touched his hand.
“Because you learned something.”
“What?”
“Power isn't the ability to make people obey you.”
He looked at her.
“It's the ability to trust them when you could control them.”
He smiled.
“Did you rehearse that?”
“No.”
“You should write a book.”
“I'll charge you.”
He laughed.
Then the phone rang.
Rafael.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We found your father.”
Gabriel froze.
His mother entered.
“Where?”
“Alaska.”
Gabriel stared.
“He's alive?”
“Yes.”
They traveled the next day.
Gabriel found his father in a small cabin overlooking a frozen lake.
Older.
Weak.
But alive.
Father and son stared at each other.
“I failed you,” his father whispered.
Gabriel shook his head.
“You tried to protect us.”
“I protected you the wrong way.”
Gabriel sat.
“I blamed you.”
“I know.”
“I hated you.”
“I know.”
They both cried.
Naomi watched from the doorway.
Gabriel's father looked at her.
“You saved my son.”
She smiled.
“No.”
“I gave him a reason to save himself.”
His father nodded.
“That is better.”
The family finally had answers.
The Mercer empire was restructured.
Corrupt divisions were dissolved.
Legal businesses were separated from criminal operations.
Gabriel surrendered evidence to federal investigators.
Some people went to prison.
Others disappeared.
The Mercer name survived.
But not in the way it once had.
May you like
Gabriel didn't rule through fear anymore.
He ruled his life through choice.
