Chapter 8 - The Enemy Stole the Research, but He Forgot Who the Real Family WasWe traced Bell to an old research facility in New Jersey.
It had once belonged to the Moretti family.
Now it was abandoned.
We entered at night.
The place smelled like chemicals and dust.
Inside were dozens of locked rooms.
Medical equipment.
Computer servers.
Files.
Photographs.
Children.
I wanted to destroy everything.
Then Elena stopped.
“Wait.”
She touched the wall.
A panel.
Hidden.
“How did you know?”
“My father.”
Salvatore appeared behind her.
“He taught you.”
“I never met him.”
“You knew him through me.”
She stared.
He touched her shoulder.
“I am sorry.”
She looked away.
We opened the panel.
Inside was the master research file.
The original Lumen protocol.
Bell had stolen a copy.
But the original remained.
Sofia read it.
“This can save Daniel.”
“How?”
She explained.
A genetic therapy could correct the inherited defect.
But it required precise sequencing.
One error could kill him.
I looked at Elena.
“Can you help?”
She nodded.
“My sister understood the treatment.”
“Then we use her notes.”
We searched.
Rosa's notes were there.
She had left them behind.
That was why Bell had killed her.
I looked at the pages.
She had written one sentence over and over.
Do not trust the men who call children assets.
I closed my eyes.
She had been trying to tell the world.
Now we would finish it.
Then the lights turned on.
Bell appeared on the monitors.
“You found it.”
I stared.
“Where are you?”
“Everywhere.”
He smiled.
“You still think this is about your son.”
“What do you want?”
“You.”
“Why?”
“Because if I control you, I control the empire.”
“You don't need it.”
“That's where you're wrong.”
He turned the screen.
A list of names.
Every Moretti employee.
Every asset.
Every account.
“All of them answer to me now.”
“You're bluffing.”
“Call your CFO.”
I called.
No answer.
Another number.
Nothing.
The empire was already compromised.
Bell had taken control.
Then he said:
“Bring Elena.”
“No.”
“Then Daniel dies.”
The screen went dark.
I looked at Elena.
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I'll go.”
“Absolutely not.”
“They have me.”
“We'll find another way.”
She looked at me.
“Gabriel.”
“Yes?”
“You built your empire by making decisions.”
“Yes.”
“Now make one.”
I stared.
“What decision?”
“Choose the person.”
I understood.
She wasn't asking me to save the company.
She was asking me to save her.
And for the first time in my life, I knew what I wanted.
Her.
Not the empire.
Not the money.
Her.
I stepped closer.
“You're not going anywhere alone.”
She smiled faintly.
“I knew you'd say that.”
We prepared the rescue.
Sofia stayed with Daniel.
Salvatore stayed with the research.
Vincent assembled the team.
We entered Bell's headquarters.
Not as an army.
As a family.
We found him in the executive suite.
He stood beside a window.
He smiled.
“Gabriel.”
I walked forward.
“You've lost.”
He laughed.
“You came for the girl.”
“Yes.”
“And the boy.”
“Yes.”
“You don't care about the empire anymore.”
“No.”
His face changed.
“That makes you dangerous.”
“Good.”
Then gunfire erupted.
The battle began.
We fought through the building.
Bell escaped with Elena.
I chased.
We reached the roof.
A helicopter waited.
Elena was inside.
Bell smiled.
“Choose.”
“Her.”
He expected the empire.
He expected the money.
He expected me to hesitate.
I didn't.
“Take her.”
I shot the helicopter's fuel line.
It exploded.
Bell jumped clear.
Elena fell.
I grabbed her hand.
For one terrifying second, she hung over the roof.
“Don't let go.”
“I won't.”
“You promise?”
“Yes.”
I pulled her up.
We collapsed together.
She laughed through tears.
“You're insane.”
“I know.”
Bell escaped.
May you like
But Elena was safe.
And that mattered more than anything.
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