Chapter 6 - My Father Was Alive—But He Wasn't the Man I Remembered
Vincent pointed his weapon at Gabriel.
Adrian raised his hands.
“Don't.”
Vincent looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because Gabriel isn't the one you should be aiming at.”
Gabriel smiled.
“Still protecting family, Adrian?”
Vincent's voice was cold.
“You have five seconds.”
Adrian stepped between them.
“Listen to me.”
He explained the truth.
Gabriel had been a traitor.
But twelve years ago, Adrian had discovered that Gabriel was not the mastermind.
He was being blackmailed.
The true architect was someone even more powerful.
Someone who had access to police, courts, hospitals, schools, and government records.
The person who had orchestrated everything was Judge Eleanor Voss.
She had used the Moretti organization to build influence.
When Adrian discovered her involvement, she ordered him killed.
He survived.
Gabriel saved him.
Then the two brothers disappeared.
But Voss never stopped searching.
The gray sedan was one of many surveillance methods.
The stalking was meant to locate me.
Because Adrian had hidden the final ledger inside my birth records.
The metal key opened a safe deposit box.
Inside was not money.
It was a memory card.
On it were fifteen years of evidence.
Payments.
Recordings.
Photographs.
Names.
Judge Voss had bought police protection.
She had arranged false arrests.
She had destroyed witnesses.
And she had ordered the murder of anyone who threatened her network.
But there was something else.
A video of the night Adrian disappeared.
In the recording, Voss spoke directly to him.
“You have one choice.”
Adrian had refused.
She kidnapped me before I was born.
Or rather, she had tried.
My mother escaped.
Adrian disappeared to protect us.
Gabriel infiltrated her network.
For fifteen years, they had waited.
Now the ledger was complete.
Vincent asked:
“Why didn't you come back?”
Adrian looked at my mother.
“Because every time I tried, someone near you was compromised.”
“Then why now?”
“Because Gabriel saw the gray sedan.”
Gabriel finally spoke.
“I knew they were close.”
Vincent lowered his weapon.
“Then why stalk Leora?”
Gabriel stared at me.
“I wasn't stalking her.”
“You sent the sedan.”
“I sent it to watch her.”
Vincent's jaw tightened.
“You frightened her.”
“I needed to know who was watching her.”
“You became what she feared.”
Gabriel looked ashamed.
“I know.”
For the first time, I saw the man from the photographs.
Not a monster.
Just someone who had made terrible choices.
We returned to the estate.
My father sat beside me.
He told me about the day I was born.
“How did you know my name?”
“Your mother chose it.”
“Why did you leave?”
“To keep you alive.”
I asked him the question I had waited years to ask.
“Did you ever miss me?”
His eyes filled with tears.
“Every day.”
He hugged me.
It was the first time I had ever been held by my father.
My mother stood nearby crying.
Vincent watched from the doorway.
That night, our family was together for the first time.
But the danger wasn't over.
Judge Voss knew the ledger had resurfaced.
And she made one final move.
She kidnapped my mother.
A message arrived before midnight.
Bring the ledger.
Come to the courthouse.
Come alone.
Or Elena dies.
Vincent looked at me.
“This ends tonight.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
He stared.
“I want Mom back.”
“You're staying here.”
“No.”
He crouched.
“Leora.”
“I know what the key opens.”
Vincent stopped.
I pointed to the memory card.
“There are copies.”
My father looked at me.
My mother had taught me something seven years ago.
Always keep a copy of important documents.
She had never known how important that lesson would become.
I handed Vincent a second memory card.
The evidence was already duplicated.
May you like
And suddenly, the most feared man in the city smiled.
“Then we're ready.”
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