Chapter 8 - Gabriel's BetrayalGabriel drove.
For twenty minutes, neither of us spoke.
Then I asked:
“What did Elias mean?”
Gabriel kept his eyes on the road.
“He lies.”
“Everyone does.”
“He especially does.”
“Then why should I trust you?”
He didn't answer.
“That wasn't rhetorical.”
He pulled the car over.
I turned toward him.
“Tell me the truth.”
He stared through the windshield.
“I was the one who forged the first loan.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
“Your signature.”
He looked at me.
“I created the shell company.”
“You.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Adrian ordered me to.”
“And you obeyed?”
“I was seventeen.”
“You're telling me you've been committing fraud since you were seventeen?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He looked down.
“Because Adrian had something on me.”
“What?”
“My daughter.”
Silence.
I stared at him.
“You have a daughter?”
“She was three when I disappeared.”
“Where is she?”
“Dead.”
I didn't know what to say.
“Adrian killed her?”
Gabriel nodded.
Then he handed me his phone.
A photo appeared.
A little girl with a red ribbon.
Then another photograph.
A grave.
“I spent eleven years pretending to be his brother.”
“Why?”
“To destroy him from inside.”
I looked at him.
“You could have told me.”
“I didn't know whether you'd survive.”
“Survive what?”
He turned toward me.
“The wedding.”
My blood ran cold.
“What was Adrian planning?”
“Your murder.”
I froze.
“When?”
“After the honeymoon.”
“Why?”
“Once married, you would activate the trust.”
“But you said I had to be twenty-nine.”
“He needed your legal signature.”
Adrian's plan was to stage my death as an accidental overdose.
Then use the insurance settlement to cover the missing funds.
My entire body went numb.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You let me marry him.”
“I needed access to his records.”
“So I was bait.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
I slapped him.
He didn't move.
“I'm sorry.”
“You're not sorry.”
“I am.”
“You used me.”
“Yes.”
I got out of the car.
“Where is my mother?”
“Inside the house.”
I looked at him.
“And you?”
“I'll stay outside.”
“Why?”
“Because she won't let me in.”
I walked toward the old house.
The front door opened.
A woman stood inside.
Thin.
Gray hair.
Silver moon necklace.
My heart stopped.
“Mom?”
She started crying.
I stepped inside.
She touched my face.
“You look just like him.”
“Like who?”
She didn't answer.
She pulled me into her arms.
For the first time in twenty-two years, I felt the embrace I had remembered.
Warm.
Familiar.
Real.
Or so I thought.
“Why did you leave me?”
“I was trying to save you.”
“From Adrian?”
“From everyone.”
“You knew I was a Mercer.”
She looked down.
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your father swore he'd kill you if I did.”
“My father loved me.”
She closed her eyes.
“He did.”
Then came the sound of a gunshot outside.
My mother flinched.
I turned toward the door.
Gabriel screamed.
Then silence.
My mother grabbed my arm.
“Run.”
“Why?”
“Because he's here.”
“Who?”
She looked toward the hallway.
A man's footsteps approached.
Slow.
Measured.
Familiar.
May you like
My mother whispered:
“Your father.”
