Chapter 6 - The old mill had been abandoned for seventeen years.It stood outside the city, surrounded by dead fields and broken fencing.
Rain fell steadily as Dominic's convoy approached.
I sat in the back seat between Luca and Nico.
“No heroics,” Dominic said through the earpiece.
I looked at the dark building.
“I’m not here to be a hero.”
“Then what are you here to be?”
I looked at the photograph of Adrian.
“His judge.”
Matteo smirked.
“That's my sister.”
We stopped fifty meters away.
The building was dark.
Too dark.
Nico checked thermal scans.
“One person.”
“Adrian?”
“Likely.”
“Any movement?”
“None.”
Dominic raised his hand.
The team moved.
I followed.
Inside, the mill smelled like rust and wet concrete.
A single light hung from the ceiling.
Adrian was tied to a chair beneath it.
His face was bruised.
His shirt was torn.
When he saw me, relief crossed his face.
“Elena.”
I stood several feet away.
“Who did this?”
“I don't know.”
“You know more than you're saying.”
“I swear.”
I looked at his wrists.
Then at his eyes.
Three weeks of betrayal stood between us.
“I found the accounts.”
His expression changed.
“What accounts?”
“The fourteen million.”
He looked down.
“I didn't take it.”
“Then who did?”
“I don't know.”
I stepped closer.
“You married me because of the trust.”
He looked at me.
“No.”
I slapped him.
The sound echoed through the building.
“I know everything.”
His eyes filled with something that looked like shame.
“I thought I did.”
“What does that mean?”
“I was told your trust existed.”
“By whom?”
He hesitated.
“Mother.”
I knew it.
Margaret.
“She told you to marry me?”
“Yes.”
“For the money?”
“For access.”
“To what?”
He looked at me.
“Your father's files.”
My breathing stopped.
“What files?”
“The ones hidden in your family estate.”
I stared.
“Where?”
“I never found them.”
“You searched?”
“Yes.”
“Inside our home?”
“I was told they were beneath the east foundation.”
I closed my eyes.
So many nights Adrian had asked about renovations.
So many times he had asked what my father left behind.
I thought it was curiosity.
It was surveillance.
“Did Vanessa help you?”
He looked away.
“Yes.”
“Was the affair real?”
Silence.
Then he whispered,
“Yes.”
I nodded slowly.
“That is the first honest thing you've said.”
He swallowed.
“She wasn't only my mistress.”
“What was she?”
“My handler.”
The word landed hard.
“Your what?”
“She worked for my mother.”
I stared.
Adrian continued.
“Vanessa was supposed to make you trust her. Then she would help convince everyone you were unstable.”
“For the divorce.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“For your death.”
The mill seemed to become colder.
“Why?”
“Because the trust had a clause.”
“What clause?”
“If you died before changing the beneficiary, the control passed to the person your husband named.”
“Who?”
“Victor Cole.”
I frowned.
“Victor is dead.”
Adrian shook his head.
“That clause was changed six months ago.”
“By whom?”
“Your lawyer.”
I stared.
“I don't have a lawyer who would do that.”
“You did.”
He pulled a folded document from his pocket.
“Before they took me, I stole this.”
Luca grabbed it.
He unfolded the page.
Gabriel read it over his shoulder.
His expression changed.
“This signature is forged.”
“Whose?”
“Yours.”
I felt sick.
The document stated that control of the Moretti family trust would transfer to Adrian Cole.
Effective immediately.
I whispered,
“I never signed that.”
“I know.”
“Then who did?”
Adrian looked at me.
“We have to leave.”
“Why?”
“Because they're here.”
A sharp metallic sound came from outside.
Nico looked up.
“Vehicles.”
“How many?”
He checked.
“Six.”
Dominic's voice came through the earpiece.
“Everyone out. Now.”
Gunfire erupted.
The windows shattered.
I ducked.
Dominic and Matteo returned fire.
Luca pulled me behind a concrete pillar.
Adrian screamed,
“Untie me!”
Nico rushed to him.
Then a bullet struck the chair.
Adrian fell sideways.
The attackers moved fast.
Too fast.
Professional.
I crawled toward the side exit.
A man appeared through the smoke.
He wore a black mask.
I couldn't see his face.
But I recognized the voice.
“Miss Moretti.”
I froze.
It was the same voice from the security speakers.
Samuel.
“No,” I whispered.
The masked man lifted a gun.
Then Dominic stepped between us.
The shot rang out.
Dominic staggered.
“Dominic!”
He fell to one knee.
Everything inside me stopped.
The attacker pulled back.
Then the entire mill exploded into darkness.
When the emergency lights returned, the masked men were gone.
So was Adrian.
I ran toward Dominic.
Blood stained his sleeve.
“It’s just the shoulder,” he said.
I barely heard him.
Nico looked around.
“Adrian's gone.”
Luca swore.
Then I saw something on the concrete floor.
A black business card.
Embossed in silver.
The name printed on it was simple.
EVELYN VOSS
My stomach dropped.
Samuel had said he was the enemy.
May you like
But now someone else was pulling the strings.
And somehow, she had my father's initials hidden inside her name.
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