Chapter 10 - The Dead ManNobody moved.
Gabriel's father's name had been Antonio Varrick.
Declared dead eighteen years ago.
Buried in a marble mausoleum.
Millions spent on flowers.
Hundreds attended his funeral.
And yet he stood alive.
“That's impossible,” Gabriel said.
Antonio smiled.
“Death is paperwork.”
Gabriel raised his gun.
Antonio didn't flinch.
“You won't shoot.”
“Try me.”
“You need me.”
“I need Lily alive.”
“And I know who ordered Elena's death.”
Gabriel's finger tightened.
Antonio continued.
“Your mother.”
Gabriel's face changed.
“My mother died before Elena.”
“Exactly.”
Claire looked at him.
“This is insane.”
Antonio laughed.
“No. Insanity is believing the family you inherited was ever honest.”
He explained.
The Varrick empire had been built on trafficking.
Children were used as leverage in negotiations.
Lily's mother discovered it.
She tried to expose them.
Antonio ordered her stopped.
Evelyn was paid to take Lily.
But Elena had anticipated everything.
She encoded evidence in the lullaby.
A song Lily heard dozens of times.
And the final verse contained the name of the person who ordered the operation.
Except Lily had forgotten the final verse.
Until Claire arrived.
Antonio stepped forward.
“Sing it.”
Claire refused.
He smiled.
“Then your mother dies.”
A screen above them flickered on.
Margaret appeared.
Alive.
Bruised.
Terrified.
Claire whispered:
“Mom.”
Antonio nodded.
“Sing.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Then she began.
“Hush now, little sparrow…”
Lily's voice joined from the hallway.
Gabriel turned.
His security team had failed.
Lily was there.
She walked toward Claire.
Antonio smiled.
“Good.”
The song continued.
“Red door. Silver moon…”
Lily stopped.
Her eyes fixed on Antonio.
Then she said:
“You.”
Antonio's smile vanished.
Lily pointed at him.
“You were crying.”
Gabriel frowned.
“Crying?”
Lily nodded.
“You told Mommy you were sorry.”
Antonio's face turned pale.
Lily continued.
“Then you told the woman with pearls to take me away.”
Evelyn stared.
Claire understood.
The lullaby had not been a list of clues.
It was Lily's memory of the night Elena died.
The woman who sold Lily was Evelyn.
But the man who ordered it was Antonio.
And the person who had been pretending to be dead for eighteen years had just been exposed by a four-year-old who finally remembered his face.
Antonio reached for his gun.
Gabriel fired first.
The bullet struck his shoulder.
Antonio fell.
May you like
Evelyn screamed.
Then the building exploded.
