Chapter 10 - The Heir No One Knew
Damian read the name again.
Gabriel Cruz.
He had never heard it before. Not from his father, not from Victor, not from the lawyers who had administered the family estate.
“Explain,” he said.
Elena sat down slowly.
“Your father had an affair before he married your mother. A woman named Lydia gave birth to a boy. Your grandfather discovered the child and paid Lydia to disappear.”
“My father never mentioned this.”
“He was ashamed. Later, he tried to find them. He located Lydia, but she refused to see him. She had married another man and built a new life.”
Elena paused.
“Then Lydia died. The boy was placed in foster care. Your father found him when he was twelve and arranged for him to be adopted by a family overseas.”
Damian frowned.
“Why would Victor care?”
“Because the boy was legally entitled to part of the family inheritance. Your father had amended the trust before he died. The original documents named Gabriel as a beneficiary.”
Damian stood.
“And Victor intended to remove every other heir.”
Elena nodded.
“First me. Then Sophia. Then Gabriel.”
Rosa looked between them.
“Where is he now?”
“We don't know,” Elena answered. “I only know that Victor spent years trying to locate him.”
Damian turned toward Mateo, who had entered the room without knocking.
“Find Gabriel Cruz.”
Mateo nodded.
“What do we know about Victor’s location?”
“Nothing reliable. We've identified three safehouses, but all were abandoned before our teams arrived. Someone is warning him.”
Damian’s jaw tightened.
“Then someone close to me is helping him.”
Mateo hesitated.
“There is one other thing. The clinic's security records show Isabel left the building twenty minutes before the exchange. She wasn't being held there.”
Rosa closed her eyes.
Her sister had helped Victor.
After six years of wondering whether Isabel was alive, Rosa had finally seen her face. She had hoped that whatever had separated them could still be repaired.
Now she wondered whether she had ever truly known her.
Two days later, Damian returned to the mansion.
He found Sophia in the garden, sitting beneath an oak tree with Bruno beside her. The dog had scarcely left the child’s side since the night of the exchange.
She was drawing a picture.
This time, there were four figures: Rosa, Elena, Damian, and herself.
A fifth figure stood at the edge of the paper.
A tall man with white hair.
“Who is that?” Damian asked.
Sophia shrugged.
“The man who visits my dreams.”
Elena, standing behind them, went pale.
“What does he say?”
Sophia thought for a moment.
“He says the house has a secret room.”
Damian stared at her.
“The mansion?”
Sophia nodded.
“And he says I mustn't let Uncle Victor find the key.”
Elena sat beside her.
“Sweetheart, have you ever seen Uncle Victor in your dreams?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know he's looking for a key?”
Sophia pointed toward the drawing.
“Because the man said Victor already has one.”
Damian took the picture.
His father had died when he was thirty, and his grandfather had been gone for almost two decades. The description of the white-haired man could have referred to either of them.
But the secret room was real.
The mansion had been built in the nineteenth century, long before the Cruz family acquired it. During renovations, workers had discovered sealed spaces beneath the eastern wing. Most were filled with old wine bottles and broken furniture.
One chamber had been deliberately bricked shut.
Damian had ordered it left untouched.
Not because of any known secret, but because his father had insisted no one should enter it.
He had always assumed it contained something dangerous.
Now he wondered what his father had been trying to hide.
That evening, Damian gathered Mateo and the most trusted members of his security team.
“We're opening the eastern chamber.”
Mateo looked surprised.
“The one your father sealed?”
“Yes.”
“What if it's trapped?”
“Then we find out.”
Elena stepped into the room.
“I'm coming.”
“No.”
“You have spent six years making decisions for me because you believed I was dead. I won't let you start again now.”
Damian's expression hardened.
“Victor is still out there.”
“And this secret may explain why he destroyed our lives.”
She held his gaze.
“If the chamber has anything to do with our family, I have a right to see it.”
Damian finally nodded.
They entered the eastern wing shortly before midnight.
The chamber's brick wall was opened with power tools, revealing a narrow stone staircase descending beneath the mansion. At the bottom stood an iron door, sealed with a lock bearing the Cruz family crest.
Mateo cut through it.
Inside was a room lined with wooden shelves. Dust covered ledgers, old photographs, and a row of metal boxes.
Damian opened the nearest box.
It contained his father's correspondence.
The second contained documents related to Gabriel’s adoption.
The third held a collection of photographs depicting Victor with men from three rival organizations.
And the final box contained a bloodstained shirt.
Damian recognized it.
It had belonged to his father.
Beneath the shirt lay a letter written in a shaky hand.
Damian, if you are reading this, Victor has found the records. I made a terrible mistake believing blood would make my sons loyal to each other. One of them will try to destroy the family. The other will be asked to choose between his inheritance and his conscience.
The letter ended with a date.
The day before his father died.
Damian read it slowly.
“Someone knew this was coming,” he whispered.
Elena looked through the photographs.
Then she stopped at one showing a young man standing outside the mansion.
The man had dark hair, a narrow face, and Damian’s unmistakable eyes.
On the back was written:
GABRIEL CRUZ. AGE 19. DO NOT TELL VICTOR.
Suddenly, a metallic click sounded behind them.
The iron door slammed shut.
Lights flickered overhead.
May you like
And from the darkness beyond the shelves came Victor’s voice.
“I'm glad you finally found the room.”
