Chapter 3 - The Woman Wearing His Ring
Victor did not confront Audrey.
Not yet.
That surprised even him.
The younger Victor would have crossed the estate immediately.
But anger had taught him expensive lessons.
Truth required patience.
The next morning, Victor secretly sent Audrey's capsules to Dr. Elias Grant, a physician who had treated the Moretti family for twenty years.
“Don't call the house,” Victor instructed.
Three hours later, Elias called his private number.
“These aren't Sylvia's prescribed medication.”
Victor stared through his office window.
“What are they?”
“A strong sedative.”
Victor's jaw tightened.
“Dangerous?”
“For someone in Sylvia's condition, yes. Especially repeatedly.”
Victor closed his eyes.
“Could they explain why she's become weaker?”
“Absolutely.”
Victor thanked him and ended the call.
He now had proof.
But Audrey was still only part of the mystery.
Victor ordered his security chief, Daniel Cross, to investigate Gabriel secretly.
By evening, Daniel returned.
“Gabriel Moretti officially died thirty-eight years ago.”
“Officially?”
“There was a boating accident. No body recovered.”
Victor gave a humorless smile.
“Convenient.”
Daniel placed documents on the desk.
“Someone matching Gabriel's age and description has lived under the name Gabriel Mercer in Montreal, London, Lisbon, and recently New York.”
“Why return now?”
“We don't know.”
Victor did.
Sylvia's illness.
Something had brought Gabriel home when Sylvia became vulnerable.
That evening, Audrey entered Victor's study.
She stopped when she saw him.
For one beautiful second, genuine panic crossed her face.
Then the mask returned.
“Victor!”
She rushed toward him.
“You're home early.”
“Problem resolved.”
She kissed his cheek.
Victor smelled her perfume.
The same perfume he had smelled every night for two years.
How strange, he thought, that betrayal could smell familiar.
“How's Mother?”
Audrey smiled.
“Much better today.”
Victor almost admired the performance.
Almost.
“She ate?”
“A little.”
“Medication?”
“Right on schedule.”
Victor looked directly into her eyes.
“Good.”
Audrey smiled.
Then she noticed the brass key on his desk.
Her expression changed.
Barely.
But Victor saw it.
“What's that?”
“Old key.”
“To what?”
“No idea.”
Victor picked it up.
“Found it in a drawer.”
Audrey relaxed.
But only slightly.
That night Victor moved Sylvia into another bedroom under the excuse that maintenance needed access to her original room.
Audrey protested.
Victor overruled her.
He also quietly reinstated professional nurses.
At 2:00 a.m., Victor went to see his mother.
Sylvia was awake.
He sat beside her.
For a long time neither spoke.
Then Victor placed Gabriel's photograph on the blanket.
Sylvia stared at it.
Her face collapsed.
“Mother.”
Tears appeared immediately.
“Is Gabriel my father?”
Sylvia squeezed her eyes shut.
Victor waited.
Eventually she nodded.
The answer hurt more than he expected.
Antonio had raised him.
Taught him to ride a bicycle.
Taken him fishing.
Held him when he broke his arm at nine.
Blood couldn't erase those memories.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Sylvia struggled.
“Protect…”
“Protect me from Gabriel?”
She nodded.
Victor leaned closer.
“Why?”
Sylvia's trembling fingers moved toward a notebook.
Victor gave her a pen.
Slowly, painfully, she wrote three words.
HE WANTED EMPIRE.
Victor stared.
Then Sylvia wrote again.
ANTONIO SAVED US.
Victor understood.
Antonio knew.
He had known Victor wasn't biologically his.
And he raised him anyway.
A strange pressure formed behind Victor's eyes.
He had spent his life wondering whether he had lived up to Antonio Moretti.
Now he understood Antonio had chosen him.
That meant more than blood ever could.
Sylvia grabbed his hand.
She wrote again.
AUDREY KNOWS.
“I know.”
Sylvia's eyes widened.
Victor continued.
“I know about the medication too.”
His mother's face filled with shame.
“No.”
Victor squeezed her hand.
“You have nothing to be ashamed of.”
Sylvia pointed urgently toward the notebook.
AUDREY NOT ALONE.
Victor frowned.
“Gabriel?”
Sylvia shook her head.
She wrote another name.
Victor read it.
And everything inside him went still.
DANIEL.
His security chief.
The man Victor had just asked to investigate Gabriel.
The man who had stood behind him in the surveillance room.
The man who had protected Victor for eleven years.
Victor looked toward the bedroom door.
It was open.
The hallway beyond it was empty.
Then his phone vibrated.
A message from Daniel.
Found something on Gabriel. Meet me downstairs. Come alone.
Victor stared at the screen.
His mother tightened her grip around his hand.
And for the first time, Victor understood exactly why Marta's warnings had never reached him.
May you like
Someone inside his own security team had been making sure they didn't.
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