Chapter 5 - The Father Who Returned From the Dead
Victor entered the chapel alone.
At least Gabriel believed he did.
Michael remained outside with two trusted men.
Victor walked down the aisle.
Candles burned near the altar.
Gabriel stood beside Sylvia's wheelchair.
She appeared frightened but unharmed.
Victor stopped.
“Move away from her.”
Gabriel lifted both hands.
“I didn't hurt her.”
“You removed her from her room.”
“Because Daniel was going to.”
Victor stared at him.
Gabriel continued.
“You're fighting the wrong enemy.”
“I have several.”
A sad smile touched Gabriel's face.
“You sound like Antonio.”
Victor's eyes hardened.
“Don't say his name like you knew him.”
“He was my brother.”
“He was my father.”
Gabriel flinched.
The words landed harder than Victor expected.
“Biologically—”
“I don't care.”
Silence filled the chapel.
Victor approached Sylvia.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded.
Gabriel looked toward the stained-glass windows.
“I loved your mother.”
Sylvia closed her eyes.
Gabriel continued.
“Antonio knew.”
Victor looked at Sylvia.
“He knew before I was born?”
She nodded.
Gabriel laughed bitterly.
“He knew everything. And he married her anyway.”
“Why?”
“Because I was dangerous.”
Victor studied him.
Gabriel did not deny it.
“I wanted the Moretti organization. Antonio wanted a family.”
“So he won.”
“Yes.”
Gabriel looked at Victor.
“He won.”
For the first time, Victor heard regret rather than anger.
Gabriel removed the flash drive.
“This contains copies of the original family trust documents.”
“What do they say?”
“That Antonio legally adopted you before your first birthday.”
Victor blinked.
“Adopted?”
“Quietly. Completely. Legally.”
Victor stared.
“So Audrey's claim that I could lose everything—”
“Mostly nonsense.”
Victor almost laughed.
All that betrayal built around a lie.
Gabriel continued.
“But there's another document.”
He handed Victor the drive.
“A letter from Antonio.”
“To me?”
Gabriel nodded.
Victor placed the drive in his pocket.
“Why return?”
Gabriel looked at Sylvia.
“Because I learned she was sick.”
“That isn't enough.”
“No.”
Gabriel breathed deeply.
“I wanted to see you.”
“Why?”
“To know what kind of man my son became.”
Victor's expression hardened.
“I'm not your son.”
Pain flickered across Gabriel's face.
“Biologically—”
“Biology gave me your eyes. Antonio gave me everything else.”
Gabriel looked away.
Sylvia began crying.
Victor knelt beside her.
Then the chapel doors opened.
Audrey entered.
Her elegant appearance was gone.
Hair loose.
Face pale.
“Marta disappeared,” she said.
Victor stood.
Audrey stopped when she saw him.
She knew.
“How much?” she whispered.
“Everything.”
Audrey's eyes filled.
“Victor—”
“You drugged my mother.”
“I didn't know Daniel increased the dose.”
“But you gave it to her.”
Audrey couldn't answer.
“You withheld water.”
She looked down.
“You frightened a woman who couldn't defend herself.”
“I was angry.”
“At what?”
“At her!”
Audrey's composure shattered.
“She never wanted me here. She looked at me like I was temporary.”
“So you proved her right.”
Audrey began crying.
“I loved you.”
Victor's face remained still.
“No. You loved what being beside me gave you.”
Audrey shook her head.
“That's not true.”
“Then why were you helping Gabriel?”
Gabriel interrupted.
“She wasn't helping me.”
Victor looked at him.
“What?”
“I gave Daniel the documents because I wanted recognition. Daniel brought Audrey into it.”
Audrey nodded.
“He told me Victor's inheritance could collapse. He said if I helped keep Sylvia confused until after the wedding, I'd be protected.”
Victor stared at her.
“And that sounded acceptable?”
Audrey had no answer.
Then a voice came from the doorway.
“It was acceptable until all of you became sentimental.”
Daniel.
Michael stood behind him.
Victor immediately noticed something was wrong.
Michael's expression was furious.
Daniel held Marta by the arm.
She looked terrified.
Victor's entire demeanor changed.
“Let her go.”
Daniel smiled.
“Now we negotiate.”
But Marta suddenly looked at Victor.
And despite her fear, she smiled.
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
Marta answered:
“You talk too much.”
Michael moved instantly.
Within seconds, Marta was pulled safely away and Daniel was restrained by Victor's security team.
No dramatic battle.
No heroic gunfire.
Just one arrogant man discovering he had miscalculated.
Victor approached Daniel.
“You lost.”
Daniel glared at him.
“You still don't understand.”
“Understand what?”
Daniel smiled.
“This wasn't about your inheritance.”
Victor paused.
Daniel looked toward Sylvia.
“It was about the account Antonio hid.”
Gabriel's face changed.
“What account?”
Daniel laughed.
“Ask Sylvia.”
Victor turned toward his mother.
Sylvia's expression told him everything.
There was one final secret.
May you like
And she had been protecting it for forty years.
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