Chapter 8 - Mark’s Last Secret
Mark was taken to a secure hospital.
Eliza refused to leave his room.
Dominic waited outside.
For hours, Mark slept.
When he finally woke, Eliza was sitting beside him.
“You look terrible,” she said.
“So do you.”
“I’m pregnant. I’m allowed.”
Mark laughed once, then winced.
His ribs were bruised.
Nothing broken.
Eliza’s anger returned.
“You lied to me for two years.”
“Yes.”
“You investigated me.”
“Yes.”
“You followed my work.”
“Yes.”
“You took me to that clinic.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know what they were doing?”
“No.”
She studied him.
For once, she believed him.
Mark told her everything.
He had been recruited years earlier by a private intelligence contractor that secretly worked for Crown.
His assignment was simple.
Get close to Eliza Reynolds.
Determine whether she knew about her inheritance.
Track her professional activities.
Report anyone who approached her about the Castellano trust.
Then something unplanned happened.
He loved her.
“I tried quitting,” he said.
“What happened?”
“They threatened you.”
“And you stayed.”
“Yes.”
“You should have told me.”
“I know.”
“You should have trusted me.”
“I know.”
She wiped tears angrily.
“I hate that you keep agreeing.”
“I don’t have a defense.”
That honesty hurt more than excuses would have.
Mark explained that months earlier, he discovered Victoria’s plan to manipulate Eliza’s inheritance.
The embryo transfer was intended to create an uncontestable heir carrying both Castellano bloodlines.
It would unite legal claims that had been divided for decades.
“But why?” Eliza asked. “Why would Victoria want an heir she couldn’t control?”
“Because she intended to control the guardian.”
“Who?”
Mark looked at her.
“Me.”
Eliza stared.
Victoria planned to expose Eliza’s lineage after her thirtieth birthday.
Then eliminate her.
Mark, as the presumed father and surviving partner, would be positioned to manage the child’s inherited assets.
“And you agreed?”
“No.”
Mark’s eyes filled with shame.
“I pretended to.”
Eliza stood.
“I need air.”
“Eliza.”
She stopped.
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
“You also took away my ability to know what danger I was in.”
“I know.”
“I don’t know whether I can ever forgive you.”
“I know.”
She left.
Dominic was waiting in the corridor.
He said nothing.
Eliza leaned against the wall.
“Say something.”
“What?”
“Anything.”
“He loves you.”
She laughed bitterly.
“That helps.”
“You asked.”
“Do you think I’m stupid if I still love him?”
Dominic’s expression softened.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because feelings don’t become false just because facts become ugly.”
She looked at him.
“Since when are you wise?”
“Since approximately Tuesday.”
She laughed despite herself.
Then Mark called them back in.
He had one final secret.
“The embryo was modified.”
Dr. Foster stepped forward.
“What do you mean?”
“Crown used gene screening.”
“For disease?”
“No.”
Mark swallowed.
“They were testing compatibility.”
“With what?”
“Bone marrow.”
Silence.
Dominic frowned.
“For whom?”
Mark looked directly at him.
“Victoria.”
Dominic’s face went blank.
“She’s sick?”
“Leukemia.”
The pregnancy had not merely been about inheritance.
Victoria needed a genetically compatible descendant.
A baby.
A potential donor.
Eliza’s hand went instinctively to her stomach.
“No.”
“She planned to use cord blood first,” Mark said. “Possibly marrow later.”
“No.”
Dominic’s expression became murderous.
“She engineered a child to save herself.”
“Yes.”
Eliza began shaking.
Mark reached for her.
She stepped back.
Not because she blamed him.
Because she needed control over something.
Anything.
Dominic ordered Luca to locate Victoria.
But Victoria was ahead of them.
That evening, every major media outlet received leaked documents.
Headlines exploded.
CASTELLANO CRIME FAMILY LINKED TO FINANCIAL FRAUD
SECRET HEIRESS IDENTIFIED
PREGNANT MANHATTAN ANALYST AT CENTER OF BILLION-DOLLAR TRUST DISPUTE
Eliza’s photograph appeared everywhere.
Her office photo.
Her apartment.
Even the ultrasound.
Someone leaked the ultrasound.
Social media erupted.
Millions of strangers debated whether she was a victim, conspirator, mistress, heiress, criminal, or liar.
By midnight, people stood outside the hospital.
Phones raised.
Livestreaming.
Dominic entered Eliza’s room carrying a tablet.
“Don’t read it.”
“I already did.”
“Then stop.”
“They’re calling my baby the Mafia Heir.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“They don’t know anything.”
“They don’t care.”
Mark looked guilty.
“This is Victoria.”
“Yes,” Dominic said. “She’s flushing us out.”
Then Luca entered.
“We have a bigger problem.”
“What?”
“Federal agents are downstairs.”
Dominic became still.
“For me?”
“For all of us.”
A warrant named Dominic Castellano.
Mark Tanner.
Eliza Reynolds.
And Gabriel Castellano.
Charges included conspiracy, financial crimes, and obstruction.
Eliza stared.
“I didn’t do anything.”
“They don’t know that yet,” Luca said.
Dominic looked toward Mark.
“They’re using Crown’s records against us.”
Mark nodded.
“Which means the original drive is our only defense.”
Luca’s face tightened.
“The drive is gone.”
Everyone turned.
“What?” Dominic asked.
“It disappeared from the secure vault twenty minutes ago.”
Only six people had access.
Dominic.
Luca.
Teresa.
Two security officers.
And Eliza.
Dominic looked at Luca.
“Who entered?”
Luca’s face turned pale.
“Teresa.”
Dominic whispered:
“No.”
The woman who had run his house for twenty-two years had taken the drive.
And security footage showed her leaving with someone.
A man who had been legally dead for eight years.
May you like
Gabriel Castellano.
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