Chapter 6 - The Choice That Was Never Really a Choice
"Dante!"
Elena ran forward.
Raymond caught her arm.
She fought him.
"Let me go!"
Dante lifted his head.
"Elena."
His voice was weak but controlled.
"I'm fine."
"You are bleeding."
"I've had worse."
Raymond smiled.
"Touching."
Sofia stood frozen.
"How?"
Raymond looked amused.
"Your brother isn't the only person who knows how to set a trap."
Dante and Marco had entered through construction access exactly as planned.
Raymond had anticipated it.
Marco had escaped.
Dante had not.
Now Raymond placed documents on a table.
"Sign."
Elena looked down.
Transfer agreements.
Her Whitaker shares.
Everything.
"No."
Raymond sighed.
He placed his gun against Dante's head.
"Sign."
Elena's hand shook.
Dante looked at her.
"Don't."
"I can't let him kill you."
"He'll kill us anyway."
Raymond smiled.
"Probably."
Elena stared at Dante.
For three years she had sacrificed happiness to keep him alive.
Now she was standing in the same nightmare again.
Choose Dante.
Or choose herself.
Except this time she understood something.
Love wasn't supposed to mean deciding alone.
She looked into Dante's eyes.
And saw it.
Trust.
Something they had denied themselves for three years.
Elena picked up the pen.
Raymond smiled.
Then she threw it through the unfinished window opening.
Everyone stared.
It disappeared forty stories into the rain.
"No."
Raymond's expression changed.
Elena continued.
"I spent three years living in fear because of you."
She stepped closer.
"I'm done."
Raymond raised his gun.
A shot exploded.
Elena screamed.
But Raymond's weapon fell from his hand.
Blood appeared across his wrist.
Marco stood at the far stairwell.
"Sorry I'm late."
Chaos erupted.
Sofia fired.
Dante threw himself sideways with the chair.
Elena dropped behind concrete barriers.
Gunfire filled the unfinished floor.
Marco moved toward Dante.
Sofia covered him.
Raymond disappeared behind a support column.
Elena crawled toward Dante.
She pulled at the ropes.
"Dante."
"Knife in my boot."
She found it.
Cut him loose.
His hands immediately went to her face.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
He kissed her forehead.
Then gunfire struck nearby.
"Romance later."
"Agreed."
They moved.
Raymond reached the service stairs.
Sofia saw him.
"He's running!"
Dante followed.
Elena grabbed his arm.
"Don't."
"He'll come back."
"Then we end it together."
Dante looked at her.
Then nodded.
Together.
They followed.
The stairwell led to the roof.
Rain exploded against them.
Raymond stood near the edge.
His injured hand hung uselessly.
In the other was a gun.
He aimed at Elena.
Dante stepped in front of her.
Raymond laughed.
"Still predictable."
Sofia approached from behind.
"Put it down."
Raymond turned slightly.
"All of you think this ends with me?"
Dante stared.
"It does."
"No."
Raymond smiled.
"Charles made deals you still don't understand."
Elena stepped beside Dante.
"My father confessed."
"Not everything."
"What does that mean?"
Raymond laughed.
"He never told you why your marriage was proposed specifically to Dante."
Elena frowned.
"Because of the alliance."
"No."
Dante's eyes narrowed.
Raymond continued.
"Because your grandfather's will contains a clause."
Elena's heart began pounding.
"What clause?"
"Your shares become permanently independent from Whitaker control only after five years of marriage."
Elena stared.
They had been married three.
Raymond smiled.
"If you divorce before five years, the voting rights return temporarily to Charles."
Dante understood.
"The divorce papers."
"Exactly."
Raymond had manipulated Dante into filing.
Once the divorce finalized, Charles would regain control.
And Raymond planned to force Charles to transfer everything.
Elena looked at Dante.
The destroyed papers suddenly meant more than either had known.
Raymond raised his weapon.
"But none of that matters anymore."
Lightning flashed.
Then Charles's voice came from the roof entrance.
"Actually, it does."
Everyone turned.
Charles stood there.
Evelyn beside him.
Police tactical teams appeared behind them.
Raymond froze.
Charles lifted his phone.
"The files were delivered."
Sirens filled the streets below.
Raymond looked around.
No escape.
His empire had collapsed.
For one terrible second, Dante thought Raymond might shoot anyway.
Instead, Raymond slowly lowered his gun.
Officers rushed him.
Handcuffs clicked.
Elena's knees weakened.
Dante caught her.
"It's over."
She looked at him.
"Is it?"
He understood.
Raymond was finished.
But three years of damage remained.
Their marriage wasn't magically repaired.
Trust didn't erase pain.
Love didn't erase loneliness.
Dante touched her cheek.
"No."
He answered truthfully.
"But maybe now we can start."
Elena nodded.
Then Charles approached.
"Dante."
Dante turned.
Charles looked older than he had hours earlier.
"I'm going to cooperate completely."
"Good."
"I'll probably go to prison."
Elena looked at her father.
Charles swallowed.
"I deserve whatever happens."
Evelyn took his hand.
Charles looked at Dante.
"There's something else."
Dante almost laughed.
"Of course there is."
Charles reached into his coat.
He handed Dante a sealed letter.
"Your father gave this to me before he died."
Dante stared.
"Why?"
"He told me to give it to you if Sofia ever came home."
Sofia went still.
Dante opened the letter.
His father's handwriting filled the page.
He read silently.
Then his expression changed.
Elena touched his arm.
"What does it say?"
Dante looked at Sofia.
His sister's face had gone pale.
At the bottom of the letter was one final sentence.
Sofia did not disappear because Raymond wanted her dead. She disappeared because I discovered who her real father was.
Dante slowly lowered the letter.
May you like
And Sofia whispered:
"What?"
