Chapter 3 - The Man Behind the Betrayal
Gabriel moved me before sunrise.
Not to one of his obvious safe houses.
Not to his mansion.
He took me to an old brownstone near Lincoln Park that had belonged to his mother.
Only three people knew about it.
Gabriel.
His sister Elena.
And Daniel.
“That makes four,” I said.
Gabriel looked at me.
“You.”
“I didn't know it existed.”
“Exactly.”
Elena arrived thirty minutes later.
She was the only person in Gabriel's family I had trusted.
When she saw me, her face changed.
“Oh my God.”
Her eyes dropped to my stomach.
“You're pregnant.”
I nodded.
She looked at Gabriel.
“You knew?”
“I just found out.”
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
She hugged me carefully.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I almost was.”
She pulled away.
“Who did this?”
Gabriel answered.
“Daniel.”
Elena froze.
“No.”
Gabriel showed her the photograph.
Her face went pale.
“That's impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel was with me the night the warehouse was attacked.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“What time?”
“After midnight.”
“Exactly?”
“I don't remember.”
“Try.”
She closed her eyes.
“Daniel left around eleven forty.”
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
The warehouse had been attacked at 12:08.
There was a twenty-eight-minute gap.
Enough time.
But they needed proof.
Gabriel called his head of security.
“Bring me every camera recording from the warehouse attack.”
An hour later, they watched the footage.
A black SUV entered the property.
Three men stepped out.
Then the image froze.
The screen flickered.
Gabriel frowned.
“What happened?”
“Someone deleted twelve minutes.”
“Recover them.”
His security chief shook his head.
“It's encrypted.”
Gabriel looked at me.
I suddenly remembered something.
“The hospital.”
“What?”
“Your organization used a private technology contractor for security.”
“Which contractor?”
“Blackstone Digital.”
Gabriel stood.
“Blackstone is owned by Connor Bell.”
I nodded.
“That's why they blamed him.”
Someone had deliberately connected Connor to the attack.
Gabriel's investigation expanded.
By afternoon, they discovered something worse.
The stolen millions had never gone to Connor Bell.
They had been moved through seven shell companies.
Every company had the same hidden administrator.
Daniel Shaw.
Gabriel stared at the screen.
For years, Daniel had controlled his financial operations.
He had access to everything.
Accounts.
Shipping routes.
Security systems.
Personnel files.
And Clara's hospital information.
But one question remained.
Why?
Gabriel found the answer inside an old file.
It concerned his father.
Twenty years earlier, Gabriel's father had built the Russo organization with another man.
A man named Vincent Shaw.
Daniel's father.
The two men had been partners.
Until Gabriel's father betrayed Vincent during a territorial war.
Vincent was killed.
Daniel was eleven.
Gabriel's father raised Daniel afterward.
Daniel had grown up inside the Russo family.
Not as a servant.
As a brother.
Gabriel stared at the document.
“Why didn't anyone tell me?”
Elena whispered.
“Your father wanted you to believe Daniel was loyal.”
Gabriel looked sick.
Then another file appeared.
It contained a handwritten note from Vincent Shaw.
The note had been written shortly before his death.
Gabriel read it aloud.
“If my son ever enters your house, remember that he will carry my hatred with him.”
Silence filled the room.
But then Clara noticed a second line.
She pointed.
“There's more.”
Gabriel unfolded the paper.
The final sentence read:
The real danger is not my son. It is the man who taught him how to hate.
Gabriel stared at the words.
His father's name was missing.
Someone had torn away the bottom of the page.
Then his phone rang.
Daniel.
Gabriel answered.
“Where are you?”
Daniel sounded calm.
“Looking for Clara.”
Gabriel said nothing.
Daniel continued.
“Boss, I found something interesting.”
“What?”
“Your father left you a secret account.”
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
“Where?”
Daniel smiled through the phone.
“Ask Clara.”
The call ended.
Gabriel turned toward me.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
Because I knew exactly what Daniel meant.
May you like
There was one thing I had never told Gabriel.
Before I disappeared, his father had given me a key.
