Chapter 3 - THE SECRET IN THE BROWN COAT
Twenty minutes passed in agonizing silence.
The armed guards stood like stone statues beside the heavy mahogany doors.
Lily leaned her head against my waist, exhausted by the tension.
I stroked her soft hair, whispering comforting words while my mind raced.
For three years, I had lived in terror.
I had changed our names, moved four times, and worked myself to the bone.
And all the while, the man who ordered Daniel's death had been sitting at Gabriel Moretti’s right hand.
Suddenly, the study door flew open.
Gabriel emerged first.
His face was carved from granite, dark veins pulsing at his temples.
He held a frayed brown envelope in his hand.
Red numbers were stamped across the corner.
Mark Vance stumbled out behind him, his nose bleeding and his tailored shirt torn at the collar.
Vanessa was sobbing openly on the floor against the wainscoting.
Gabriel walked straight toward me.
He stopped just inches away, holding out the frayed envelope.
“Is this it?” he asked, his voice shaking.
I nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
Gabriel pulled out the single sheet of paper inside.
His eyes scanned the columns of numbers, bank routing codes, and a handwritten signature at the bottom.
It was Mark Vance’s signature.
Signed on a Swiss bank transfer totaling four million dollars.
The exact amount stolen from the Moretti family vault three years ago—the robbery Daniel had supposedly died investigating.
Gabriel slowly raised his head.
He looked at Mark with a gaze so lethal it made the air grow cold.
“You framed my best friend,” Gabriel whispered.
Mark wiped blood from his lip, laughing hysterically.
“He found out, Gabriel! Daniel found the offshore accounts! He was going to tell you everything!”
Mark lunged forward toward a silver letter opener on the side table.
In a fraction of a second, Gabriel raised his pistol.
*Bang.*
The gunshot echoed off the crystal chandeliers with deafening force.
Mark collapsed onto the Persian rug, clutching his right shoulder, screaming in agony.
Vanessa screamed, burying her face in her hands.
Gabriel didn't even blink.
He stepped over Mark’s writhing body and stopped in front of Vanessa.
“And you,” Gabriel said, his voice dropping an octave lower. “You helped him hunt down a grieving widow and a five-year-old child.”
Vanessa shook her head frantically.
“I had to! Mark promised me half! He said you would never look twice at a common maid!”
Gabriel looked down at her with pure disgust.
“Take them both to the basement cells,” Gabriel ordered the guards.
As Mark and Vanessa were dragged away, screaming into the empty hallways, Gabriel turned back to me.
He knelt down on one knee, right in front of Lily.
“Rachel,” Gabriel said softly, his voice trembling slightly. “You and Lily are never working another day in your lives.”
I looked down at him, tears blurring my vision.
“Gabriel... I don't know how to live like that.”
“You won't have to,” he vowed, taking my hand in his rough, scarred palm. “Because from this moment on, nobody will ever touch you again. I swear it on Daniel's grave.”
Lily rubbed her sleepy eyes and looked up at Gabriel.
“Does this mean we can stay here, Uncle Gabe?”
A rare, gentle smile touched Gabriel's lips.
“Forever, sweetheart.”
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Little did we know, Mark Vance was only a pawn in a much larger game.
And the real mastermind was still watching from the shadows outside.
