Chapter 9 - THE BETRAYAL
The sentence destroyed the silence inside the SUV.
The person you trust most will betray you before sunrise.
I looked at Daniel.
He refused to meet my eyes.
My heart began pounding.
“Daniel.”
He said nothing.
“Look at me.”
Slowly, he did.
“Are you the person my father meant?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
He looked toward Elise.
She immediately said:
“Don't.”
I stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“Your father wasn't talking about me.”
“Then who?”
He didn't answer.
I turned toward Elise.
“Tell me.”
She sighed.
“Gabriel.”
My stomach dropped.
“My uncle?”
“Yes.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
Elise pulled over.
She turned around.
“Your father suspected Gabriel had been compromised.”
Daniel nodded.
“That's why he gave him the wrong information.”
I remembered the airport.
The airfield.
The ledger.
Gabriel always seemed to know where we were.
He had arranged everything.
But perhaps my father had been testing him.
“Why didn't Dad tell me?”
“Because he didn't know if Gabriel was actually compromised.”
I looked at Elise.
“Then why does the note say the person I trust most?”
“Because your father wasn't sure.”
I stared at Daniel.
“Where is Gabriel now?”
“Following us.”
My blood went cold.
“How do you know?”
Elise showed me the GPS tracker.
A red dot followed our location.
“His vehicle.”
We drove to a safe apartment.
Then waited.
At 4:17 a.m., Gabriel arrived.
He entered alone.
I stood across the room.
“Are you working for Victor?”
He stopped.
“No.”
“Then why are you following us?”
“To protect you.”
“That's what everyone says.”
He looked at me.
“I know.”
I held up the photograph.
“Dad suspects you.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
“Your father suspects everyone.”
“Answer me.”
He sighed.
“I made a deal with Victor.”
My heart stopped.
“What deal?”
“I agreed to give him information.”
Daniel moved forward.
“Gabriel.”
Gabriel raised a hand.
“Let me finish.”
He looked at me.
“I gave him false information.”
I stared.
“What?”
“Your father asked me to.”
I didn't understand.
“Then why did you make the deal?”
“Because Victor needed to believe I had turned.”
“And did he?”
“Yes.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That you were going to the apartment.”
“Were we?”
“No.”
“Where did we actually go?”
“To your father's safe location.”
Gabriel smiled sadly.
“That was the point.”
I sat down.
Everyone had been playing the same game.
But there was still one person I couldn't explain.
Carmen.
“What about Carmen?”
Gabriel's expression hardened.
“She knows more than she should.”
“How?”
“Because she has been working with Victor for years.”
“Why attack me personally?”
“She hates your father.”
“Why?”
“Because your father destroyed her family.”
I looked at him.
“How?”
“Your father exposed Carmen's father.”
“Victor?”
“Yes.”
“Then Victor became obsessed with revenge.”
Gabriel placed a photograph on the table.
Carmen was standing beside Victor.
But behind them was another man.
My father.
I stared.
“What is this?”
“Your father was working with Victor before they became enemies.”
I felt sick.
“What?”
“They were business partners.”
“For how long?”
“Years.”
I remembered my father's company.
The success.
The wealth.
The sudden expansion.
He had built everything with Victor.
Then they had turned against each other.
Why?
Gabriel explained.
“Victor wanted to use the company to move illegal money.”
“Dad refused.”
“And that started the war.”
I looked at Daniel.
“Where does your family fit into this?”
He lowered his head.
“My father worked for Victor.”
I froze.
“Your father?”
“Yes.”
“Carmen knew.”
“Yes.”
“So you were raised around them.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know who they were?”
“Not when I was young.”
“And when you found out?”
“I tried to leave.”
“That was when you disappeared.”
“Yes.”
I looked away.
Everything was connected.
Then my phone rang.
A hospital number.
I answered.
A nurse spoke.
“Mrs. Bennett?”
“Yes?”
“We have your mother here.”
My heart stopped.
“What happened?”
“She was brought in after a traffic accident.”
“Is she alive?”
“Yes.”
“Is she conscious?”
“No.”
I looked at Gabriel.
His face had gone pale.
The nurse continued.
“She was carrying a small envelope.”
“What envelope?”
“We don't know.”
“Can I see it?”
“Yes.”
“Keep it safe.”
I hung up.
Daniel stood.
“We go now.”
We rushed to the hospital.
My mother was unconscious.
Her car had been hit from behind.
The police said it looked deliberate.
A nurse handed me the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
My mother.
My father.
Gabriel.
And Carmen.
All four standing together twenty-five years earlier.
On the back:
They knew each other before you were born.
I stared at the photograph.
Then another paper fell out.
A birth certificate.
My name.
But the father's name was blank.
I looked at Gabriel.
He didn't speak.
Then my mother opened her eyes.
She whispered:
“Sofia…”
I leaned closer.
“Mom?”
Her voice was weak.
May you like
“Your father isn't Richard.”
My entire world went silent.
