Chapter 4 - Sabrina Finally Told Me the Truth
Genevieve did not go alone.
She made Adrian believe she did.
That distinction mattered.
At 11:43 p.m., Genevieve left the hospital through a service corridor in loose clothes, a hood, and medical dressings that concealed most of her face.
Dr. Moore protested.
Julian threatened.
Arthur refused.
Genevieve went anyway.
Arthur followed at a distance.
Julian remained near the hospital to preserve the appearance that Genevieve was still inside.
The old Laurent warehouse had not been used in five years.
Genevieve arrived at 11:58.
A side door stood open.
She entered.
“Sabrina?”
No answer.
She walked farther.
A single desk lamp glowed beside stacks of abandoned office furniture.
Sabrina stepped from the darkness.
She wore jeans, a sweater, and no makeup.
Without the red dress and perfect hair, she looked younger.
Smaller.
Afraid.
“You came.”
“You said you had proof.”
Sabrina stared at the bandages.
“I’m sorry.”
Genevieve almost laughed.
“For which part?”
Sabrina flinched.
“I didn’t know what he was going to do to you.”
“You knew enough.”
“I thought he was going to scare you.”
“He paid someone to destroy my face.”
Sabrina looked down.
“I know.”
“You stood beside my hospital bed while he celebrated it.”
“I was scared.”
“You were planning to marry him.”
“I loved him.”
“So did I.”
That silenced her.
Genevieve stepped closer.
“My father.”
Sabrina looked toward the door.
“Adrian found out Charles was investigating him.”
“When?”
“Almost a year ago.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did you do?”
Sabrina wrapped her arms around herself.
“He asked me to access Charles’s calendar.”
“You had access?”
“I was helping with your foundation gala. Your father’s assistant sent schedules to the planning team.”
Genevieve remembered.
Sabrina had been useful.
Always available.
Always eager.
“What did Adrian want?”
“A meeting moved.”
“What meeting?”
“With the aviation safety director.”
Genevieve went still.
“Why?”
“Charles had discovered irregular maintenance charges linked to one of Laurent Aviation’s contractors.”
“What contractor?”
“Northline Aeronautics.”
Genevieve knew the name.
Northline had serviced her father’s aircraft.
Sabrina continued.
“Adrian told me Charles was trying to cancel an acquisition and that the meeting would hurt hundreds of employees.”
“And you believed him?”
“I wanted to.”
Honest.
Cowardly.
But honest.
“I changed the meeting time.”
Genevieve waited.
“Then what?”
“Charles took the flight earlier than expected.”
“And it crashed.”
Sabrina nodded.
“I didn’t know.”
“Did Adrian tamper with the plane?”
“I don’t know.”
“You said you had proof.”
Sabrina pulled out her phone.
“I found something in Adrian’s cloud account.”
She handed it over.
A photograph.
An invoice.
Northline Aeronautics.
Emergency maintenance.
Authorized by A. Cole.
Genevieve’s stomach tightened.
“Adrian authorized work on my father’s plane?”
“Yes.”
“He wasn’t authorized.”
“I know.”
Another file.
A payment.
$250,000 transferred two days after the crash to a company called Fairwick Consulting.
Arthur had mentioned Fairwick once years earlier in a fraud investigation.
A shell.
Genevieve looked at Sabrina.
“Who received it?”
“I traced the company.”
“To whom?”
Sabrina swallowed.
“A mechanic named Peter Voss.”
Genevieve memorized the name.
“Where is he?”
“Missing.”
Arthur stepped from the shadows.
Sabrina screamed.
Genevieve lifted a hand.
“He’s with me.”
“You said alone.”
“I stopped believing people recently.”
Arthur took the phone.
He studied the files.
“These can be authenticated.”
Sabrina looked at Genevieve.
“Adrian will kill me if he knows.”
Genevieve did not correct her.
Maybe he would.
“Why tell me now?”
Sabrina’s eyes filled.
“Because I finally understood that I was never his partner.”
Genevieve remained cold.
“That realization came late.”
“I know.”
“He used you.”
“Yes.”
“You helped him.”
“Yes.”
“You betrayed me.”
“Yes.”
Sabrina wiped her face.
“I’m not asking you to forgive me.”
“Good.”
Arthur glanced toward the windows.
“We should leave.”
Genevieve asked Sabrina, “One more question.”
“What?”
“The man Adrian hired to attack me.”
“I don’t know his name.”
“Try.”
“I only heard Adrian call him Rafe.”
Arthur looked sharply at her.
“Rafe what?”
“I don’t know.”
Arthur typed something into his phone.
Then his face changed.
“There’s a Rafael Denton tied to Northline.”
Genevieve stared at him.
“The same company?”
“Former security contractor.”
Sabrina whispered, “Oh God.”
The attack and her father’s crash were connected.
Arthur said, “We move now.”
They headed toward the door.
A vehicle engine started outside.
Arthur killed the lamp.
Darkness swallowed the warehouse.
Headlights swept across broken windows.
Sabrina whispered, “He found me.”
Genevieve heard a car door slam.
Then another.
Arthur pulled them behind a concrete partition.
Footsteps entered.
Two men.
One voice spoke.
“Check the office.”
Genevieve did not recognize it.
The second voice she did.
Adrian.
“Sabrina?”
He sounded calm.
Almost affectionate.
“I know you’re here.”
Sabrina shook beside Genevieve.
Adrian continued.
“You’re frightened. I understand.”
Arthur gestured toward a rear exit.
They moved silently.
Genevieve’s shoe touched broken glass.
A tiny sound.
But enough.
Adrian stopped speaking.
“Genevieve?”
Her blood froze.
He knew.
Arthur whispered, “Run.”
They sprinted.
Behind them, footsteps exploded.
Genevieve reached the rear corridor.
Arthur shoved open the metal door.
Cold air hit them.
A black SUV waited beyond the fence.
Julian’s security team.
They ran.
Then Sabrina stopped.
“My phone.”
“Leave it!”
“It has the files!”
Arthur grabbed her arm.
“The files are backed up.”
A shadow appeared behind them.
Adrian.
He stopped under the warehouse light.
For the first time since Genevieve had known him, his face contained no charm.
Only fury.
“You’re awake.”
Genevieve looked at the man she had planned to marry.
“Yes.”
His eyes moved to Sabrina.
“You.”
Sabrina stepped behind Arthur.
Adrian smiled.
“You have no idea what you’ve done.”
Genevieve stared at him.
“I know what you did to my father.”
For one second, Adrian’s confidence broke.
That was all she needed.
Arthur pulled her toward the SUV.
They escaped.
By 2:00 a.m., Sabrina was in protective custody arranged through a federal contact Arthur trusted.
Genevieve returned to a secured private medical suite under another name.
The public still believed she was unconscious.
Adrian publicly claimed he had spent the night at her bedside.
A lie so bold it became useful.
The next morning, Arthur brought news.
“Peter Voss is alive.”
Genevieve sat forward.
“Where?”
“Mexico.”
“Can we reach him?”
“Possibly.”
“Does he know what happened to Dad?”
Arthur hesitated.
“He sent one message after I contacted an old associate.”
“What message?”
Arthur handed Genevieve the phone.
It contained five words.
ADRIAN COLE IS NOT HIS NAME.
Genevieve stared.
Arthur continued.
“Voss says he’ll talk only if you answer a question.”
“What question?”
Arthur showed her.
WHO IS GABRIEL LAURENT?
Genevieve felt the room tilt.
G.L.
Gabriel Laurent.
The hidden beneficiary.
The person her father had protected.
The man she had met but did not know.
Then someone knocked.
Julian opened the door.
A hospital security officer stood outside.
“There’s a visitor asking for Ms. Laurent.”
“No visitors,” Julian said.
The officer hesitated.
“He says Charles Laurent sent him.”
Genevieve’s heart stopped.
“What’s his name?”
The officer looked at his tablet.
“Gabriel.”
Genevieve rose.
May you like
The door opened wider.
And the man wearing her father’s missing medal stepped inside.
