Chapter 4 - The Woman in the Photograph
Elena ran outside.
“Gabriel!”
The man disappeared behind the garden wall.
Dante’s guards searched the grounds.
They found no one.
Only Mrs. Bellini, sitting safely inside the greenhouse.
She had received a note telling her Sophia was looking for her.
Someone had deliberately drawn her away.
Elena confronted Adrian.
“That was Gabriel.”
“You saw him for two seconds.”
“I know his face.”
Adrian didn’t argue.
Later that afternoon, security footage revealed something stranger.
The man Sophia had seen never entered through any gate.
He had come from a disused service tunnel beneath the mansion.
Adrian claimed he had never known it existed.
Mrs. Bellini did.
She explained the property had once belonged to Adrian’s grandfather.
Old service passages connected several buildings.
Dante opened the tunnel.
Titan led them inside.
The passage ended in a forgotten storage room.
Photographs covered one wall.
Adrian.
Elena.
Sophia.
Dante.
Even Titan.
Someone had been watching all of them.
Elena found a photograph of herself leaving the hospital with newborn Sophia.
Behind her stood a blurred man.
Gabriel.
“He was there,” she whispered.
Adrian studied it.
“He never abandoned you.”
That truth hurt almost more than the lie.
If Gabriel had remained nearby, why had he allowed Elena to struggle alone?
Why had he watched Sophia grow from a distance?
A folder contained financial records proving Gabriel had secretly sent money for years.
Elena had never received it.
Every payment had been intercepted.
The receiving account belonged to a charitable foundation controlled by Adrian’s cousin, Vincent Moretti.
Adrian’s face hardened.
Vincent had lived on the estate for years.
He was currently recovering in another wing after minor surgery.
Dr. Reynolds had been treating him that morning.
Dante went to Vincent’s room.
Empty.
The bed had been arranged to look occupied.
Vincent had disappeared.
Then Elena found another photograph.
It showed Gabriel beside an unfamiliar woman.
On the back:
MARA REYNOLDS — SHE KNOWS EVERYTHING.
Elena looked at Dr. Reynolds.
“Reynolds?”
The doctor went pale.
“My sister.”
“Where is she?”
He hesitated.
“She died eleven years ago.”
Adrian stared at him.
“How?”
“Car accident.”
Titan growled.
The doctor closed his eyes.
“No,” he said. “That’s what I told everyone.”
Elena stepped closer.
“Then tell us the truth.”
Reynolds looked toward Sophia.
“My sister helped Gabriel disappear.”
Silence.
“She believed someone was hunting him. She created medical records showing he had died overseas.”
Elena’s legs nearly failed.
“So Gabriel is alive.”
“I believe so.”
“You believe?”
“I haven't seen him in years.”
Elena looked at the garden.
The man she had seen.
Sophia’s certainty.
Gabriel was alive.
Before Reynolds could explain more, his phone rang.
He checked the number.
His face changed.
He answered.
Nobody spoke.
Then a man’s voice came through the speaker.
“Ethan.”
Reynolds gripped the phone.
Gabriel continued.
“Put Elena on.”
Elena took it.
Her hand shook.
“Gabriel?”
A pause.
Then:
“I’m sorry.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“Where are you?”
“Not safe.”
“You watched us for five years.”
“I protected you.”
“You let your daughter believe she didn't have a father.”
“I know.”
“Come here.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
Another pause.
“Because the person who tried to kill Adrian twelve years ago is standing in that house with you right now.”
The call ended.
Everyone looked at everyone else.
May you like
Then the study door slowly opened behind them.
Vincent Moretti stepped inside.
