Chapter 5 - The Secret Behind Elena's Blindness
The accusation against Elena spread through the family within hours.
Gabriel refused to believe it.
But he could not ignore it either.
Elena herself demanded to speak.
"Bring me Adrian."
Gabriel stared.
"He's alive."
"I know."
"He's accusing you."
Elena smiled sadly.
"Then bring him."
Adrian was wheeled into the room.
His shoulder was bandaged.
Elena turned toward him.
"You were always a coward."
Adrian looked down.
"I know."
"You watched Carlo die."
"I didn't kill him."
"I know."
Gabriel stared at his mother.
"Then why did you say he knew?"
Elena took a breath.
"Because Adrian knows who did."
Adrian whispered, "Thomas."
Gabriel turned.
"Thomas killed Dad?"
Adrian nodded.
"He injected him."
Silence.
"With what?"
"A drug that stopped his heart."
Gabriel's face hardened.
"Why did you never tell me?"
"Because Thomas threatened my family."
"Your family?"
"My mother. My sister."
Adrian looked ashamed.
"He told me if I spoke, they would disappear."
Gabriel stared.
"And Vincent?"
"He helped."
"Margaret?"
"She cleaned the room."
Gabriel's fists tightened.
"But you?"
"I did nothing."
Elena spoke quietly.
"Sometimes doing nothing is the choice that destroys the most lives."
Adrian lowered his head.
Gabriel asked, "Why did you accuse my mother?"
"Because she told me to."
Everyone froze.
"What?"
Adrian looked at Elena.
"She wanted you to believe she was guilty."
Sophie understood first.
"Why?"
Elena smiled.
"Because Thomas was listening."
She explained.
After Carlo died, Elena knew the conspirators were watching her.
So she pretended to be devastated.
Then, after the fall, she deliberately allowed them to believe she had suffered cognitive damage.
The blindness was real.
The confusion was not.
She had discovered that people spoke freely around someone they believed could not understand.
Gabriel looked at her.
"You've been pretending for eighteen months?"
"Not entirely."
She touched her face.
"I lost my sight."
"But the dementia?"
"Never."
Gabriel closed his eyes.
"Mom."
"I'm sorry."
"I spent eighteen months believing I was losing you."
"I needed you to believe it too."
"Why?"
"Because Thomas was watching you."
That changed everything.
Elena told them Thomas had been manipulating Gabriel through business deals.
Every time Gabriel came close to uncovering something, Thomas redirected him.
Every time Gabriel investigated his father's death, another crisis appeared.
The family empire had become a maze.
And Thomas had designed it.
Sophie asked, "What about the hidden recording?"
Elena nodded.
"The recording was bait."
"For who?"
"Thomas."
Sophie realized.
The first recorder had been deliberately placed where Vincent would find it.
The second was hidden with Sophie.
But there was a third.
Elena reached beneath her pillow.
She pulled out a small memory card.
"The real evidence is here."
Gabriel stared.
"Why didn't you give it to me?"
"Because I needed to know who you trusted."
Elena turned toward Sophie.
"And now I know."
Gabriel looked at Sophie.
Sophie felt uncomfortable.
"Why me?"
"Because you had the opportunity to steal it."
Sophie blinked.
"And I didn't."
"No."
Elena smiled.
"You fed me."
Gabriel's eyes softened.
"She did."
Elena nodded.
"That told me everything."
But before anyone could celebrate, the door opened.
A police officer entered.
"Mr. DeLuca."
Gabriel stood.
"What?"
"We have a warrant for your arrest."
"For what?"
"Murder."
Sophie froze.
The officer continued.
"Your father's death has been reopened."
Gabriel stared.
"And I'm the suspect?"
"We have evidence."
"From whom?"
The officer handed him a photograph.
It showed Gabriel entering his father's study four years earlier.
Another showed him leaving.
The timestamp appeared convincing.
Then came the final piece.
A fingerprint report.
Gabriel's fingerprints had been found on the medical syringe used to inject Carlo.
Gabriel looked at the document.
"This is fabricated."
The officer shook his head.
"Perhaps."
Gabriel looked at Sophie.
She noticed something.
The photograph had been taken from inside the house.
The camera angle was impossible.
"Mr. DeLuca."
Gabriel looked at her.
"The picture."
"What?"
"The camera."
She pointed.
"That's not one of your security cameras."
Gabriel stared.
Sophie continued.
"Someone installed a hidden camera."
The officer frowned.
Gabriel suddenly understood.
"Thomas."
But the officer had already drawn his weapon.
"Mr. DeLuca, turn around."
Gabriel slowly raised his hands.
Then Sophie noticed the officer's badge.
It was upside down.
A tiny detail.
But enough.
She whispered:
"That's not a police officer."
Gabriel reacted instantly.
He struck the man's wrist.
The gun fired.
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The room exploded into chaos.
And somewhere in the mansion, a second gunman began shooting.
