Chapter 7 - THE TRUTH THAT DESTROYED THE FAMILYVincent crossed the room and embraced his mother.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Eleanor began crying.
“I thought you were dead,” Vincent whispered.
“I thought you were going to be killed next.”
He stepped back.
“Who did this?”
“My husband.”
Vincent's expression hardened.
Eleanor sat down slowly.
She explained that Anthony had discovered the trust shortly after Vincent and Anna married. He had become obsessed with preventing the inheritance from passing to their future children.
At first, he tried to persuade Anna to sign away her rights.
When she refused, he began arranging ways to separate her from Vincent.
Sophia had been part of the plan from the beginning.
“She was promised a place in the family,” Eleanor said. “Anthony believed he could use her to keep you distracted.”
Vincent looked away.
He remembered every time Sophia had called him late at night.
Every time she had appeared unexpectedly.
Every time Anna had asked him to establish boundaries.
He had dismissed his wife's concerns.
“I did this,” he whispered.
Eleanor took his hand.
“You made a terrible choice. But you didn't order that plane to explode.”
“No. I just walked away.”
Anna stood near the window.
She wasn't interested in comforting him.
Not yet.
Eleanor turned toward her.
“I know I have no right to ask for forgiveness. But I want you to know I never wanted you hurt.”
Anna looked at the older woman.
“Did you know I was pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know they planned to kill my baby?”
Eleanor began crying again.
“I found out too late.”
Anna's voice broke.
“I spent three years believing I had nobody.”
Eleanor lowered her head.
“I know.”
“No, you don't. I had to learn how to change diapers while recovering from surgery. I had to work with stitches in my abdomen. I had to hold my son through nights when he couldn't breathe properly because his lungs were underdeveloped.”
Vincent closed his eyes.
Anna continued.
“And every time Ethan asked where his father was, I had to invent an answer.”
Vincent finally looked at her.
“What did you tell him?”
“That you were somewhere he couldn't reach.”
The words cut through him.
Eleanor reached for Anna.
Anna stepped back.
“Please don't.”
Silence filled the study.
Then Daniel's phone rang.
He answered, listened, and immediately stood.
“Anthony knows we're here.”
Vincent looked toward the door.
“How?”
Daniel glanced at the security cameras.
“They've been compromised.”
A gunshot sounded outside.
Marco shouted.
“DOWN!”
Vincent pulled Anna and Ethan behind the desk as armed men stormed the hallway.
The first exchange of gunfire shattered the study windows.
Eleanor screamed.
Vincent drew his weapon and returned fire.
“Marco! Get them out!”
Marco rushed into the room.
“There's a vehicle at the rear entrance!”
Anna grabbed Ethan.
But as they reached the hallway, a man appeared from the stairwell.
He raised his gun.
Vincent fired first.
The man dropped.
Anna froze.
She had seen violence before, but not like this.
Vincent reached for her.
“Come with me.”
She hesitated.
Then Ethan began crying.
“Daddy!”
The word came from the little boy.
Everyone stopped.
Vincent looked down.
Ethan was staring at him with frightened eyes.
“Don't let them hurt Mommy.”
Vincent knelt.
“I won't.”
For the first time, Ethan reached for him.
Vincent lifted his son into his arms.
Then a voice came through the estate's security speakers.
Anthony Moretti.
“Vincent, put the child down.”
Vincent looked toward the ceiling.
Anthony continued.
“You've made enough mistakes. Don't make another one.”
A screen flickered on.
It showed Sophia sitting in a chair, her hands tied behind her back.
Beside her stood Gabriel.
And Gabriel was holding a gun to her head.
Anthony's voice returned.
“Bring me my grandson, or the woman you once loved dies.”
Anna looked at Vincent.
But before he could answer, Gabriel leaned toward the camera.
“There's one more thing you should know, brother.”
May you like
He smiled.
“Ethan isn't the only child your father has been hiding.”
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