Chapter 13 - A DAUGHTER'S BARGAIN
Gabriel contacted Elena directly.
No threats.
No demands.
One message.
DAUGHTER.
WE NEED TO TALK.
Alejandro wanted Nathan to trace it.
Elena wanted to answer.
She typed.
THEN TALK.
A video call arrived.
Gabriel appeared.
Older.
Gray beard.
Tired eyes.
But unmistakably the father Elena remembered.
She did not cry.
“Hello, Elena.”
“You watched me believe you were dead.”
Gabriel looked away.
“Yes.”
“You watched Mom believe you were dead.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Vivian had me.”
His silence answered.
Elena’s face hardened.
“Say it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because by the time I discovered what she had done, Marco was involved.”
“You keep using my son as an excuse.”
“I’m not.”
“You abandoned me.”
Gabriel flinched.
“I believed I could remove Vivian without exposing you.”
“For three years?”
“It grew beyond me.”
Elena laughed.
“Everyone says that.”
Gabriel leaned toward the screen.
“Vivian is dangerous.”
“So are you.”
He stopped.
Good.
“I want to help you.”
“Then surrender.”
“I can’t.”
“Won’t.”
Gabriel sighed.
“I have evidence that can dismantle what remains.”
“Give it to Nathan.”
“I’ll give it to you.”
“Why?”
“Because I want something.”
There it was.
“What?”
“Three Lines Capital holds enough Castillo debt to force a restructuring.”
“I know.”
“I’ll forgive half.”
“In exchange?”
“Immunity.”
Elena almost laughed.
“You’re bargaining with the wrong daughter.”
Gabriel’s eyes hardened.
“You think Alejandro will survive if his company collapses?”
“Yes.”
The answer surprised him.
Elena continued.
“You still think the company is what makes him powerful.”
“And what do you think?”
“The fact that he’s willing to lose it.”
Gabriel studied her.
“You’ve changed.”
“You missed a lot.”
She ended the call.
Alejandro had been listening from the next room with her permission.
He entered.
“You didn’t have to defend me.”
“I wasn’t defending you.”
She smiled faintly.
“I was insulting him.”
Alejandro laughed.
Then she became serious.
“He’ll come back.”
“He will.”
“Because he thinks I’m emotional.”
“Are you?”
“Yes.”
Alejandro nodded.
“So am I.”
Elena looked at him.
“That doesn’t make us stupid.”
“No.”
Gabriel contacted them twelve hours later.
This time the demand changed.
He would surrender financial records.
In exchange, federal prosecutors would allow him to plead to limited charges.
Nathan refused.
Gabriel sent one sample file.
It contained the names of forty-seven officials across six countries.
Nathan stared.
“This could collapse the network globally.”
Elena understood.
Gabriel knew exactly how valuable his information was.
Negotiations began.
Then Vivian acted.
A bomb destroyed a Three Lines office in Zurich.
Another location in Madrid burned.
Two of Gabriel’s attorneys disappeared.
Vivian was dismantling his escape routes.
Gabriel contacted Elena again.
This time afraid.
“She’s coming for Marco.”
Alejandro stepped into view.
“If that’s a threat—”
“It isn’t.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“Vivian no longer needs the boy alive.”
Elena went pale.
“Why?”
“Because she has a DNA sample.”
Nathan leaned forward.
“For what?”
Gabriel took a breath.
“To create a second heir.”
Silence.
Alejandro frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Gabriel explained.
Seven years earlier, during Elena’s delivery, biological samples had been collected.
Vivian kept them.
She had recently forged fertility and birth records connected to another child.
“If she creates a legally recognized Castillo heir under her control, Marco’s claim can be challenged.”
Nathan stared.
“You cannot fake a child’s DNA.”
“No.”
Gabriel’s expression darkened.
“But you can hide the identity of a real one.”
Alejandro felt dread.
“Whose child?”
Gabriel looked at him.
“Yours.”
Alejandro stared.
“That’s impossible.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“Not biologically.”
Elena understood first.
The hospital.
Samples.
Stored reproductive material.
Her face turned white.
Gabriel continued.
“Vivian used genetic material taken without consent.”
Alejandro couldn’t speak.
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
“Where is the child?”
Gabriel hesitated.
“No one knows.”
Elena leaned toward the screen.
“Boy or girl?”
“A girl.”
“How old?”
“Five.”
Alejandro felt the world tilt again.
Another child.
Another life manipulated.
Gabriel whispered.
“Her name is Sofia.”
Then gunfire erupted behind him.
Gabriel turned.
The video shook.
He shouted.
“They found me.”
The call ended.
Elena stared at the black screen.
Then a message appeared.
One photograph.
A little girl with dark brown eyes.
Underneath were coordinates.
May you like
And four words.
FIND HER BEFORE VIVIAN.
