Chapter 11 - THE BETRAYAL INSIDE THE FAMILY
“Your father.”
The words landed like a gunshot.
Ronan didn’t move.
He simply stared.
“No.”
Eda looked at him sadly.
“I wish I was wrong.”
“My father died.”
“Yes.”
“Before my mother.”
“Yes.”
“Then explain.”
Eda took a deep breath.
“Your father wasn’t the man everyone thought he was.”
Ronan’s jaw tightened.
“He loved my mother.”
“Sometimes people love someone and still destroy them.”
Silence.
Tessa watched Ronan struggle.
She had seen him face danger without blinking.
But this was different.
This wasn’t an enemy.
This was his past.
“Tell me everything,” Ronan said.
Eda nodded.
“Your father discovered Elena knew about the money.”
“What money?”
“The money he was stealing.”
Ronan looked away.
“No.”
“He wasn’t alone.”
“Who helped him?”
Eda looked at him.
“That’s the part I never discovered.”
Ronan stepped closer.
“Then why accuse him?”
“Because Elena found proof.”
“What proof?”
Eda reached into her bag.
She pulled out an old envelope.
Inside was a letter.
Written by Elena.
Ronan opened it.
His eyes moved across the page.
Then stopped.
The letter was short.
But one sentence destroyed him.
I know what you did. And I know who helped you.
Ronan looked up.
“Who helped him?”
Eda shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
A sudden sound came from outside.
A car.
Tessa turned.
“Someone is here.”
Eda’s face changed.
“They found us.”
The windows shattered.
Gunfire exploded.
Ronan grabbed Tessa and pushed her behind the counter.
Eda dropped to the floor.
Bullets tore through the walls.
Someone was attacking the restaurant.
Again.
But this time, they weren’t trying to scare them.
They wanted them dead.
Ronan pulled his weapon.
“How did they find us?”
Eda looked terrified.
“Because someone followed you.”
Tessa looked at Ronan.
“You mean…”
“Yes.”
Eda’s voice became quiet.
“Someone close to you.”
The shooting continued.
Ronan moved toward the back exit.
“We leave now.”
They escaped through the kitchen door.
But when they reached the alley…
A car was waiting.
The driver stepped out.
Ronan stopped.
Because he recognized him.
“Tessa…”
She looked.
And her heart dropped.
It was Arthur Fletcher.
The restaurant manager.
The man who helped her.
The man who protected her.
The man who told her to trust nobody.
Arthur lowered his weapon.
“I’m sorry.”
Tessa stared.
“Arthur?”
His face was full of regret.
“I never wanted you involved.”
Ronan raised his gun.
“Who do you work for?”
Arthur said nothing.
Then another voice answered from behind him.
“I think you know.”
Damian Cross stepped into the alley.
May you like
And this time…
he wasn’t smiling.
