Chapter 3 - THE HEIR THEY ERASED
The room went silent.
Adrian stared at Isabella.
“What does that mean?”
Victoria answered.
“My father was an old-fashioned man.”
Rosa snorted.
“He was many things.”
“But stupid was not one of them.”
Victoria ignored her.
“When Gabriel was born, my father changed his will.”
Adrian looked toward Mateo.
“He left the estate to a baby?”
“Not only the estate.”
Isabella whispered the rest.
“The vineyards.”
“The hotels.”
“The investment company.”
“The properties in Madrid.”
“The art collection.”
“All of it.”
Adrian frowned.
“Why?”
Rosa answered.
“Because he discovered Victoria had been stealing from the family companies.”
Victoria's eyes flashed.
“You know nothing about business.”
“I knew enough to watch you forge your father’s signature.”
Adrian suddenly understood.
Gabriel had not disappeared because of a stranger.
He had disappeared because of money.
“How much was the inheritance worth?”
Rosa looked at Mateo.
“Today?”
“More than four hundred million euros.”
Mateo obviously did not understand the number.
But Isabella did.
So did Adrian.
Victoria folded her arms.
“My father was dying.”
“He had become irrational.”
Rosa laughed.
“So you decided a baby needed to die?”
“I never said that.”
Elena finally exploded.
“You ordered me to take him to the reservoir!”
Mateo flinched.
Adrian turned toward Elena.
“What?”
Elena’s entire body shook.
“I was Gabriel’s nanny.”
“Victoria came into the nursery after midnight.”
“She told me Gabriel was sick.”
“She said I needed to drive him to a private doctor.”
“But there was no doctor.”
“There was a man waiting near the reservoir.”
“What man?”
“Victor Salazar.”
Rosa closed her eyes.
Adrian knew the name.
Salazar had been the Laurent family’s security chief for twenty years.
He was still working on the estate.
“He was supposed to kill Gabriel?”
Elena nodded.
“I realized it when I saw the blanket.”
“What blanket?”
“A weighted blanket.”
“She told Victor to wrap Gabriel in it.”
“And throw him into the reservoir.”
Mateo began crying.
Elena reached for him.
He backed away.
Adrian crouched beside him.
“You don’t have to hear this.”
Mateo looked at Isabella.
“I want to.”
Elena continued.
“I ran.”
“I took Gabriel and drove until the car ran out of fuel.”
“I called Rosa.”
Rosa nodded.
“I gave Elena money.”
“New documents.”
“A place to stay.”
“We changed Gabriel’s name to Mateo Ruiz.”
Adrian looked at Isabella.
“And she believed he was dead?”
Isabella whispered.
“I saw his bracelet.”
“What?”
“My mother brought it back.”
Victoria closed her eyes.
Isabella's voice broke.
“She put Gabriel’s bracelet in my hand and told me there had been an accident.”
“She said Victor panicked.”
“She said Gabriel drowned.”
Mateo stared at his mother.
“You believed her?”
“I was twenty-two.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
Isabella recoiled as though he had struck her.
“No.”
Mateo wiped his face.
“You didn’t look for me?”
“I did.”
Victoria turned sharply.
Isabella looked at her mother.
“I hired someone.”
Victoria's expression changed.
“You what?”
“A private investigator.”
“When?”
“Six months after Gabriel disappeared.”
Victoria stepped toward her.
“You told me you accepted what happened.”
“I lied.”
For the first time, Isabella appeared less like Victoria’s daughter and more like her prisoner.
“The investigator found Elena.”
Elena gasped.
“What?”
Isabella nodded.
“Three years ago.”
Adrian stared at her.
“You have known for three years that your son was alive?”
Isabella began shaking.
“I knew Elena was alive.”
“Not Gabriel.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“I saw photographs of them.”
Mateo whispered.
“You saw me?”
Isabella closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“You knew.”
“I wasn’t certain.”
“You knew!”
Mateo ran from the room.
Elena chased him.
Adrian turned toward Isabella.
“You saw your missing child alive three years ago.”
She sobbed.
“My mother said if I went near him, Elena would be arrested for kidnapping.”
Victoria said nothing.
“She said Gabriel would be placed into state custody.”
Adrian stared at Victoria.
“And you believed that?”
Isabella shook her head.
“There was more.”
“What?”
Isabella looked at him.
“My mother had photographs of you.”
Adrian froze.
“Of me?”
“She said if I ever told anyone Gabriel was alive, she would destroy you too.”
Adrian almost laughed.
“With what?”
Isabella stared at him.
May you like
“Evidence that you killed your brother.”
Adrian stopped breathing.
