Chapter 7 - THE ENEMY INSIDE THE FAMILY
The words on the screen stayed there.
THE WRONG SON SURVIVED.
Nobody in the underground chamber moved.
The message was not just a threat.
It was a warning.
Someone wanted Gabriel to know that his entire life had been built on a secret.
His hands slowly tightened into fists.
“Who sent this?”
No one answered.
Not Richard.
Not Thomas.
Not Margaret.
And that silence made Gabriel angrier than the message itself.
“Everyone knew something.”
His voice echoed through the room.
“Everyone except me.”
Elena looked at her son.
“Gabriel…”
He turned toward her.
“No, Mom.”
His eyes were filled with pain.
“I spent fifteen years thinking you abandoned me.”
A tear rolled down Elena’s cheek.
“I know.”
“And the people who were supposed to protect me…”
He looked at Richard.
“Let me hate you.”
Richard lowered his head.
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
Gabriel laughed bitterly.
“You keep saying that.”
He stepped closer.
“But everyone who claims they protected me took something from me.”
The room became silent.
Then Thomas suddenly looked toward the ceiling.
“We need to leave.”
Gabriel turned.
“What?”
Thomas’s expression changed.
“This place isn’t safe anymore.”
Before anyone could ask why, the lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then the security system came back online.
A message appeared on the screen.
LOCKDOWN ACTIVATED.
The doors slammed shut.
Everyone froze.
Sophia smiled faintly.
“She’s here.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Who?”
Sophia didn’t answer.
Then the mansion speakers turned on.
A woman’s voice filled the passage.
“Hello, Elena.”
Everyone looked at each other.
Elena’s face went pale.
Because she recognized the voice.
“No…”
Gabriel grabbed her hand.
“Who is it?”
Elena whispered:
“Someone who was supposed to be my sister.”
The speaker crackled.
“You really thought you could come back and take everything from me?”
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed.
“Who are you?”
The woman laughed softly.
“You don’t remember me, Gabriel.”
A pause.
“But I remember you.”
The screen changed.
A security camera showed a woman walking through the mansion.
Elegant.
Calm.
Confident.
In her hand was a folder.
And on the cover were the words:
WHITMORE INHERITANCE FILES.
Margaret gasped.
“No…”
Gabriel looked at her.
“You know her.”
Margaret’s face turned pale.
“She was supposed to be gone.”
The woman stopped in front of the camera.
Then she looked directly into the lens.
Like she was looking at Gabriel.
“My name is Evelyn Whitmore.”
A silence followed.
Then she smiled.
“And I am the daughter your grandfather erased from history.”
Everyone froze.
Gabriel stared at the screen.
Another heir.
Another secret.
Another betrayal.
Evelyn continued:
“You all believed Elena was the victim.”
She lifted the folder.
“But she was only the beginning.”
The screen went black.
And then every door in the mansion unlocked at once.
Thomas whispered:
“She came back.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“Who is she?”
May you like
Thomas answered quietly:
“The person who started this war.”
