Chapter 6 - THE AMBUSH
I dropped the letter. The heavy parchment hit the floor with a soft thud that echoed in the silent ballroom.
"Poisoned," I whispered, the word tasting like ash in my mouth.
Isabella hadn't just manipulated a family; she had slaughtered her way into one. She had slowly poisoned Elena, blackmailed my mother into forging the hospice logs to cover her tracks, and then spent four years securing Gabriel's empire.
Gabriel’s face was unreadable. It was a terrifying, absolute blankness. The kind of calm that precedes a catastrophic explosion.
He pulled out his phone. "Daniel. Tell the men at the airstrip to let Isabella's car through. Tell them to clear the runway."
I stared at him in shock. "You're letting her go?"
"No," Gabriel said softly. "I'm giving her a false sense of security. Rats only come out of hiding when they think the trap is broken."
He looked down at Sophie, who was clutching my hand, her eyes darting between us.
He knelt.
I love you, he signed, his large, rough hands moving with desperate tenderness. Daddy will fix this. I promise.
Sophie hugged him fiercely around the neck.
Gabriel stood up and turned to me. "Hannah, I need you to take Sophie to the safe house. Daniel will drive you. Do not trust anyone else. Do not stop for anything."
"What are you going to do?" I asked, my voice trembling.
"I'm going to the airstrip," he said, picking up the leather box containing the will and the confession. "I'm going to give my fiancé her wedding present early."
"Gabriel, wait," I said, grabbing his arm. It was the first time I had ever touched him without permission. His muscles were tight as coiled steel. "She's dangerous. If she knows you have the proof—"
"She won't know until it's too late," he promised.
Daniel, a towering man with scars mapping his jawline, appeared in the doorway. "Car is ready, Boss. Back alley."
Gabriel nodded. He kissed the top of Sophie's head, gave me a long, piercing look, and walked out into the night.
Daniel led us to a heavily armored black SUV idling in the rain. I buckled Sophie into the back seat and climbed in beside her.
As we pulled away from the estate, my phone vibrated in my pocket.
It was a text from an unknown number.
If you want your mother to live through the night, bring the deaf girl to the Westbridge Academy. You have thirty minutes.
Attached was a live photo of my mother, bound to a chair in a sterile, white hospital room.
May you like
My heart stopped.
"Daniel," I choked out, staring at the screen. "Stop the car."
