HE LEFT HER AT THE ALTAR FOR HER SISTER—UNAWARE SHE WAS THE DON’S ONLY BIOLOGICAL DAUGHTER
Chapter 6
Elena confronted Thomas before he could leave the estate.
“You have my mother’s photograph.”
Thomas stopped.
His face changed.
Victor stepped forward.
“Answer her.”
Thomas slowly removed the photograph.
“I found it.”
“Where?”
“In the east corridor.”
“You’re lying.”
Thomas looked at Victor.
Then Elena.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From whom?”
“Your father’s enemies.”
Victor’s voice hardened.
“Which enemies?”
Thomas hesitated.
“Robert isn’t the only one.”
That changed everything.
Thomas explained that Robert Hayes had been part of a larger organization.
Victor had spent decades believing Robert was working alone.
He wasn’t.
Several businessmen had secretly worked together to weaken Victor’s empire.
But there was one problem.
They couldn’t eliminate Victor without creating a war.
So they targeted his heir.
They believed Victor had no biological children.
Then they discovered Elena.
The wedding was supposed to be the perfect opportunity.
Public humiliation.
A broken engagement.
A manipulated inheritance.
Then Elena would disappear.
Victor stared at Thomas.
“Who ordered the wedding?”
Thomas looked at Elena.
“Robert.”
Elena felt cold.
“He threatened Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“He forced Daniel to marry Sofia?”
“Yes.”
“But why Sofia?”
Thomas explained that Robert knew Sofia had always been jealous of Elena.
He exploited that resentment.
He convinced Sofia that Daniel loved her.
Then he threatened her family.
The entire wedding had been engineered.
Elena suddenly remembered Daniel’s expression at the altar.
He hadn’t looked happy.
He had looked terrified.
“Where is Daniel now?”
Thomas shook his head.
“He disappeared.”
Victor frowned.
“When?”
“Last night.”
Elena’s heart tightened.
They found Daniel’s car abandoned near the harbor.
Inside was his phone.
A message had been typed but never sent.
Elena, I’m sorry. I tried to protect you. Don’t trust—
The message ended there.
Victor immediately ordered a search.
Hours passed.
Nothing.
Then Elena received a call.
Daniel’s voice came through.
“Elena.”
“Where are you?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Are you hurt?”
“Yes.”
“Who has you?”
Silence.
Then Daniel whispered:
“Your sister.”
Elena froze.
“Sofia?”
“She knows something.”
“What?”
“She knows who your mother really was.”
The call ended.
Elena looked at Victor.
“I need to find her.”
Victor nodded.
They found Sofia at an old family house.
She was sitting alone.
Her face was swollen from crying.
Elena entered.
“Where is Daniel?”
Sofia looked up.
“He’s alive.”
“Where?”
“I sent him away.”
“Why?”
“To protect him.”
Elena’s anger returned.
“You helped destroy my wedding.”
“I know.”
“You lied.”
“I know.”
“You stole the man I loved.”
Sofia began crying.
“I thought I was saving you.”
Elena stopped.
“What?”
Sofia explained that Robert had approached her months earlier.
He told her Victor was dangerous.
He said Elena’s father was coming for her.
He claimed Daniel would be killed if he married Elena.
Sofia believed him.
She agreed to help.
But after the wedding, she realized Robert had lied.
She tried to protect Daniel.
Robert captured him.
Sofia helped him escape.
Then she found something in Robert’s office.
A file.
Elena’s birth records.
And another document.
A contract signed by Isabella.
Sofia handed it over.
Elena read it.
Her mother had secretly agreed to meet Victor the night Elena was born.
But she never arrived.
Why?
Because someone had kidnapped her.
Sofia looked at Elena.
“I think Dad knows more than he told us.”
“Robert?”
Sofia nodded.
“He was there the night your mother disappeared.”
Elena’s stomach tightened.
“Where is Robert now?”
Sofia whispered:
“He’s coming here.”
The house suddenly went dark.
A car crashed through the front gate.
Victor’s guards shouted.
Then a voice came over the speakers.
“Victor!”
Everyone froze.
Robert Hayes stepped from the darkness.
He held a gun.
And beside him stood Daniel.
