The Mafia Boss Brought His Secretary as His Fake Date—Then Got Jealous When Every Man Wanted Her
Chapter 8
The woman waiting inside the safe house looked older than Elena remembered.
But the eyes were unmistakable.
Green.
The same eyes Elena saw every morning in the mirror.
She stopped in the doorway.
The woman stood slowly.
“Elena.”
That single word destroyed fourteen years of certainty.
Elena’s eyes filled with tears.
“Mom?”
The woman covered her mouth.
“Yes.”
Elena didn’t move.
Adrian remained behind her.
Her mother stepped closer.
“I wanted to come home.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“I couldn’t.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I know.”
“You let me grow up thinking I had no family.”
Her mother cried.
“I thought I was protecting you.”
Elena laughed through her tears.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
Her mother looked at Adrian.
“I see you’ve grown up.”
Adrian nodded.
“I remember you.”
“You should.”
Silence.
Then Elena asked,
“Why did my father disappear?”
Her mother’s expression changed.
“Because we discovered who was behind everything.”
“Who?”
She looked toward Adrian.
“His father.”
Adrian froze.
“What?”
“He ordered your father’s disappearance.”
Elena turned toward him.
Adrian looked genuinely shocked.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
Her mother explained.
Years ago, Elena’s father had discovered a secret financial operation inside the Blackwell organization.
Adrian’s father had been using illegal networks to move money through international accounts.
But there was something worse.
He had planned to eliminate anyone who could expose him.
Elena’s father knew too much.
So he disappeared.
Her mother had tried to help him.
She became a target too.
“I had to leave you with my sister,” she whispered. “I made everyone believe I was dead so they would stop looking.”
Elena shook her head.
“You could have told me.”
“I wanted to.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“Because the people following us were inside the police, the courts, the banks, everywhere.”
Adrian clenched his fists.
“My father died believing he had escaped.”
“He did not,” Elena’s mother said.
The room became silent.
“Where is he?”
Her mother looked at Elena.
“He’s alive.”
Elena’s knees nearly gave out.
“What?”
“Your father survived.”
Adrian stared at the woman.
“Where is he?”
“He’s been hiding.”
“From whom?”
“From the man who took over after Adrian’s father died.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“Who?”
Her mother hesitated.
Then whispered,
“Victor Cross.”
Elena’s eyes widened.
“Damien’s father?”
“Yes.”
Everything clicked.
Damien Cross.
The man who had danced with her at the party.
The man who had warned her about Adrian.
The man who had asked for her number.
Adrian’s face became cold.
“He has been manipulating both families.”
Her mother nodded.
“He wants control of everything your fathers built.”
“Why me?” Elena asked.
“Because your father left something with you.”
“I don’t have anything.”
Her mother looked at the small pendant around Elena’s neck.
Elena touched it.
“This?”
Her mother nodded.
“Your father gave it to you when you were a child.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a key.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“To what?”
Her mother looked terrified.
“The ledger that can destroy Victor Cross.”
Elena stared at the pendant.
The necklace she’d worn nearly every day since childhood.
She had always thought it was just a gift from her father.
But it had never been a gift.
It had been a secret.
And somewhere in the city was a hidden record containing enough evidence to bring down the man who had been hunting her family for years.
