Chapter 5 - GABRIEL’S FIRST QUESTION WASN’T ABOUT THE FAMILY
Ramon had imagined this moment for years without knowing he was imagining it.
If Gabriel somehow walked back into his life, Ramon thought he would ask:
Where were you?
Who did this?
Why didn’t you call?
Instead, Gabriel’s first word was:
“Sofia?”
“She’s safe.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
“Elena?”
“Alive.”
He started crying.
Quietly.
Only then did Ramon kneel beside him.
Neither brother knew what to do.
So Ramon did the simplest thing.
He pulled Gabriel into his arms.
Gabriel weighed far less than he remembered.
“I buried you.”
“I know.”
“I carried your coffin.”
“I know.”
“You idiot.”
Gabriel laughed weakly.
“Missed you too.”
At the hospital, doctors confirmed malnutrition, old untreated injuries, and medication in his system.
He would recover.
Slowly.
When Elena entered his room the next afternoon, Gabriel broke completely.
Sofia ran to him.
“Daddy!”
That sound nearly destroyed Ramon.
Gabriel held his daughter while Elena pressed her forehead against his.
For a few minutes, there were no trusts.
No Esteban.
No Ortega reputation.
Just a family reunited.
Then Gabriel looked at Ramon.
“We need to talk.”
Of course.
He explained the last two years.
Esteban did not personally guard him.
Sheriff Halden controlled the local network.
Private employees rotated through the sites.
Gabriel had escaped twice.
Both times briefly.
The first escape allowed him to contact Elena.
The second allowed him to create the chapel archive.
Then he was caught again.
“Why didn’t they kill you?”
Ramon asked.
Gabriel’s face changed.
“Because Esteban needed my signature.”
On what?
Asset transfers.
Trust consents.
Old family corporations.
Esteban had spent years manufacturing documents showing Gabriel had voluntarily surrendered certain rights before “death.”
Sometimes Gabriel refused.
Sometimes drugs and pressure blurred what he signed.
Sometimes signatures were copied.
Then Gabriel said:
“There’s one document he still needs.”
“What?”
“A renunciation.”
If Gabriel signed it, he could disclaim his succession rights and attempt to redirect certain interests.
But there was a problem for Esteban.
Sofia.
Her rights were separate.
“So he needed Elena to sign for Sofia too.”
Ramon’s hands curled.
“That’s why they took them.”
Gabriel nodded.
Elena refused.
They threatened her.
Sofia escaped.
Then Gabriel said:
“Esteban isn’t alone.”
“Halden?”
“Bigger.”
Ramon waited.
Gabriel looked directly at him.
“Someone on your executive board has been feeding Esteban information for years.”
Ramon’s blood chilled.
“Who?”
Gabriel hesitated.
“I only heard a first name.”
“What?”
“Victor.”
The room went silent.
Ramon looked through the glass wall.
Outside stood Victor Salazar.
His oldest friend.
His most trusted lieutenant.
The man who had entered the forest beside him.
May you like
The man who had helped find Gabriel.
And now Gabriel was telling Ramon that someone named Victor had been working with Esteban all along.
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