Chapter 1 - THE GUNMAN WHO LOWERED HIS WEAPON
“ELENA, GET DOWN!”
Julian’s voice cracked through the room like a gunshot.
I dropped instinctively.
A second later, one of the armed men pulled a pistol from beneath his jacket.
But before he could raise it, Julian moved.
Not like a man recovering from paralysis.
Not like someone who had spent months trapped in a wheelchair.
He crossed the floor with terrifying speed, grabbed the gunman’s wrist, twisted it hard, and drove him into the marble wall.
The pistol hit the floor.
The other two men instantly drew their weapons.
“Stand down!” Margaret shouted.
To my shock, they obeyed.
Julian pinned the attacker against the wall.
“Who sent you?”
The man laughed through clenched teeth.
“You already know.”
Julian’s expression turned colder.
“I want to hear you say it.”
The man looked toward Margaret.
Then toward me.
And suddenly smiled.
That smile terrified me more than the gun.
“You really brought her inside.”
Julian froze.
I felt every eye in the room shift toward me.
“What does that mean?” Julian asked.
The man laughed again.
“Elena Vale.”
My blood went cold.
Julian slowly turned toward me.
I had given him the name Elena Carter.
Nobody inside the estate knew my real last name.
Margaret’s face changed.
“Elena…”
The gunman continued.
“Tell him.”
I stood slowly.
My legs barely worked.
Julian released the man only when one of his guards stepped forward and restrained him.
Then Julian faced me.
“Vale?”
I couldn’t speak.
His eyes narrowed.
“Who are you?”
Margaret stepped between us.
“Julian, not here.”
He didn’t look at her.
“Move.”
“Listen to me.”
“No.”
His gaze remained fixed on me.
For three months, he had watched me eat breakfast at his table.
Trusted me with his medication schedule.
Allowed me into his private study.
Let me help him during the nights when nightmares from the crash left him awake until sunrise.
And now he knew even my name had been a lie.
I swallowed.
“My name is Elena Vale.”
“Who sent you?”
I looked toward Margaret.
Then back at Julian.
“Your sister did.”
His jaw tightened.
“I know that part.”
He stepped closer.
“Why?”
Before I could answer, the restrained gunman spoke again.
“Because her father helped arrange your accident.”
The room went silent.
Julian stopped.
I felt as though the floor had disappeared beneath me.
“That’s not true,” I whispered.
The man grinned.
“Ask Margaret.”
Julian turned toward his sister.
Margaret went pale.
“Julian…”
He took one step toward her.
“Tell me he’s lying.”
Margaret didn’t answer.
And that silence told me everything.
My father had died two years earlier.
I had spent those two years believing he was a financial consultant who made bad decisions and left behind debts I was still struggling to pay.
Now one armed stranger was claiming he had tried to murder Julian Cross.
Julian looked at me again.
This time there was no softness in his eyes.
Only betrayal.
“Who was your father?”
My voice trembled.
“David Vale.”
Julian’s expression changed instantly.
He knew the name.
Margaret whispered:
“Julian, David Vale was not the man who ordered the accident.”
“But he was involved.”
“Yes.”
I stumbled backward.
“No.”
Margaret looked at me.
“Elena, I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
She took a breath.
“Your father was the one who tampered with Julian’s car.”
My heart stopped.
May you like
Then she added:
“But he did it because someone threatened to kill you.”
