Chapter 10 - THE BLOOD THAT CONNECTED US
The blood record was fourteen years old.
I had been twelve when doctors first discovered my cardiac condition.
At nineteen, surgery became unavoidable.
Because of complications, the hospital needed rare AB-negative blood.
The record showed Julian as a donor.
Impossible.
We had never met.
At least, that was what I believed.
Sofia stared at the report.
Then started crying.
“What?”
She looked at Julian.
“You did donate.”
He frowned.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The night Mom called Gabriel.”
Julian’s face changed.
He remembered something.
Seven years earlier.
Gabriel had secretly contacted him.
Asked him to donate blood for “a family emergency.”
Julian had done it without asking questions.
Because despite the betrayal everyone associated with Gabriel, Julian still loved him.
“I donated anonymously.”
Sofia nodded.
“For Elena.”
I stared at Julian.
He had helped save my life seven years before we met.
Without knowing who I was.
Without expecting anything.
The room blurred.
“You…”
Julian looked uncomfortable.
“I didn’t know.”
“I know.”
For once, the secret felt almost gentle.
Then Sofia’s expression darkened.
“But the record was changed recently.”
Luke checked the audit log.
Someone added Julian’s name to make the connection visible.
“Why?”
Margaret answered.
“To make Elena think Julian knew about her all along.”
“To create distrust,” I whispered.
Exactly.
Whoever controlled this operation understood emotional sabotage.
Make me believe Julian had been watching me for years.
Make Julian believe I was planted inside his home.
Turn us against each other.
Julian noticed.
“They want us separated.”
“Yes.”
Luke traced the altered login.
Martin.
Again.
Then another hospital record appeared.
Not mine.
Julian’s.
From the mountain crash.
Blood transfusion.
Same rare type.
AB negative.
Donor:
David Vale.
I stared.
“My father?”
Julian’s expression went still.
David had sabotaged Julian’s car.
Called emergency services.
Then donated blood.
He had done everything he could to undo what he had been forced to do.
Tears filled my eyes.
“He tried to save you.”
Julian nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
For the first time, I saw forgiveness begin.
Not complete.
Not simple.
But possible.
Luke’s phone vibrated.
One incoming message from Martin.
A photograph.
Gabriel.
Tied to a chair.
Blood on his face.
Beneath it:
BRING JULIAN AND ELENA TO THE OLD CATHEDRAL. NO POLICE.
Margaret swore.
Sofia went pale.
Julian’s expression hardened.
“He found Gabriel.”
Then a second photograph arrived.
This one showed an older man standing behind Gabriel.
Silver hair.
Black suit.
Smiling.
Sofia whispered:
“Raymond.”
Another dead man returned.
May you like
Raymond Cross was alive.
And he had finally stepped out of the shadows.
