Chapter 11 - THE FAMILY SECRET THAT DESTROYED US
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Preston Hayes.
The man who destroyed my life.
The man who stole my father's company.
The man who humiliated me on the nightclub floor.
Was Gabriel Costa's biological son.
Roman's nephew.
Gabriel stared at the birth record.
His face drained of color.
"Victoria told me the baby died."
Roman turned toward him.
"What?"
Gabriel swallowed.
"Twenty-nine years ago, Victoria and I were together. She became pregnant."
He looked down.
"She told me she lost the child."
I felt sick.
"She lied."
Gabriel nodded slowly.
"Then she married Charles Hayes."
Roman's jaw tightened.
"And raised Preston as Charles's son."
Gabriel covered his face.
For years, he'd mourned a child who was alive.
For years, Preston had been raised by people who used him as part of their financial empire.
I wanted to hate Preston without complication.
But the truth made everything uglier.
He had been manipulated too.
That didn't excuse what he'd done.
It didn't erase the humiliation.
The forged documents.
The threats.
But it explained why Gabriel's identity had been hidden.
Victoria didn't want anyone discovering Preston's biological connection to the Costa family.
Roman looked at Gabriel.
"Did you know Preston was involved in the Black Crown?"
Gabriel shook his head.
"No."
Then he looked at me.
"I'm sorry, Sloan."
I swallowed.
"You didn't do this."
He nodded.
But grief remained written across his face.
Later that evening, investigators intercepted a communication between Preston and Victoria.
Preston sounded furious.
"You lied to me my entire life!"
Victoria's voice was cold.
"I did what was necessary."
"You told me Gabriel Costa was a criminal who destroyed our family."
"He would have taken you from me."
"You used me!"
A pause.
Then Victoria replied:
"Don't pretend you're innocent, Preston. You enjoyed what you did to Sloan."
I closed my eyes.
She was right.
Whatever lies Preston had been raised with, he had made his own cruel choices.
Then Preston said something that made everyone listening go silent.
"I'm going to tell Sloan everything."
Victoria laughed bitterly.
"Then your father dies."
Preston stopped speaking.
Victoria continued.
"Henry Whitmore is the only person who can still identify the final documents."
My heart hammered.
Then she added:
"And if Sloan reaches him before midnight, she will discover why Charles Hayes kept her mother’s death a secret."
I stared at the recording.
My mother had died when I was nineteen.
At least, that was what everyone told me.
May you like
But Victoria's words suggested something far worse.
Someone had been lying about my mother's death, too.
