Chapter 9 - BURIED WITH THE TRUTH
Darkness swallowed everything.
Elena hit the ground.
Dust filled her mouth.
Somewhere nearby, Dominic shouted:
“Elena!”
“Here!”
A flashlight clicked on.
Dominic appeared through the dust.
He reached her in seconds.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He grabbed her shoulders.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Only then did he breathe.
Kane and two guards had disappeared into the deeper tunnels during the explosion.
Marco's team entered through the air shaft seconds later.
Sebastian, Frank, and Laura were alive.
But the main exit was blocked.
Marco checked the tunnel.
“We have another way out, but it's deeper.”
Dominic turned toward Frank.
“Finish what you were saying.”
Elena almost laughed.
“Maybe we could survive first.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
Dominic's voice softened.
“I am done letting secrets decide what happens next.”
That silenced everyone.
Frank looked at Elena.
“You're my daughter.”
She stared.
“Biologically?”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
Elena exhaled.
“Then why did Kane—”
“Because Camille created false paternity records years ago.”
Dominic frowned.
“Why?”
“To control Sebastian.”
Sebastian looked away.
Frank explained.
Camille knew Sebastian had helped Alexander investigate her.
She fabricated evidence claiming Laura's child belonged to Sebastian.
Then threatened to reveal it publicly and destroy his marriage.
“But Sebastian wasn't married,” Elena said.
“He was engaged to the daughter of a senator.”
Sebastian nodded.
“Different world then.”
Laura looked ashamed.
“I agreed to the lie.”
Elena stared.
“Why?”
“To protect Frank.”
Of course.
Always protection.
Always lies.
Frank continued.
“Kane found the false records and believed them.”
“So he thinks I'm Vale blood.”
“Yes.”
Dominic looked toward the dark tunnel.
“That means he may still want her alive.”
“Why?” Elena asked.
“For leverage.”
Marco checked his weapon.
“Let's move.”
They entered the mine.
The deeper tunnels were narrow.
Old wooden beams creaked overhead.
Dominic stayed beside Elena.
“You're quiet.”
She looked at him.
“My mother is alive. My father lied about half my childhood. Your fiancée tried to freeze me. Someone put a bomb under my cleaning cart. A dead man isn't dead. Your uncle isn't dead. Your brother is trying to kill everyone.”
She took a breath.
“I am processing.”
“Fair.”
After several minutes, she whispered:
“Were you disappointed?”
Dominic stopped walking.
“What?”
“When Kane said Sebastian might be my father.”
He stared.
“Elena.”
“I know it's ridiculous.”
“No.”
His voice lowered.
“I was terrified.”
Her heart kicked.
He continued:
“And relieved when Frank corrected it.”
She looked away.
“That's complicated.”
“Everything about the last twenty-four hours is complicated.”
They resumed walking.
At the next junction, Marco found blood.
Fresh.
“Kane's hurt.”
Dominic nodded.
Then a voice echoed through the tunnel.
“Dominic!”
Elias.
“Come alone!”
Marco shook his head.
“No.”
Dominic looked toward Elena.
She already knew.
“You're going.”
“Yes.”
“Of course.”
Dominic handed Marco his backup weapon.
“If I don't return—”
“Don't.”
Elena's voice sharpened.
He looked at her.
“Don't do that dramatic goodbye thing.”
A faint smile.
“Fine.”
“Come back.”
Dominic held her gaze.
“I will.”
He moved into the tunnel.
Elias waited inside an abandoned equipment chamber.
Blood covered his shoulder.
The stolen red ledger sat on a crate.
“You wanted answers.”
Dominic stopped ten feet away.
“I still do.”
Elias laughed weakly.
“You always were Alexander's favorite.”
“I was his only acknowledged son.”
“Exactly.”
Dominic looked at the ledger.
“Why does this matter?”
“It proves Alexander intended to divide the legitimate companies.”
“With you?”
“With me.”
Dominic frowned.
Elias opened the ledger.
A page contained Alexander's handwriting.
ELIAS KANE - 25% LEGITIMATE HOLDINGS UPON CONFIRMATION OF PATERNITY.
Dominic stared.
His father had intended to provide for Elias.
Elias saw his reaction.
“He changed his mind too late.”
“You killed him before he could tell you.”
“I didn't know.”
For the first time, Elias looked less like a villain and more like a man destroyed by his own grievance.
Dominic said:
“You spent fifteen years taking revenge for something that wasn't true.”
Elias's face twisted.
“He abandoned us.”
“Yes.”
Dominic didn't defend Alexander.
“But killing everyone connected to him doesn't change that.”
Elias raised his gun.
“Easy for you.”
Dominic didn't move.
“Probably.”
Elias's hand shook.
Then another voice came through the tunnel.
“Elena.”
Dominic turned.
Elias smiled.
That was the trap.
One of Kane's men had circled behind them.
Elena was dragged into the chamber with a gun at her back.
Dominic's expression changed.
Elias whispered:
“Now let's talk inheritance.”
Elena stared at him.
“What do you want?”
“Dominic signs over the Vale shipping companies.”
Dominic laughed.
“No.”
The gun pressed harder against Elena.
Dominic's face became still.
Then Elena said:
“Don't.”
Elias looked at her.
She continued:
“He won't do it.”
Dominic stared.
Elias smiled.
“Confident.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Elena looked at Dominic.
“Because if he signs under coercion, the transfer can be invalidated.”
Elias's smile vanished.
She had taught English.
But she had also grown up with a father who loved legal dramas and made her read everything before signing it.
“And,” Elena continued, “you need me alive because you think I'm connected to Vale blood.”
Elias's eyes narrowed.
She smiled slightly.
“So shooting me would be stupid.”
Dominic almost laughed.
Elias's guard relaxed for one second.
Enough.
Elena slammed her head backward.
The guard cursed.
Dominic lunged.
Gunfire exploded.
Marco's team stormed the chamber.
Elias was hit in the leg.
The guard surrendered.
Dominic reached Elena.
She was shaking.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
He pulled her against him.
For the first time, she let him.
Elias laughed from the floor.
Dominic looked at him.
“What?”
Elias pointed toward the red ledger.
“You still haven't read the last page.”
Marco opened it.
The handwriting wasn't Alexander's.
It was Camille's.
A list of payments.
One name appeared repeatedly.
HAROLD CRANE.
Another:
VANESSA CRANE.
Dominic's face hardened.
The payments began eleven years earlier.
When Vanessa was seventeen.
Elena whispered:
“She was a child.”
Marco continued reading.
The description beside Vanessa's name was not payment for espionage.
It was something else.
MEDICAL TREATMENT - PROJECT WINTER.
Dominic frowned.
“What is Project Winter?”
May you like
Elias smiled weakly.
“Ask Vanessa why she doesn't remember the night Alexander died either.”
