Chapter 8 - THE DAUGHTER WHO HELPED DESTROY MY MARRIAGE
Serena Vale was Victor Cross's daughter.
Half-sister to Gabriel.
Half-sister to Daniel.
Aunt to my sons.
The woman I believed had stolen my husband had actually spent years trapped by the same man who destroyed his family.
I hated how much sympathy complicated hatred.
We reached Serena's apartment before Victor.
She stood inside the doorway holding a pistol with shaking hands.
Gabriel immediately took it from her.
“You don't know how to use this.”
“I've been practicing.”
“Badly.”
“Nice to see you too.”
Despite everything, the sibling tone was obvious now.
I stared.
“How long have you known?”
Serena looked at me.
“That Victor was my father?”
“Yes.”
“Since I was eighteen.”
“And Gabriel?”
She swallowed.
“I wasn't sure we shared a father until five years ago.”
Gabriel's expression changed.
“When?”
“The day after Claire saw us in the office.”
Silence.
That meant when she kissed him, Serena hadn't known.
I exhaled.
One horrifying possibility removed.
Serena sat.
“My mother was Lucia Bell. Victor kept us hidden.”
“Miriam's mother,” Gabriel said.
Serena nodded.
“Miriam is my full sister.”
My head hurt.
“So you and Miriam knew each other.”
“Yes.”
“Miriam protected my children.”
“Yes.”
“And you?”
Serena's eyes filled with tears.
“I tried.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You destroyed my marriage.”
“I know.”
“That's protection?”
“No.”
Her voice cracked.
“It was fear.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Tell her everything.”
Serena nodded.
“Victor told me if Claire stayed married to Gabriel, he'd kill her.”
I stared.
“So you kissed him.”
“Yes.”
“Why not tell me?”
“Because he had my mother.”
Gabriel went still.
“Lucia was alive?”
“Until four years ago.”
Serena wiped her face.
“He kept her in a private care facility. If I disobeyed, he threatened to stop her treatment.”
I hated Victor a little more.
“After the divorce,” Serena continued, “I planned to tell Gabriel everything.”
“What stopped you?”
“You got pregnant.”
I stared.
“That should have made you tell him faster.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Victor learned about the pregnancy before I did.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“How?”
“Someone at Claire's doctor's office was on his payroll.”
My stomach turned.
“He told me if the child existed, he would claim it.”
“Child,” I said. “You didn't know there were three.”
“No.”
Serena continued.
“I told Victor you miscarried.”
“That bought me five years.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
I looked at her.
For the first time, I saw not Serena Vale, glamorous mistress.
I saw a frightened woman making terrible choices.
“I don't forgive you.”
She nodded.
“I don't expect you to.”
“But you saved them.”
Her eyes filled.
“I tried.”
A phone rang.
Serena's.
Victor.
She answered on speaker.
“Dad.”
Gabriel flinched at the word.
Victor laughed softly.
“There you are.”
“Where's Noah?”
“With me.”
Claire—no, I pressed closer.
Victor continued,
“Serena, you've disappointed me.”
“I've been disappointing you for years.”
“True.”
Gabriel stepped forward.
“Father.”
“Gabriel.”
“Enough.”
Victor sighed.
“You always were impatient.”
“Give me Noah.”
“You don't have what I need anymore.”
Gabriel frowned.
“What?”
Victor spoke to me.
“Claire.”
“Yes.”
“You are the problem now.”
“Good.”
A pause.
Then a laugh.
“Elena's blood.”
“What do you want?”
“You.”
Gabriel's expression hardened.
“No.”
I ignored him.
“For Noah?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Victor gave an address.
Serena went white.
“No.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“What?”
“The old Bell house.”
Miriam appeared at the doorway.
She had arrived with Daniel.
Her face changed too.
“What is that place?”
Serena whispered,
“Where Victor kept our mother.”
Silence.
Then Miriam looked at me.
“Claire, there's something else.”
“What?”
She swallowed.
“Elena Cross didn't die either.”
I stared.
“My biological mother?”
Miriam nodded.
“She was in that house with Lucia.”
My heart stopped.
“No.”
“Victor told everyone Elena died twenty-nine years ago.”
“And?”
Miriam whispered,
“She escaped six months ago.”
My knees weakened.
“Where is she?”
May you like
Miriam looked toward Gabriel.
“With Noah.”
