Chapter 19 - THE LAST BETRAYALDominic returned to the mansion with Daniel and two police officers.
Adrian was waiting in the library.
He stood beside the fireplace, holding a thick folder.
Elena and Noah were safe in the adjoining room.
Dominic approached.
"Talk."
Adrian placed the folder on the table.
"Anthony didn't order your father's murder."
Dominic stared at him.
"Then who did?"
Adrian opened the folder.
Inside were original financial agreements, medical reports, and a photograph of a man Dominic had not seen in years.
Raymond Cross.
The documents showed that Raymond had arranged the attack because Dominic's father had discovered an international money-laundering network.
Anthony had participated in the cover-up afterward, but he had not initiated the murder.
Dominic studied the evidence.
"Why are you giving me this?"
"Because Anthony promised me the family fortune. He promised that once you were gone, I would inherit everything."
"And now?"
"Now I understand that he was never going to give me anything."
Adrian admitted that he had been raised to believe Dominic was the enemy. Anthony had repeatedly told him that his uncle's legitimate family had stolen what belonged to him.
But after meeting Dominic, Adrian had begun questioning the story.
He also confessed that he had helped Victor intimidate Elena and Maria.
Dominic's expression became cold.
"You threatened a seventeen-year-old."
"I know."
"You helped them hurt an innocent woman."
"I know."
"Why should I believe anything you say?"
Adrian looked down.
"You shouldn't. That's why I brought the originals."
He explained that Raymond had arranged the final transfer for Friday night. Anthony planned to meet him at the old estate and use the remaining financial records to disappear.
But Adrian had learned that Raymond intended to eliminate Anthony afterward.
"Where is Raymond now?"
"At the estate."
Dominic called Daniel.
The police prepared an operation involving financial investigators and officers from the state unit.
Elena approached Dominic.
"Is this going to end tonight?"
"I hope so."
She looked toward Adrian.
"Will he go to prison?"
"That's for the prosecutors to decide."
Adrian lowered his eyes.
"I deserve it."
Dominic did not disagree.
Before leaving, he went to Noah's room.
The teenager was packing a schoolbag.
"Where are you going?" Dominic asked.
"Elena says we're staying with my aunt for a few days."
"That's a good idea."
Noah hesitated.
"Will you come back?"
Dominic looked at him.
"Yes."
"Promise?"
Dominic remembered the boy's warning from earlier.
Don't make promises you can't keep.
"I'll do everything I can."
Noah nodded.
Dominic then approached Elena.
For a moment, neither spoke.
He gently touched the fading bruise beneath her eye.
"Does it still hurt?"
"Not anymore."
"I'm sorry you had to experience any of this."
She looked at him.
"You didn't cause it."
"But I should have noticed."
"You noticed when it mattered."
Dominic leaned closer.
"After this is over, I want you to have a choice. You can leave the mansion, take Noah somewhere peaceful, and never have to work for another person again."
Elena looked away.
"And if I don't want to leave?"
His expression softened.
"Then we'll talk."
She smiled.
It was the first time he had seen her smile without fear.
The operation began shortly before midnight.
At the old estate, police officers surrounded the property while financial investigators secured the building's records.
Raymond Cross was found in the study.
Anthony stood beside him.
Neither man attempted to escape.
Raymond immediately blamed Anthony.
Anthony blamed Raymond.
Then Dominic entered.
"Enough."
His uncle turned.
"Dominic, you don't understand what happened."
"I understand enough."
Anthony's expression softened.
"I raised you."
"You helped destroy my family."
"I protected you."
"You kept my mother from me. You imprisoned my father. You used a seventeen-year-old boy to threaten an innocent woman."
Anthony's face changed.
"Your father was weak. I did what was necessary."
Dominic stared at him.
"Then why are you afraid of the truth?"
Anthony finally lost his composure.
"Because the truth will destroy everything!"
He reached toward the folder on the desk.
An officer restrained him.
Raymond was arrested moments later.
But as Dominic watched the two men being led away, Daniel approached with one final document.
It was a confession signed by Michael Reeves.
The former attorney had been arrested at an airport earlier that evening.
His confession identified another person who had helped Anthony falsify the medical records.
Dominic read the name.
Then he looked up.
The person was not a stranger.
It was Samuel Whitmore's former assistant, the nurse who had supposedly helped Isabella escape.
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She had actually been working for Raymond all along.
And she had been the person who arranged the final transfer of Dominic's father.
