Chapter 9: The Woman Behind The Lie
Gabriel didn’t remember leaving the train station.
One moment he was standing beneath the broken clock, staring at Thomas Vale.
The next, he was sitting inside Claire’s car, watching Chicago’s lights blur through the window.
His entire life had become a collection of questions.
Every answer created another mystery.
His father’s death.
Daniel’s disappearance.
Thomas’s deception.
And now his mother.
The woman he had mourned for most of his life.
The woman everyone told him was gone.
“She’s alive,” Gabriel whispered.
Claire glanced at him through the mirror.
“Yes.””
“And she knew where I was.””
“Yes.””
His hands tightened.
“How?””
Claire remained quiet.
That silence told him more than words could.
Gabriel looked at her.
“You knew something.””
“I suspected.””
“That’s not the same thing.””
Claire sighed.
“When I joined your company, I found unusual records. Payments made to a private facility. Legal arrangements created under your mother’s name.””
“And you didn’t tell me?””
“I didn’t have proof.””
Gabriel looked away.
Everyone had been protecting him.
Everyone had been hiding things from him.
Even the people who loved him.
The car stopped outside a quiet building on the edge of the city.
Claire turned off the engine.
“She’s inside.””
Gabriel stared at the entrance.
For twenty years, he had imagined his mother’s grave.
Flowers.
A name carved into stone.
A place where he could speak to someone who could never answer.
But now…
She could answer.
Daniel stood beside him.
His brother looked nervous.
“You don’t have to do this alone.””
Gabriel looked at him.
For the first time, he noticed something.
Daniel wasn’t afraid of Gabriel being angry.
He was afraid of Gabriel being hurt.
The two brothers entered the building together.
A nurse led them down a quiet hallway.
At the end was a small room.
The door opened.
And Gabriel saw her.
An older woman sat near the window.
Her hair was silver now.
Her hands rested on a blanket.
But her eyes…
Her eyes were the same ones from the photographs.
She looked up.
And the moment she saw Gabriel, tears filled her face.
“Gabriel.””
His entire body went still.
She knew his name.
Not from a file.
Not from a document.
From memory.
He stepped inside.
“You’re alive.””
The woman covered her mouth.
“Yes.””
The word broke something inside him.
All the anger.
All the confusion.
All the years of wondering.
They all collided.
“Why?””
The question came out before he could stop it.
His mother looked down.
“I knew you would ask that.””
“Then answer me.””
Daniel stayed near the doorway.
Claire quietly stepped back.
This was not their conversation.
His mother wiped her tears.
“Your father discovered Thomas was stealing from the company.””
Gabriel nodded.
“I know.””
“No, you don’t.””
Her voice trembled.
“He discovered something worse.””
“What?””
She looked directly at him.
“Thomas wasn’t working alone.””
Gabriel felt cold.
“Who was helping him?””
His mother closed her eyes.
“Me.””
The room went silent.
Gabriel stared.
“No.””
“I’m sorry.””
“You?””
His voice cracked.
“You helped him?””
“I was trying to protect you.””
Gabriel stepped back.
“By leaving me?””
Tears rolled down her face.
“I was threatened.””
“By Thomas?””
She nodded.
“He told me if I exposed him, he would destroy everything. He knew about Daniel. He knew where you were. He knew how to make both of you disappear.””
Gabriel shook his head.
“You chose him.””
“No.””
Her voice broke.
“I chose you.””
He looked at her.
“I don’t understand.””
She reached for a small box beside her bed.
Inside was a letter.
“I made a deal with Thomas.””
Gabriel stared.
“A deal?””
“I agreed to disappear publicly if he promised to leave you alone.””
Daniel stepped forward.
“But he didn’t.””
“No.””
His mother looked at Gabriel.
“He lied.””
She handed him the letter.
“This was the last thing your father wrote before he died.””
Gabriel opened it.
The handwriting was familiar.
The first line made him freeze.
*Gabriel, if you are reading this, then the people who tried to hide the truth failed.*
His hands shook.
He read silently.
Then his expression changed.
Because near the bottom was a sentence that changed everything.
*The person you should fear is not the one who took me away. It is the one who convinced you I was gone.*
Gabriel looked up.
“Who?””
His mother’s face filled with fear.
Before she could answer, the lights in the building suddenly went out.
The hallway went dark.
A loud alarm sounded.
Daniel immediately moved toward the door.
“What happened?””
Claire pulled out her phone.
“No signal.””
Then Gabriel heard footsteps outside.
Slow.
Calm.
Approaching.
His mother whispered:
“He found us.””
The door handle moved.
And someone spoke from the other side.
“Gabriel.””
Everyone froze.
May you like
Because they knew that voice.
Thomas.
