Chapter 6 — The Uncle Who Knew Too Much
Chapter 6 — The Uncle Who Knew Too Much
At 4:18 in the morning, Victor received a call from a number that had been dead for six years.
He answered without speaking.
A man's voice came through the darkness.
“You're looking in the wrong place.”
Victor sat upright.
“Who is this?”
A pause.
Then:
“Someone who knew Marcus before he became Marcus Thorne.”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
“What do you want?”
“I want you to stop looking for Adrian.”
Victor glanced toward Marcus, who was asleep in a chair outside Khloe's hospital room.
“Why?”
“Because Adrian isn't the person you should be afraid of.”
“Then who?”
The caller laughed softly.
“His uncle.”
The line went dead.
Victor stared at the phone.
He had heard stories about the man.
Everyone in Chicago's old financial circles had.
Gabriel Vale.
Adrian's uncle.
Marcus had never spoken about him.
Neither had Isabella.
Neither had Matteo.
The name appeared in old company records, then vanished.
Gabriel had supposedly died eleven years ago.
But the caller had not sounded like a dead man.
Victor immediately searched the archives.
One file appeared.
GABRIEL VALE — DECEASED.
Death certificate.
Burial record.
Estate settlement.
Everything looked legitimate.
Too legitimate.
Victor opened the photograph attached to the file.
The man staring back at him was older, but unmistakable.
He had seen those eyes before.
Not in a photograph.
In the hospital.
The man who had entered Khloe's corridor wearing medical clothing.
Dante Russo had been blamed.
But Victor suddenly wondered whether Dante had been protecting someone else.
At 5:03 a.m., Marcus woke.
“What's wrong?”
Victor hesitated.
“Someone called.”
“Who?”
“Gabriel Vale.”
Marcus's expression changed instantly.
“My uncle?”
Victor nodded.
Marcus stared at him.
“He's dead.”
“That's what the records say.”
“Then someone is pretending to be him.”
Victor placed the phone on the table.
“Maybe.”
Marcus looked toward Khloe's room.
“Where did he call from?”
“Unknown.”
“Did he say anything else?”
“He said we're looking in the wrong place.”
Marcus's jaw tightened.
“For Adrian?”
“No.”
Victor looked directly at him.
“He said we should be afraid of Adrian's uncle.”
Marcus went silent.
Then he whispered:
“Gabriel never wanted me to marry Khloe.”
The statement surprised Victor.
“Why?”
Marcus rubbed his eyes.
“When I was twenty-six, Gabriel came to my office.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me Khloe would destroy my company.”
Victor frowned.
“That's oddly specific.”
“It wasn't.”
Marcus stared at the floor.
“He said she would make me weak.”
“And you believed him?”
“No.”
“Then why remember it?”
“Because two weeks later, my father died.”
Victor looked at him.
“Coincidence?”
Marcus shook his head.
“I don't believe in those anymore.”
Khloe woke shortly after sunrise.
Marcus was beside her.
She smiled weakly.
“You look terrible.”
“I've had a difficult night.”
“You always look terrible when you're worried.”
He laughed quietly.
Then his face became serious.
“Khloe, do you know Gabriel Vale?”
Her smile disappeared.
“No.”
Marcus watched her carefully.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Have you ever heard the name?”
Khloe hesitated.
Only for a fraction of a second.
But Marcus noticed.
“What?”
She looked toward the window.
“I heard my father mention him.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“What did he say?”
Khloe closed her eyes.
“He said Gabriel was dangerous.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“Anything else?”
“He said if Gabriel ever came looking for me, I should leave.”
Silence.
Marcus's blood ran cold.
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
Khloe looked at him.
“My father never explained.”
Victor entered.
“We found Gabriel's old lawyer.”
Marcus turned.
“Where?”
“Retirement home.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Let's go.”
Khloe grabbed his hand.
“No.”
Marcus looked at her.
“You told me to find the truth.”
“I did.”
“Then—”
“Not without me.”
Marcus stared at her.
“You're not leaving this hospital.”
“I wasn't asking permission.”
Despite everything, Marcus almost smiled.
Khloe continued:
“If Gabriel is connected to my father, I want to know why.”
Marcus squeezed her hand.
“Fine.”
Victor shook his head.
“You two are impossible.”
Khloe smiled.
“That's why we're still married.”
The lawyer's name was Samuel Grant.
He was eighty-two.
He lived in a quiet retirement community outside Chicago.
When Marcus arrived, Samuel was sitting beside a window reading a newspaper.
He looked up.
The newspaper slipped from his hands.
“You look like your father.”
Marcus stopped.
“You knew him?”
Samuel stared at him.
“I knew everyone who mattered.”
“Did you know Gabriel Vale?”
Samuel's face changed.
“Yes.”
“What happened to him?”
Samuel folded the newspaper carefully.
“Nothing.”
Marcus frowned.
“He's alive?”
Samuel looked at Victor.
Then back at Marcus.
“Your uncle doesn't die.”
A chill moved through the room.
“What does that mean?”
“It means men like Gabriel don't need to be alive to control people.”
Samuel opened a drawer.
He removed an old leather folder.
Inside were photographs.
Contracts.
Bank statements.
Letters.
Marcus stared.
One photograph showed Gabriel standing beside Marcus's father.
Another showed Gabriel beside Isabella's father.
Another showed Dante Russo.
And in the final photograph—
Khloe's father.
Marcus's face hardened.
“They all knew each other.”
Samuel nodded.
“They were partners.”
“In what?”
Samuel looked at him.
“That is the question that got your father killed.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“My father was murdered?”
Samuel didn't answer.
“Was he?”
“Yes.”
Victor inhaled sharply.
Marcus's hands tightened.
“Who killed him?”
“Gabriel didn't pull the trigger.”
“Then who?”
“The person who ordered it.”
“Who?”
Samuel looked toward the window.
“Your mother.”
Silence.
Marcus stood so abruptly his chair fell backward.
“What?”
Samuel didn't move.
“Your mother believed your father was going to expose Gabriel.”
Marcus stared at him.
“My mother died before my father.”
“Yes.”
“So how could she order his murder?”
Samuel's expression remained calm.
“Because she didn't die when you were told she did.”
For the first time in years, Marcus felt like the floor beneath him had disappeared.
“My mother died when I was fourteen.”
“No.”
Samuel shook his head.
“She disappeared.”
Marcus stared.
“You're lying.”
“I wish I were.”
Victor stepped forward.
“Do you have proof?”
Samuel handed him another photograph.
A woman stood beside a black car.
Older than Marcus remembered.
Alive.
The date on the photograph was two years after her supposed death.
Marcus couldn't breathe.
“That isn't possible.”
Samuel said quietly:
“Your family spent years teaching you what was possible.”
Outside, Marcus sat inside the car.
He didn't speak.
Victor drove.
Khloe remained at the hospital.
Marcus stared through the windshield.
“My mother was alive.”
“Yes.”
“And Gabriel knew.”
“Probably.”
“And my father was murdered.”
“Yes.”
“And somehow this connects to Adrian.”
Victor nodded.
Marcus closed his eyes.
“Then my entire childhood was a lie.”
At the hospital, Khloe received a visitor.
A man wearing a gray suit.
He introduced himself as Thomas Bell.
“I'm here on behalf of your father.”
Khloe immediately became suspicious.
“My father has been dead for eight years.”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you here?”
The man placed an envelope on the table.
“Because he left this for you.”
Khloe stared.
“I don't want it.”
“You should.”
“Why?”
“Because it contains the name of the man who ordered the attack on you.”
Khloe's heart stopped.
“Who?”
Thomas stood.
“You already know him.”
He walked toward the door.
Khloe called after him.
“Wait.”
He turned.
“Who?”
He smiled sadly.
“Your uncle.”
Khloe froze.
She had no uncle.
At least, not one she had ever known.
Her father had been an only child.
Or so she had believed.
She opened the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
A man stood beside her father.
The same man from Victor's photographs.
Gabriel Vale.
On the back, her father's handwriting read:
If anything happens to me, trust no one in the Vale family.
Khloe stared at the words.
Then another sheet fell from the envelope.
A birth certificate.
Her father's name.
And beside it:
Mother: Elena Vale.
Khloe whispered:
“No.”
Her father's name wasn't the only one on the certificate.
There was another child.
A son.
Born three years before her.
Gabriel Thorne.
Khloe's uncle.
Alive.
At 8:40 p.m., Marcus returned to the hospital.
Khloe was waiting.
She held the documents in her hands.
“Marcus.”
He immediately knew something was wrong.
“What happened?”
She handed him the birth certificate.
He read it.
Then looked at her.
“Gabriel Thorne?”
Khloe nodded.
“My uncle.”
Marcus stared at the page.
Then suddenly remembered something.
A voice from childhood.
A man's voice.
Standing behind his father's office door.
Never trust the boy.
Marcus looked up.
“I've met him.”
“When?”
“I was a child.”
“Where?”
“My father's office.”
Khloe's face changed.
“What did he look like?”
Marcus closed his eyes.
Then remembered.
A tall man.
Dark hair.
A silver watch.
A scar near his eyebrow.
Marcus opened his eyes.
“Exactly like the man in that photograph.”
The hospital lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then the corridor went dark.
Khloe grabbed Marcus's arm.
Victor immediately reached for his weapon.
A security alarm sounded.
Then silence.
The lights returned.
A nurse ran into the room.
“Mr. Thorne!”
“What?”
“Someone entered the maternity floor.”
Marcus stood.
“Who?”
“We don't know.”
Victor stepped into the corridor.
A man was walking away.
Gray suit.
Silver watch.
Scar near his eyebrow.
Marcus froze.
The man turned.
Their eyes met.
For one second, neither moved.
Then the man smiled.
“Hello, Marcus.”
Marcus's blood turned cold.
“Gabriel.”
Gabriel looked past him toward Khloe.
Then said:
“I've been waiting twelve years to meet your wife.”
Victor raised his weapon.
Gabriel laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
“What?”
Gabriel's smile disappeared.
“I'm not the enemy.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“Then who are you?”
Gabriel looked at Khloe.
“The man who has been keeping her alive.”
Khloe stared at him.
“What did you do?”
Gabriel reached inside his coat.
Marcus prepared to attack.
But Gabriel only pulled out an old photograph.
He handed it to Khloe.
She looked down.
Her father.
Her mother.
Gabriel.
And a fourth person.
A woman Khloe recognized immediately.
Her own mother.
Alive.
Standing beside them.
Khloe's hands began shaking.
Gabriel whispered:
“Your mother didn't abandon you.”
He looked at Marcus.
“And your mother didn't die.”
Then he smiled bitterly.
“Both women were hiding from the same man.”
Marcus's voice was barely audible.
“Who?”
Gabriel looked directly into his eyes.
“Your grandfather.”
The silence that followed was absolute.
Because suddenly the conspiracy was no longer about Isabella.
It wasn't about Adrian.
It wasn't even about Gabriel.
It had started generations earlier.
May you like
And the people Marcus and Khloe had trusted most...
had spent their entire lives protecting them from the truth.
