Chapter 7 - The Trap at the PierThe air inside the warehouse turned deathly quiet, save for the sound of rain drumming against the tin roof.
Elena looked at Damian’s back. Her breath hitched. "Damian... is this true?"
Damian didn't turn around immediately. When he finally looked back at her, his expression was tortured, heavy with a burden he had carried for years.
"Part of it is true," Damian said, his voice quiet and steady. "Your mother was my father’s business partner. And yes, legally, 40 percent of Vescari Holdings belonged to the Whitlock estate."
A cold knot tied itself in Elena’s stomach. "You knew who I was... four years ago?"
"No," Damian said firmly, looking directly into her eyes. "Four years ago, I didn't know your last name. I only knew a girl saved my life in a burning building. It took me two years of searching to discover that the girl who saved me was Clara Whitlock’s daughter. And when I finally found you..."
Damian’s gaze darkened as he glared at Gavin. "...you were already living with Gavin Mercer. He had convinced you that you were worthless, keeping you isolated so you would never look into your mother’s estate."
"He’s lying to you, Elena!" Gavin shrieked, aiming the gun back and forth between them. "He kept you in the dark! He brought you to his house three nights ago to protect his own fortune!"
"I didn't bring her to my house to protect my fortune, Mercer," Damian said, taking a slow step forward toward Gavin. "I brought her to my house because for four years, every breath I took belonged to her. And unlike you... I spent the last three days transferring 100 percent of Vescari Holdings into her name."
Gavin’s jaw dropped. "What?"
Damian pulled a folded legal document from his inner pocket with his uninjured hand and threw it onto the floor between them.
"The board meeting was held yesterday morning," Damian said coldly. "I relinquished my sole control. Elena Whitlock is now the majority shareholder and Chairman of Vescari Enterprises. Everything I own—every building, every stock, every cent—belongs to her."
Elena felt tears prick her eyes. The heavy doubt that had threatened to tear her heart apart evaporated instantly. Damian hadn't used her; he had restored her true birthright.
Gavin looked at the document on the floor, his mind shattering under the realization that he had lost completely. His entire life was built on greed, and now he was standing before the woman he tried to crush, who was now one of the wealthiest figures on the East Coast.
"No..." Gavin whimpered, his arm shaking violently. "No! I won't let you have it! If I can't have the empire, nobody will!"
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Gavin pulled the trigger.
BANG!
