PART 69: THE BLOOD TEST
The gunfire outside seemed distant.
Muted.
Unimportant.
Because nobody could stop staring at Gabriel.
Richard Holloway.
Alexander Vale.
The leader of The Circle.
His father?
“No.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“No.”
Again.
And again.
As though repeating it might make it true.
Samuel looked devastated.
“I wish I were wrong.”
Julian stepped forward.
“How do you know?”
Samuel reached into his jacket.
Then slowly removed a folder.
Old.
Worn.
Protected for years.
Inside was a birth record.
A private hospital.
A sealed delivery room.
A missing father’s name.
Then another document.
A DNA report.
My stomach dropped.
Gabriel grabbed the papers.
His hands shook violently.
He read every page.
Twice.
Three times.
Then his knees gave out.
Because the results were clear.
99.98% probability.
Richard Holloway was his biological father.
The room fell silent.
Then Gabriel whispered:
“My mother never told me.”
Samuel lowered his eyes.
“Because she was terrified.”
Outside, engines roared.
More vehicles.
More men.
More danger.
But Gabriel wasn’t listening anymore.
His entire life had changed in thirty seconds.
Then a spotlight suddenly flooded the cabin.
A voice echoed through a loudspeaker.
Calm.
Confident.
Familiar.
“Gabriel.”
The room froze.
“I think it’s time we met.”
PART 70: FACE TO FACE WITH ALEXANDER
Nobody moved.
The spotlight remained fixed on the cabin.
The voice came again.
“Come outside.”
Gabriel’s face had gone pale.
For years he had been searching for answers.
Now those answers were standing outside.
Waiting.
Julian grabbed his arm.
“It’s a trap.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t go.”
Gabriel looked toward the shattered window.
Then toward the DNA report still clutched in his hand.
Slowly.
He stood.
And walked outside.
The night air felt cold.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
Dozens of armed figures surrounded the clearing.
Black vehicles.
Dark uniforms.
Silent faces.
And in the center stood Richard Holloway.
Alexander Vale.
He looked exactly as I remembered.
Calm.
Elegant.
Controlled.
The perfect mask.
For several seconds father and son simply stared at one another.
Then Richard smiled.
Not the smile of a criminal.
Not the smile of a mastermind.
The smile of a man seeing his child.
“Hello, Gabriel.”
Gabriel’s voice shook.
“Why?”
Richard looked genuinely saddened.
“Because I wanted more for you.”
The answer only made things worse.
“You murdered people.”
Richard nodded.
“You think I don’t know that?”
“You destroyed families.”
Another nod.
“You think I don’t know that either?”
For the first time, Richard’s confidence cracked.
Then he whispered:
“Everything I built was for a reason.”
Gabriel stared at him.
“What reason?”
Richard looked directly at me.
At Elena.
Then he spoke the words that changed everything.
“Ask your mother what happened in 1978.”
The world stopped.
Because 1978 was the year my mother disappeared.
The year Samuel vanished.
The year everything began.
And suddenly I realized there were secrets even I didn’t know.
PART 71: THE SECRET ELENA NEVER KNEW
Richard surrendered.
Just like that.
No escape.
No gunfight.
No final stand.
The authorities arrested him before sunrise.
But his last words haunted me.
Ask your mother what happened in 1978.
My mother was supposed to be dead.
Yet somehow she remained at the center of everything.
Three days later, Samuel arrived carrying a small wooden chest.
“I found this in one of Alexander’s vaults.”
The chest looked ancient.
Its lock had rusted with age.
Inside were dozens of documents.
Letters.
Photographs.
Birth certificates.
And one sealed envelope.
Across the front was written:
FOR ELENA.
My heart nearly stopped.
The handwriting belonged to my mother.
I opened the envelope.
Inside was a letter.
My dearest Elena,
If you are reading this, then the truth can no longer be hidden.
You were never supposed to learn any of this.
Not because I didn’t love you.
Because I loved you too much.
My hands trembled.
The next sentence shattered everything.
You were not the child they wanted.
You were the child who survived.
The room went silent.
I continued reading.
In 1978, two children disappeared.
One was Samuel.
The other was never reported.
Because the second child was me.
I stopped breathing.
Julian stared at me.
Ernesto looked stunned.
And then I reached the final line.
The line that launched an entirely new mystery.
The Circle did not begin with Rosa.
It did not begin with Alexander.
It began with your grandfather.
And he is still alive.
END OF BOOK 3
