Chapter 4 - The Unbroken Code
By midnight, Gabriel’s penthouse had been converted into a tactical command center.
Marcus Vance sat at the kitchen island surrounded by laptop screens, legal pads, and court filings. Sitting across from him was Regina, Gabriel’s former executive assistant, who had resigned from Mendes Corp three hours after Gabriel walked out of the boardroom.
“I brought the private files from Julian’s locked server,” Regina said, sliding a encrypted flash drive across the marble counter. “It took me two hours to bypass the security protocols, but it’s all here.”
Gabriel paced behind the island, holding a mug of cold black coffee. “What did you find, Regina?”
“Julian didn't just threaten Lucia seven years ago,” Regina revealed, opening a series of financial spreadsheets on her laptop screen. “He actively sabotaged her music career. He contacted the Providence Symphony Orchestra and had her teaching contract terminated. He made sure she couldn't secure private insurance, leaving her completely vulnerable when she fell ill.”
Gabriel’s fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. “He isolated her so she would have no resources to hire a lawyer and establish paternity.”
“It gets worse,” Marcus chimed in, pointing at a legal document on his tablet. “Thorne has bribed the state social services administrator assigned to Clara’s file. They’ve scheduled an emergency transfer for tomorrow morning. They’re moving Clara to a high-security state facility in upstate Massachusetts—a place where visitation rights are restricted and legal appeals can take up to a year.”
“They’re trying to hide her from me,” Gabriel whispered.
“They’re trying to exhaust you, Gabriel,” Marcus corrected sharply. “Thorne knows that if you spend the next year fighting in probate court, you won't have the time or energy to mount a proxy battle for Mendes Corp. He’s using your daughter as a human bargaining chip to force you to surrender your voting shares.”
Gabriel stopped pacing. He walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring out at the glowing skyline of Boston.
For twenty years, he had played by the rules of the corporate world. He had fought with legal briefs, board votes, stock options, and public relations campaigns. He had let men like Julian Thorne dictate the terms of his life.
“Regina,” Gabriel said without turning around.
“Yes, Mr. Mendes?”
“Call the Boston Globe,” Gabriel commanded, his voice dropping into a dark, decisive register. “Call the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and every local television station in New England. I want a press conference scheduled for eight o’clock tomorrow morning outside the steps of Sunshine House.”
Marcus stood up, startled. “Gabriel, if you go public before the paternity test is finalized, Thorne will launch a smear campaign. They’ll call you an unhinged executive trying to cover up a corporate scandal by weaponizing an orphan child!”
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Gabriel turned around. His dark eyes were burning with a fierce, terrifying clarity.
“Let them call me whatever they want,” Gabriel declared. “Julian Thorne built his empire on secrets, shame, and fear. Tomorrow morning, I am going to show the world exactly who he is. And then I am going to bring my daughter home.”
