Chapter 14 - The Truth About the ShootingTessa hit the floor hard.
For one terrible second, Vincent believed she was dead.
Then she gasped.
Blood spread across her shoulder, but the bullet had not entered her chest.
Vincent placed Elena in Lauren’s arms.
“Stay down,” he ordered.
He pushed himself out of the wheelchair.
His legs collapsed beneath him.
He landed on one knee.
The room froze.
Vincent had not stood since the shooting.
Pain tore through his spine, but his arms locked against the bed.
Tessa stared at him.
“Vincent.”
He dragged himself toward her.
Rafael took one step forward.
“Don’t.”
Vincent looked up at him.
“You shot her.”
“Silas did.”
“Then why are you still standing beside him?”
Rafael glanced at his uncle.
Silas raised the gun again.
“You’re all witnesses,” he said.
A second shot never came.
Marco tackled Silas from behind.
The gun flew across the floor.
Evelyn fired at Dominic as he ran through the hallway. The bullet struck the wall beside his head, forcing him to turn.
Rafael grabbed Noah.
The boy screamed.
Tessa tried to rise.
Vincent reached her first.
He pulled himself across the floor and covered her body with his own.
Rafael held the gun against Noah’s head.
“Stop,” he ordered.
Everyone froze.
The newborn cried in Lauren’s arms.
The sound filled the room.
Rafael looked at Vincent.
“You were never supposed to survive.”
Vincent kept one hand over Tessa’s shoulder.
“You should have made sure.”
“I told the shooter to miss.”
“But Silas changed the order.”
Silas struggled beneath Marco.
“I did what was necessary.”
Rafael looked at him.
“You killed my father’s son.”
“Your father was weak.”
The words seemed to break something inside Rafael.
Silas continued.
“He loved Vincent more than he loved the family. He hid the trust. He protected the Morgan heir. He gave the empire away.”
Rafael’s hand tightened around Noah.
“He gave it to the children.”
“He gave it to a nurse and a baby.”
Tessa, bleeding on the floor, reached for the legal page.
Her fingers found it beneath the bed.
She pulled it toward herself.
Rafael noticed.
“Give me the page.”
Tessa looked at him.
“No.”
He raised the gun slightly.
“Noah dies.”
Vincent’s voice became calm.
“Rafael.”
The man looked at him.
“You don’t want to kill Noah.”
“You don’t know what I want.”
“You want recognition.”
Rafael’s expression flickered.
“You spent your entire life standing behind men who took credit for your work. Silas called himself the Steward. Dominic called himself the negotiator. Your father called himself the founder.”
Vincent shifted closer to Tessa.
“But you were the one moving the money. You were the one controlling the Board. You were the one who arranged the shooting.”
Rafael stared at him.
“You think you understand me?”
“I understand that you want the page because it proves your father was not the owner.”
“Your father was not the owner either.”
“Then who was?”
Rafael’s silence answered.
Tessa unfolded the page.
She read aloud.
“The original owner of the Harbor Compact was Elena Morgan.”
Sarah Morgan closed her eyes.
Tessa continued.
“She created the Compact to protect immigrant workers from corrupt companies and violent gangs. She transferred control to the Corvino family under one condition: the Compact would return to the Morgan bloodline if the Corvino heir acted against the interests of the community.”
Vincent looked at Tessa.
His mother’s name was Elena.
The baby in Lauren’s arms was Elena.
The room seemed to form a circle around the truth.
Tessa read further.
“The trust will be activated when a Corvino heir and a Morgan heir stand together.”
Rafael shook his head.
“That is impossible.”
“No,” Sarah said. “Your father knew.”
Rafael turned toward her.
“You were supposed to be dead.”
“I was supposed to disappear.”
“You betrayed us.”
“I refused to let you turn the Compact into a weapon.”
Rafael’s grip on Noah loosened.
The boy moved suddenly.
He bit Rafael’s hand.
Rafael shouted.
Noah dropped to the floor and crawled beneath the bed.
Marco seized the moment.
He crossed the room and knocked Rafael’s weapon away.
Rafael fought with brutal speed, but Marco had trained for years.
They crashed into the wall.
Silas tried to reach the gun on the floor.
Evelyn kicked it beneath a cabinet.
Dominic appeared in the doorway holding Lauren’s baby.
He had moved faster than anyone saw.
Lauren screamed.
“Elena!”
Dominic held the newborn against his chest.
“Drop your weapons.”
Vincent froze.
Dominic smiled.
The baby cried weakly against him.
“I’m sorry,” he told Lauren. “But this is the only way.”
Rafael stared at Dominic.
“You took the child?”
“You lost control.”
“Give her back.”
Dominic looked toward him.
“You were never the owner either.”
Rafael’s face changed.
Dominic turned toward Vincent.
“Sign the harbor papers.”
Vincent remained on the floor beside Tessa.
“You don’t want the papers.”
“I want the trust.”
“You want the baby.”
“I want both.”
“What will you do with her?”
“Raise her as the legal heir. Control her assets. Control the Compact.”
Vincent looked toward Elena.
Her tiny face was red from crying.
“You’ll never touch her.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“Then watch her die.”
He moved toward the hallway.
Vincent’s mind raced.
Dominic believed the paper gave him power.
He did not know the trust had already been activated by Tessa and Noah standing together.
He did not know Maya had been copying the records.
He did not know Marco had installed a small microphone beneath Vincent’s collar during the drive.
Every word Dominic said was being recorded.
Vincent looked toward the security camera in the corner.
It was old, but its red light was on.
Tessa understood.
She whispered, “Keep him talking.”
Vincent nodded.
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“You were the
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