The Secret Behind Daniel’s Silence
Chapter 03 - The Secret Behind Daniel’s Silence
Daniel did not deny being with Marina.
After Gabriel cut off contact, Marina collapsed outside the clinic during a pregnancy complication. Daniel was investigating suspicious foundation payments there and drove her to the hospital. When doctors ordered weeks of monitoring, he stayed because she had no family nearby and Gabriel refused every message sent through his office.
Dalia had photographed them leaving appointments together. She cropped the images, removed hospital timestamps, and sent them anonymously to Gabriel as “proof” that Marina had been seeing Daniel before the separation. The pictures completed the story she wanted him to believe.
Daniel projected the original files onto the screen. Every photograph was dated after Gabriel had filed for divorce.
The crowd turned toward Dalia, but she refused to surrender. She claimed Marina’s paternity report could still be fraudulent. Marina then removed a second envelope from her bag. The independent laboratory had tested samples under court supervision. The chain of custody was signed by two physicians, a judge, and Gabriel’s family doctor, who had preserved a sample from a previous examination.
Gabriel read every page. There was no uncertainty left.
The baby was his.
He looked at Marina’s stomach and seemed to forget the cameras. “A son or a daughter?” he asked.
“A daughter.”
For one fragile second, grief replaced scandal. Gabriel had missed the first heartbeat, the first ultrasound, and every frightened night Marina endured alone. He reached toward her, then stopped before touching her.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Marina’s eyes filled, but her voice stayed steady. “An apology can begin the truth. It cannot erase what happened.”
Dalia suddenly grabbed the folder and tried to tear it. Security stopped her before she reached the pages. As they escorted her away, she shouted that Gabriel would lose the foundation if the full donor records became public.
Daniel exchanged a look with the board chairman. That threat revealed the final piece.
The diverted money was not Dalia’s only secret. She had used stolen patient identities to create fake beneficiaries, then routed funds through luxury accounts. Several approvals carried Gabriel’s electronic signature.
Gabriel insisted he had never seen them.
Daniel placed a tablet before him. The signatures came from Gabriel’s private office on nights when only two people had clearance.
Gabriel was one.
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The other was his chief of staff—Dalia’s older brother.
Before the night ended, Gabriel would have to prove he was deceived, or lose the foundation bearing his family’s name.
