Chapter 107
Antonio’s car pulled into the driveway, and Zabelle sighed in relief at the sight of the familiar mansion.
The drive home had been quiet, but peaceful, and it was something she would like to experience again.
As they stepped inside, Antonio glanced at her. “Why don’t you go and freshen up? I need to make a few calls in the study,” he told her and Zabelle nodded, as she could use a shower.
“Alright,” she replied softly, heading toward the staircase.
Antonio watched her go, and when she was out of sight, he turned and headed toward his study. Once he was inside, he closed the door behind him.
He leaned back against the door, running a hand through his hair as his mind drifted to earlier in the evening when he had received the text message that had made him leave his office.
It had been from Martin, his head of security.
“Sir, I have the report you requested regarding Zabelle’s childhood. I’m outside your office, since your secretary told me that Mrs Garcia is in there.”
The words had jolted him, sending his thoughts spiralling. Knowing the report was about her, he immediately got up to go see Martin.
He had asked his head of security to dig into Zabelle’s past a few days after she had broken down in tears upon accepting that her father would never come to love her.
The pain in her eyes didn’t leave his head, and he’d decided he needed to know more about her.
However, standing alone in his study, Antonio wondered if he was ready to face what Martin had uncovered as from the look on the guard’s face, he knew it was serious.
He walked over to his desk, sinking into the leather chair as his mind took him back to the same memory he had been trying to push aside but couldn’t.
It was a night he’d never forget; Zabelle sitting on the bed, her knees drawn to her chest as silent tears streamed down her face. Her broken words still echoed in his ears.
“How… how could a father do this to his own daughter?”
She had been trembling, her voice raw with anguish, and something had clicked in Antonio’s head that night.
He hadn’t said anything then, as she was hurting but as he watched her sleep, her words rang deep in his head, making him realize some things.
Zabelle was different from the rest of her family in ways that couldn’t be ignored.
While Vanessa and their brother shared distinct features of their parents, Vanessa, the spitting image of their mother, and their brother, a mirror of their father, Zabelle stood apart.
Her blonde hair, her delicate features, her striking eyes, none of it aligned with Gabriel and Lily. No one in her family had blonde hair to begin with.
The more he thought about it, the more his suspicions grew.
Every interaction with her father was one of indifference, a stark contrast to how Gabriel treated Vanessa and her brother.
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There was no warmth, no pride in his tone when he spoke to Zabelle.
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Even if she had come at a time they did want her, their hatred for her seemed overboard, and that was when the question
came.
Was Zabelle really Gabriel and Lily’s daughter?
Antonio’s jaw clenched as he looked at the report now sitting on his desk, its presence almost taunting him.
Martin had handed it to him just hours ago, his expression not good as he said, “Everything you asked for is in here, sir.”
The answer was in his hands now, but for the first time in a long while, Antonio hesitated.
What if this report confirmed what he suspected? What if it revealed that the life Zabelle thought she knew had been a lie? What then?
He exhaled sharply, setting the report down without opening it.
His hands rested on the desk as he stared at it, the weight of what he might uncover pressing heavily on his chest.
Antonio reached for the report, his fingers trembling slightly as he opened the sealed folder. He exhaled deeply, bracing himself, before his eyes scanned the first few lines.
The initial pages contained basic details, dates, locations, and summaries of observation, all he didn’t bother to read.
Then his gaze fell on the first piece of concrete evidence, and his breath hitched.
“Blood Group Analysis:
Zabelle: O Negative
Gabriel: A Positive
Lily: B Positive”
The words were written boldly on the paper, and although he wasn’t a scientist, his mind immediately grasped the implication.
It was biologically impossible for Zabelle to be their daughter.
He leaned back in his chair, the weight of the realization pressing down on him.
The report went further, detailing that both parents would have needed to carry the recessive O gene for Zabelle to have her blood type. But they didn’t.
Antonio clenched his jaw, flipping through the pages until he reached the section marked “DNA Analysis.”
His heart pounded as he read:
“Sample Source: Subject A
Analysis Results: No genetic match found between Subject A and Subject B”
It was there in black and white–irrefutable evidence that Zabelle was not Gabriel’s biological daughter.
There was another analysis attached, and he was sure it was for Zabelle and Lily, as Martin was someone who made thorough investigations. One that wouldn’t leave room for doubts.
There was a possibility that Zabelle could be Lily’s daughter and not Gabriel’s daughter, but that possibility had been
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eliminated
Antonio’s hand tightened on the edge of the report as anger and frustration bubbled within him.
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He thought back to the countless times Zabelle had spoken about her childhood, the moments of hurt and rejection she had endured.
Gabriel’s terrible behaviour suddenly made sense, his indifference toward her explained in a way that made Antonio’s stomach churn.
Zabelle wasn’t his daughter
Now that he had figured that out, various questions ran through his head. Who was Zabelle’s actual father?
Antonio slammed the folder shut and leaned forward, his elbows resting on the desk as he buried his face in his hands.
He had wanted answers, but the truth felt heavier than he’d anticipated, and he wasn’t the one affected by it. He didn’t want to imagine how Zabelle would feel once the truth came to light.
After a moment, he straightened, his resolve hardening. Zabelle didn’t know any of this yet, and until she didn’t need to, at least not yet.
Whatever this revelation meant, it was something he would need to handle carefully.
Zabelle deserved to know, but the timing and approach had to be right, and it needed to be after he had discovered all of the
answers.
For now, though, he had
to
keep this information secure. He stood, locking the report away in his safe.
“Gabriel,” he muttered under his breath, anger brewing in him. “By the time I find out the entire truth. You’re going to pay for what you’ve done.”
Taking a deep breath to maintain his composure, he headed out of his study and up to his room. When he got in, he didn’t see Zabelle in the room, and so he assumed she was in the bath,
Taking out his phone, he decided to use the opportunity to text Martin to make further investigation.
As he sent the text, he heard the door to the bathroom, and he instinctively turned to look at Zabelle.
“Ah!” She flinched in horror when she saw him in the room, and it led to her towel dropping.
Fuck! Antonio cursed in his head as his eyes feasted on her naked body, the heat rushing to his lower body and his friend down there immediately rising.
“Look away!” He heard Zabelle yell as she scrambled to get the towel.
Antonio came back to his senses as he quickly turned away, and he heard Zabelle curse before hearing the opening and shutting of a door.
She was in the closet.
Taking a deep breath, he cursed himself for not being able to control the way his thoughts were spiralling, all thanks to just a few seconds of seeing her naked.
Antonio remembered how she had squirmed underneath him and her erotic expressions as he pounded in and out of her without any mercy.
He needed to have a feel of it once again. He had gone for weeks without getting intimate with anyone all thanks to the fact that Zabelle had come into his life and now that he was no longer celibate, he wanted more,
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However, the fact that only Zabelle could give it to him put him at a crossroad, and he ran his fingers through his hair roughly.
When she came out, she was dressed. He saw that she was red in the face and he cleared his throat.
“You’re red,” he blurted out and as soon as the words were out, he bit his tongue.
Zabelle immediately moved to glare at him, and he immediately looked elsewhere.
“You didn’t look away,” she hissed.
“There’s nothing to be ashamed of, I’ve seen you naked, and I liked what I saw,” he retorted without thinking, and he wondered if he had inhaled something that was making him say all these things.
