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Chapter 8 - The Betrayal

The morning after their kiss, the dream was shattered by cold, brutal reality.

At 7:00 AM, six black federal suburbans pulled through the iron gates of the Moretti estate, their sirens blaring, flashing blue and red lights reflecting off the marble facade.

Emma was in the kitchen preparing breakfast when twenty armed FBI agents in tactical gear burst through the rear doors, their weapons raised.

"Federal search warrant!" a man shouted through a bullhorn. "Everyone down on the floor! Hands where we can see them!"

Emma dropped to her knees instantly, shielding two-year-old Sophia under her body while Marco and the estate guards were forced to the ground at gunpoint.

Gabriel walked down the grand staircase calmly, wearing a dark suit, his face an impenetrable mask of iron.

A tall man in a navy suit stepped forward—Special Agent Davis of the Organized Crime Task Force.

"Gabriel Moretti," Davis announced, holding up a white envelope. "You are under arrest for conspiracy to commit interstate wire fraud and racketeering."

Gabriel didn't look at the agent. His eyes swept the room, instantly finding Emma kneeling on the kitchen floor, holding a crying Sophia tight against her chest.

"On what evidence, Agent Davis?" Gabriel asked coldly.

"A secure digital log from your internal network," Davis replied, a smug smile spreading across his face. "Transmitted from an encrypted IP address inside this mansion three hours ago. Someone inside your house handed us your shipping manifests on a silver platter."

Gabriel’s eyes locked onto the tablet in Davis's hand.

On the screen was an access log showing the exact security code used to download the files at 4:00 AM.

It was the code assigned to the small library terminal.

The terminal Emma had been using every night.

Victoria stepped out from behind the tactical team, wearing a beige trench coat, a cold, triumphant smile on her sharp face.

"I told you, Gabriel," Victoria sneered, her voice echoing through the ruined quiet of the hall. "I told you she was a snake. She was hired through an outside agency that has ties to the Falcone family's shell companies. She’s been downloading your files since the week she arrived!"

Gabriel turned his head slowly toward Emma.

Emma stood up slowly, holding Sophia, her face completely drained of color. "Gabriel... no! I didn't! I don't even know what a shipping manifest is!"

Agent Davis stepped forward, pulling a pair of steel handcuffs from his belt. "Emma Brooks, you are also under federal detainer as a material witness and co-conspirator."

"Touch her," Gabriel’s voice boomed through the hallway, so loud and terrifying that two tactical agents instinctively lowered their weapons, "and I will burn your agency to the ground before noon."

"Gabriel, the evidence is on her computer terminal!" Davis shouted.

"I don't give a damn about your terminal!" Gabriel roared, stepping down the final three stairs, his dark eyes fixed entirely on Emma’s trembling, tear-streaked face.

He walked past the armed federal agents as if they were invisible. He stood directly in front of Emma.

He looked down into her dark hazel eyes—the eyes that had wept for his daughter, the eyes that had looked at him with pure, unreserved love three hours ago in the dark hallway.

"Did you do it, Emma?" Gabriel asked softly, his voice trembling with a terrifying vulnerability. "Look me in the eye and tell me."

"No, Gabriel," Emma sobbed, holding his gaze without a single flicker of doubt. "I swear on my mother’s grave. I only ever cared about you and the girls. I swear it."

Gabriel stared at her for three endless seconds.

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Then, he turned around and faced the FBI agents, stepping between Emma and the handcuffs.

"She stays here," Gabriel commanded coldly. "Take me."

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