Gabriel's POV
His eyes begged for me to let him go. My men had been hard on him and I had no intentions to make it easier.
His file noted he was fifty two years, but he looked a little over forty.
"Charles, isn't it?" I asked.
He groaned, shaking his head slowly.
I sat on the opposite chair facing him. My men stood behind me and two orders outside the gate.
"I don't like to waste my time. We'll make this easy and you can leave," I warned. "Are we clear?"
He nodded, looking around.
"Why were you spying on Isabella?" I asked calmly.
He gulped and looked at the men standing behind me.
"I...I wasn't spying," he said.
"You weren't?" I asked. "Then what the hell is this?"
I threw some pictures at him. They fell to the floor. It was filled with him tailing Isabella. From the office to her house and then sitting at the club three seats aways from Isabella and her friend.
He looked up, scared knowing he had been caught.
"Let's make one thing clear," I said, crouching to his level. "I'm not as patient as my men. If you think I'll hesitate to end your miserable life, you're dead wrong."
He grunted but said nothing.
I smirked. "I don't enjoy this. But if you make me..." I grabbed the chair's armrests, leaning in so close I could hear his shallow breaths. "I'll take my sweet time breaking you apart."
He froze, saying nothing.
I sighed, straightening. "Fine. If you won't talk, you're of no use to me." I turned to my men. "Get rid of him. Make it slow."
The man stiffened. Then he panicked. "Wait! Wait...please! I'll talk!"
I paused, raising an eyebrow. "Now you have something to say?"
He breathing turned rough and fast. "I wasn't spying on Isabella to harm her. I was keeping her safe."
"Do I look stupid to you?" I asked, not interested in his lies.
He shook his head, struggling to free himself from my men.
"It's the truth!" he stammered.
"And I am poor," I mocked.
"I...I mean it," he said and groaned as my men hit him hard on the stomach.
I scoffed, turning away. "You wasted my time. I don't have time for this. Kill him."
Both my men grabbed him, but he thrashed violently, desperation coating his every word.
"Wait! I used to work for Sterling Tech!" he blurted, his voice cracking. "I know who's stealing from the company!"
I stopped in my tracks.
Slowly, I turned back. "What did you just say?"
He swallowed hard. "I know who's stealing money from the company," he repeated.
"If I find out you're lying..." I warned and he interrupted.
"I swear. I am not. Why would I risk it?" He asked.
I studied him carefully before motioning for my men to release him. They obeyed instantly, stepping back.
The man exhaled in relief, rubbing his wrists.
"Talk," I ordered coldly.
He hesitated, licking his dry lips. "I…I used to be a hired hand. Not for Victor Sterling, but for someone else."
"Who?" I asked.
"Your father, Julian Knight," he answered.
My jaw tightened.
"My father sent you?" My voice turned sharp, dangerous.
He nodded. "Years ago. He wanted someone inside Sterling Tech, someone to create loopholes, leaks, weaknesses. He wanted the company vulnerable."
"And Victor Sterling never noticed?"
"He was too busy playing powerful CEO," the man said bitterly. "His executives got greedy. They took advantage of the gaps I created, laundering money under his nose."
I processed his words, my mind moving a mile a minute. "Who else was involved?"
"James Holloway," he said immediately. "One of the highest-ranked executives. He paid me to get rid of certain documents. The documents proving the fraud."
"Do you still have them?"
A slow, hesitant nod. "Yes."
I crossed my arms. "Why didn't you use them before now?"
"Because I was warned to stay quiet," he admitted. "But when I saw you taking over Sterling Tech, I knew things were changing. And I thought…if I followed Isabella, I could find a way to warn her."
His voice wavered slightly, but I wasn't convinced. There was something else. Something he wasn't saying.
I took a step forward, lowering my voice. "Why was my father so interested in the Sterlings?"
The man paled, his body stiffening.
I repeated my question. "Why?"
He hesitated, looking around. He was clearly hiding something.
"Speak!" I yelled.
His breathing increased and he swallowed. "I...I," he stammered.
"I promise I'll let you go," I said.
"Why should I trust you?" He asked.
"I never go back on my word. And your life is in my hands. You either take it or leave it," I answered.
"Okay, you can't go back in your word," he said.
"Talk," I commanded.
"Your father, Julian and Isabella's mother were lovers," he said.
My pulse increased and a deafening silence followed.
I felt my breath hitch.
"Don't play with me," I warned in a cold deadly voice.
"I am not. I used to work for him. The old staffs know," he answered.
"You wouldn't know because you were never around the mansion. You and your dad never talked. Heck, you hated seeing him," Charles continued.
"Did your mother know?" I asked.
"Yes," he said nodding.
My temper rose. Charles did know my father and likely me as a child.
My father had been having an affair with Eleanor Sterling.
I clenched my jaw, my hands fisting at my sides. "You better be lying."
"I wish I was," the man whispered, his voice laced with regret. "Your father wasn't just interested in destroying Sterling Tech after Eleanor left him. He wanted revenge. She wanted to save her marriage and your father was crazy in love with her. He didn't take it well."
My vision darkened.
I wished I didn't know. My mind cursed at the thought of having to learn my father was busy giving his affection to Eleanor while he ignored me. He made mom suffer for his affection until she left.
That bastard! He made my mom look crazy, crying all night. I remembered mom losing her mind, taking drugs every night to sleep.
I would make him see hell. He would pay for everything he did to her and me. And Eleanor, she had better be ready for me.
I turned away, chest heaving. My thoughts spun in chaos.
"Get him out of my sight," I muttered, my voice like steel. "And bring me those documents."
"Yes, sir."
As my men dragged him away, I stood there, gripping the edge of the table so hard my knuckles turned white.
My father had kept this from me.