CHAPTER 338: TANIA’S VENGEANCE

Boyfriend?

The word hammered inside Gabriel’s skull like a cruel joke. His eyes lifted to the man towering above him, and a sick weight pressed on his chest.

Vlad was everything he was not—young, powerful, strikingly handsome. The kind of man any woman would crave.

Gabriel suddenly felt self-conscious and found himself too old, too weak to fulfill Tania’s desires. In that moment, he understood the brutal truth: she had never wanted him, only his wealth.

A bitter sneer tugged at his lips. His pride crumbled. His illusion that the age gap didn’t matter as long as they loved each other was shattered. No amount of money could ever satisfy her, and he couldn’t compare himself with a man like Vlad.

"Why?" Gabriel rasped, anger and anguish bleeding into his voice. "Why deceive me? If you wanted him, why come to me at all? Why lie?"

Tania laughed. "Why? Because I could. I lied before and fooled the whole Beaumont family. It’s not a big deal."

Gabriel’s hands pressed hard into the floor, fists trembling. She wasn’t even pretending anymore—her deceit stood bare, naked in her words.

"I lied about the pregnancy before," she went on with mocking sweetness. "Did you forget so soon? You should have doubted me. But no, you believed every word I said. A few fake tears, a pitiful expression, and you were deceived. I chose to look weak, to make you pity me."

Gabriel’s whole body shook, rage burning through him. At last, he saw it—her approach, her weakness, all of it had been part of a scheme.

"Why target my family?" he spat. "You deceived Denis, then you tricked me. What do you want from us?"

"Quiet," Vlad snapped, his voice like thunder. He backhanded Gabriel across the face, making his head snap to the side. "You don’t raise your voice at her."

He drew back his arm, fist coiling for another strike.

"Vlad," Tania called out, halting him mid-motion.

Vlad’s fist halted just inches from Gabriel’s face before he shoved him aside and took a step back.

Gabriel wiped the blood away that trickled at the corner of his lips, his eyes blazing with fury as they fixed on Tania.

"I gave you everything," he muttered hoarsely. "I gave you a haven, protected you... and this is how you repay me? By betraying me?"

He recalled bitterly how he had even gone as far as instructing his lawyer to draft a will, transferring his wealth and properties to the child he thought was his, only to realize now that it had all been a sham. It was a cruel trick from a deceitful woman.

"It was my greatest mistake to trust you," Gabriel said, regret and rage clashing in his voice. "I should’ve known better. I should’ve listened to Jeanne."

His expression twisted, fury rising in a fresh wave. "You deceived me. For that—I’ll kill you."

Summoning what strength he had, he staggered to his feet and lunged at her, his hand outstretched. But Vlad was faster. His long leg shot out, slamming into Gabriel’s body and knocking him back to the floor.

Gabriel curled in on himself, teeth gritted against the pain, yet his burning glare never wavered. He trembled both in agony and fury.

"I’ve been waiting for this moment far too long," Tania said coolly, stepping closer. "Though I never expected it to arrive so soon. You made a grave mistake, Gabriel. You shouldn’t have returned home at the wrong time."

She motioned to his frail, trembling frame. "Look at you—weak, pathetic, old. You should have stayed at the police station a little longer. But instead, you came back and caught us. Now... there is no escape for you."

"You..." Gabriel’s nostrils flared as he tried to strike her, but Tania’s hand shot out, gripping his wrist before he could land the blow.

"Don’t even think about it, old man," Tania hissed, shoving his hand aside with such force that Gabriel staggered back.

Helpless rage burned in his chest as he glared back at her. "What do you want?" he ground out between clenched teeth. "What’s your game?"

Her eyes narrowed like blades. "You really want to know?" She seized his collar and yanked him closer, her lips brushing his ear as she whispered, "Because you destroyed my family. You killed my parents."

"What?" Gabriel’s brows shot up in shock, confusion knotting his face.

’I killed her parents? How is that possible?’

His mind reeled. He had no memory of such a thing. Surely, she was mistaken.

"You are wrong," he rasped. "I don’t even know who your parents are. I never had a reason to harm them. You have mistaken me for someone else."

A bitter laugh tore from Tania’s throat. "You don’t know my parents?" she scoffed humorlessly. "Of course you don’t. Men like you never care. To you, they were just pawns—useful when you needed them, disposable when you didn’t. You used them up and then slaughtered them without a second thought."

Gabriel stared at her, utterly bewildered. Who were her parents? What had he supposedly done to them? His memory held nothing.

Before he could speak, she spat, "Your whole family is cruel. It began with you and that old man. If you and your father hadn’t made that choice years ago, if you hadn’t forced my father to switch those babies, none of this would have happened. My parents would still be alive."

Gabriel’s chest twisted painfully. He felt as though he couldn’t breathe. His mind dragged him back to the fateful night he had struck his pregnant wife, causing her water to break.

Jeanne had been rushed to the hospital, but their baby couldn’t be saved. Desperate and unhinged, Gabriel had begged his father for help. It was he who had pushed Dimitri into making that unthinkable decision of swapping their stillborn daughter with one of Gervis’s just-born sons. Out of pity, Dimitri had agreed and persuaded the doctor to carry out the exchange.

Staring at Tania with disbelief, Gabriel muttered in a daze, "So... that doctor was your father?"

"Yes." Her head dipped in a fierce nod, tears glinting in her eyes. "My father—the doctor who delivered those children—and my mother, the nurse who assisted him. You bribed them to exchange the babies and hide the truth. They kept their silence all these years. But you..."

Her teeth clenched as she yanked his collar tighter. "You are a monster. You murdered them because you were afraid your secret would come out and you’d lose Denis."

Gabriel’s stomach lurched. He had ordered the doctor’s death but had never bothered to trace his family. If he had known that the doctor had a daughter who could come to take revenge on him, he would have erased her, too.

Regret carved deep lines across his face.

"My parents never threatened the Beaumonts," Tania sneered. "Yet you targeted them and staged that accident. You left me alone in this world, drowning in misery."

Her gaze burned with pure vengeance. "From that day on, I had only one purpose—avenge them. And I’ll do whatever it takes."

A twisted sneer pulled at Gabriel’s lips. "How wrong you are. You claim your parents never troubled me? Hah..."

Gabriel had poured a fortune into the doctor’s hands to bury the secret, but the man’s greed only swelled with time.

He kept demanding more, using the secret as a weapon to threaten him. Tired of living under constant blackmail, Gabriel had chosen to end the danger once and for all. Never had he imagined that, years later, the doctor’s daughter would rise from the shadows seeking revenge.

"Your father was nothing but a greedy man," Gabriel hissed. "Always blackmailing me, always demanding more. I grew sick of it, so I cut it off permanently."

"Lies," Tania roared, fury tightening her face. "He wasn’t like that."

"Humph." Gabriel scoffed. "Seems you don’t even know the man you called father. I have proof—millions transferred into his accounts over the years. He was just a junior doctor at the time. Do you think he became Head of Department in a single year because of his capability?"

He smirked coldly. "No. It was my influence. And your mother—she became head nurse just as quickly. But even that wasn’t enough for them. They knew my secret made me vulnerable, and they exploited it. Their demands only grew bolder. I even handed them a luxurious villa in the suburbs—yes, the very house you once called home."

Tania felt as though her chest had been split open. She still remembered how happy and excited she had been when she and her parents moved into that villa.

She had always believed her father had bought it with his hard-earned money. Never had it crossed her mind that it had been a gift from Gabriel.

Yes, that villa used to be her home. She had so many memories with that house, but it had stood in ruins ever since her parents’ death. She had buried them there.

As the painful memories surfaced, her hatred of Gabriel deepened.

"Stop slandering him," she cried. "My father was a respected doctor. He earned his position on his own merits. If that wasn’t true, why did no one at the hospital oppose him? Don’t dare tarnish his name now that he is gone."

Folding her arms, she tilted her chin in defiance. "Even if he had blackmailed you, it’s nothing compared to your cruelty. You stole a newborn from his mother because your own child was born dead. And to bury that secret, you murdered Augustine’s parents. You had a choice, Gabriel. You could have refused my father’s demands, but you didn’t. You kept paying because you were desperate to hide your crime. That makes you guilty."

She leaned forward with a menacing gleam in her eyes. "You brought this on yourself. And now, you’ll suffer just as you deserve." She seized his collar and hissed, "At last, I will avenge my parents."