Chapter 10 - Adrian did not speak for several seconds.Then:
“Where is he?”
Eleanor's expression changed.
“Not where you think.”
Vittorio had supposedly died eight years ago.
Funeral.
Coffin.
Burial.
Death certificate.
Everything had been documented.
But Eleanor explained that the coffin had never been opened.
She had discovered evidence that the body inside belonged to another man.
Vittorio had staged his death after Delacroix turned against him.
“He disappeared because they were hunting him,” she said.
Adrian shook his head.
“Then why didn't he come back?”
“Because he believed you would follow him.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“He wanted you to become powerful enough to survive without him.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“So he abandoned us.”
“Yes.”
“And Mom?”
“I tried to stop him.”
“Did Dad kill Alexander?”
Eleanor's face went pale.
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Nobody answered.
The monitors suddenly flickered.
A video began playing.
Vittorio appeared.
Older.
Sicker.
Sitting in a room somewhere underground.
“Adrian.”
Adrian stared at the screen.
“You have finally found your mother.”
He smiled.
“I knew you would.”
Adrian stepped toward the monitor.
“Where are you?”
Vittorio ignored the question.
“You've spent your life blaming me.”
“Yes.”
“You were wrong.”
“I don't care.”
“You should.”
Vittorio leaned toward the camera.
“Because your mother wasn't the one who lied to you.”
The screen changed.
A photograph appeared.
Adrian's childhood.
Eleanor.
Vittorio.
Peter.
Luca.
Samuel.
Alexander.
And one more person.
A woman.
I recognized her.
Dr. Evelyn Mercer.
I turned.
Evelyn stood behind us.
Her face was white.
Adrian slowly looked at her.
“Why are you in that photograph?”
Evelyn didn't answer.
Vittorio's recording continued.
“Evelyn was the only one I trusted with Alexander.”
Adrian stared.
Eleanor stepped backward.
“No.”
Vittorio smiled.
“She knows what happened.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Adrian's voice dropped.
“What happened to my brother?”
Evelyn finally spoke.
“I couldn't save him.”
Alexander looked at her.
“You never tried.”
She shook her head.
“I was threatened.”
“By who?”
Evelyn looked at Eleanor.
Then at Adrian.
“Your grandfather.”
Everyone froze.
Adrian's grandfather had been dead for thirty years.
“What could he possibly have done?”
Evelyn whispered:
“He built Delacroix.”
Silence.
Vittorio's recording continued.
“He created the network that later controlled our family.”
Adrian looked at Eleanor.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you were a child.”
“I was twenty when you disappeared.”
“You were still his son.”
Eleanor stepped closer.
“Your grandfather's organization survived generations.”
She looked at Clara.
“Samuel discovered a ledger.”
I remembered my father's toolbox.
“The drive.”
“Yes.”
“Why me?”
“Because you are the only person outside the Moretti bloodline who inherited his access.”
I frowned.
“My access?”
Eleanor nodded.
“Your father didn't choose you because he trusted you.”
“Then why?”
“Because the network recognizes you.”
A notification appeared on the screen.
IDENTITY VERIFIED: CLARA VAUGHN.
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
Eleanor whispered:
“Your father wasn't merely protecting the drive.”
“He was protecting you.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“From what?”
Eleanor looked at me.
“From the truth about who your father really was.”
Then every screen in the room displayed one sentence.
SAMUEL VAUGHN IS ONLINE.
My heart stopped.
A live feed opened.
My father's face appeared.
Alive.
Looking directly at me.
May you like
And he said:
“Clara, I'm sorry.”
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