Chapter 12 - Everything happened at once.Luca fired.
Adrian shoved Eleanor behind a concrete pillar.
Alexander grabbed my wrist.
“Move!”
We ran deeper into the tunnel.
Gunfire followed.
Bullets struck the walls.
The entire underground chamber filled with smoke.
I stumbled.
Alexander caught me.
“Where are we going?”
“There's another exit.”
“Where?”
“You'll see.”
Adrian appeared behind us.
“Alexander!”
His brother turned.
“Keep her alive.”
Adrian nodded.
A door opened.
We escaped into an abandoned subway tunnel beneath the city.
Eleanor followed.
Luca brought up the rear.
The gunfire faded.
For a moment, silence.
Then Eleanor stopped.
“There's something you need to know.”
Adrian turned.
“Not now.”
“Yes. Now.”
She looked at me.
“The council's seventh member is not Peter.”
Adrian frowned.
“Who is it?”
Eleanor hesitated.
“Vittorio.”
“He's alive.”
“Yes.”
“Then who's the eighth?”
She looked at me.
“Samuel.”
I stared.
“And me?”
“The system considers you a wildcard.”
Alexander spoke quietly.
“That means you can override everyone.”
I looked at the USB.
“Then why do they need me alive?”
“To unlock the network.”
“What happens if I don't?”
Eleanor answered:
“They kill every remaining Moretti.”
That was the moment I understood.
I wasn't carrying evidence anymore.
I was carrying a key.
A key to an empire.
We reached a service room.
Luca locked the door.
Adrian looked at Alexander.
“You said you remembered nothing.”
“I lied.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn't know who to trust.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“You had seventeen years.”
“Exactly.”
Alexander revealed that after the cellar, he had been taken by Delacroix agents and trained as an operative.
He had spent years trying to escape.
Then Eleanor found him.
Together they planned to expose the council.
But someone betrayed them.
“Who?” Adrian asked.
Alexander looked at Luca.
Luca shook his head.
“No.”
Alexander stepped closer.
“You remember the cellar.”
“I remember the storm.”
“You were carrying the key.”
“What key?”
Alexander turned to me.
“The one your father left you.”
I looked at the USB.
“No.”
Alexander shook his head.
“Not the drive.”
He pointed to my necklace.
I touched it.
My father had given it to me when I was twelve.
A small silver pendant.
Never opened.
Until now.
I twisted it.
The back popped loose.
Inside was a tiny electronic chip.
Adrian stared.
“That can't be.”
Eleanor whispered:
“The eighth key.”
The chip activated.
A voice played.
Samuel.
“My daughter.”
I closed my eyes.
“I need you to listen carefully.”
The recording continued.
“Adrian believes the council controls Delacroix.”
A pause.
“They don't.”
Adrian frowned.
“The council is a decoy.”
Everyone went silent.
Samuel's voice became colder.
“The real controller is someone inside the Moretti bloodline.”
Eleanor whispered:
“No.”
Samuel continued.
“It has been passed from generation to generation.”
Adrian asked:
“Who?”
The recording answered.
“Alexander.”
Alexander's face became expressionless.
Eleanor stepped backward.
Adrian raised his weapon.
“Is that true?”
Alexander said nothing.
Then he smiled.
Not nervously.
Not sadly.
Coldly.
“I wondered when you would find out.”
May you like
He drew a gun.
And pointed it at Eleanor.
