Chapter 9 - Sophia's Real NameThe world seemed to tilt.
Dante stared at Gabriel.
"No."
Gabriel shrugged.
"Ask her yourself."
He stepped aside.
A door opened.
Sophia walked in.
Her clothes were torn.
Her lip was split.
But she was alive.
She looked at Dante.
Neither spoke.
Then Lily ran toward her.
Sophia dropped to her knees and pulled the child into her arms.
Dante looked at her.
"Your name."
Sophia closed her eyes.
"Isabella."
The word nearly crushed him.
"You let me believe you were Sophia."
"I had to."
"You were my sister."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because your father wanted me dead."
Dante stepped back.
"All these years."
"I'm sorry."
"Why were you watching me?"
"Because you were the last person he hadn't corrupted."
Dante laughed once.
"You worked in my house."
"I worked for your father first."
"And then?"
"I worked for you."
"Why?"
Sophia looked at Lily.
"Because I loved you."
Dante shook his head.
"You were my sister."
"Not like that."
She wiped her eyes.
"Family."
Dante said nothing.
She continued.
"Your father tried to turn us against each other."
"How?"
"He told you I died."
"You told me nothing."
"I was hunted."
"He told me you abandoned us."
"I was trying to survive."
Dante looked toward Matteo.
"You knew."
Matteo nodded.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because your memory was damaged."
"Damaged?"
"Your father drugged you."
Dante looked at his own hands.
He remembered the hospital.
The pain.
The headaches.
But not the night his sister disappeared.
Isabella touched his sleeve.
"You saw everything."
"What?"
"The night they took Anna."
Dante looked at the little girl.
She was sitting with Lily.
Waiting.
"You were there," Isabella whispered.
"You were five."
Dante's face went numb.
"I don't remember."
"Because they made sure you wouldn't."
Gabriel interrupted.
"Enough family reunion."
Dante turned.
"What do you want?"
"The original ledger."
"You have the files."
"Those are copies."
"Of what?"
"The ledger that contains every transfer, every payment, every child."
Dante frowned.
"Child?"
Gabriel smiled.
"Those children were not random."
Anna looked frightened.
"What do you mean?"
Gabriel's expression softened.
"You were all selected."
"Why?"
"Bloodlines."
Matteo interrupted.
"He's lying."
Gabriel turned.
"You still protect them."
"Because they're children."
"Because one of them can expose everything."
Dante looked at Anna.
"Who?"
Gabriel's gaze moved to Lily.
"The one your father called Number One."
Lily's face went blank.
Dante stepped in front of her.
"She is four years old."
"Exactly."
"Why would a four-year-old threaten you?"
"She doesn't."
Gabriel smiled.
"Her blood does."
Dante's confusion deepened.
Gabriel removed a small vial from his pocket.
"Every family has an inheritance."
He held it to the light.
"The Belucchi inheritance is genetic."
Anna whispered:
"No."
Gabriel smiled.
"Ask Isabella what your father stole."
Dante turned.
"What did he steal?"
Isabella closed her eyes.
"The Marino archives."
"What's in them?"
"Proof."
"Proof of what?"
"That the Belucchi family wasn't built by your father."
She looked at Lily.
"It was built by someone much older."
Dante stared.
"Who?"
Isabella's eyes filled with fear.
"Your grandmother."
The room went silent.
Dante shook his head.
"My mother?"
"No."
"Then who?"
Isabella pointed toward the coffin.
The false one.
"The woman who raised your father."
Dante felt cold.
"My grandmother was dead before I was born."
Isabella whispered:
"That is another lie."
Suddenly the lights went out.
Gunfire erupted from both ends of the corridor.
Nico shouted:
"Down!"
Dante grabbed Lily.
Anna crawled beneath a table.
Isabella pulled a weapon.
Matteo returned fire.
Then a voice came from the speakers.
An old woman's voice.
Calm.
Almost amused.
"Dante."
He froze.
He knew that voice.
His mother's.
May you like
Lucia Belucchi.
"You finally found me."
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