Chapter 8 - The agent introduced herself as Special Investigator Anna Ricci.She placed a folder on the table.
“Project Orpheus began forty-one years ago.”
Matteo opened it.
The first page contained his grandfather's name.
The second listed politicians.
The third listed judges.
The fourth contained photographs of men who had vanished.
Anna continued.
“The De Luca family built a network capable of manipulating elections, court cases, contracts, and police investigations.”
Matteo turned the page.
“What does this have to do with my daughters?”
“Everything.”
She pointed to Isabella.
“She was raised as the successor.”
Then Elena.
“She was raised as the key.”
Then Leonardo.
“He was raised as the weapon.”
Matteo looked at her.
“And me?”
Anna paused.
“You were the decoy.”
Matteo's expression tightened.
“For twenty-seven years, everyone believed you ran this organization.”
“But I did.”
“No.”
Anna shook her head.
“You thought you did.”
She opened another file.
Inside were hundreds of instructions.
Orders Matteo remembered giving.
But every signature had been forged.
Every command had been routed through a hidden system.
Anna explained that Matteo's father had used him publicly.
Whenever something went wrong, Matteo became responsible.
Whenever something went right, his father took the credit privately.
Matteo had spent decades building a prison around himself without realizing someone else had designed the walls.
His father watched silently.
“You see?” he said.
Matteo looked at him.
“You made me hate you.”
“I made you strong.”
“You made me lonely.”
“That made you obedient.”
Matteo walked toward him.
“I am done.”
His father laughed.
“No, you're not.”
He looked toward the ceiling.
Then every light in Bellavita turned red.
A timer appeared on the wall.
00:59.
Anna shouted.
“Everybody out!”
Matteo grabbed Elena.
Leonardo pulled Isabella.
Marco grabbed Sofia.
The clock reached 00:41.
A low mechanical hum began underneath the floor.
Anna looked at Matteo.
“What is below this building?”
Matteo answered.
“I don't know.”
She stared at him.
“That is impossible.”
“I've never been under the kitchen.”
A loud metallic click came from beneath them.
Then the floor split open.
A hidden staircase descended into darkness.
Matteo's father smiled.
“The vault.”
Everyone stared.
Anna ordered her agents down the stairs.
Matteo followed.
At the bottom stood a massive steel door.
There was no keypad.
No keyhole.
Only a circular glass panel.
Anna scanned it.
Nothing.
Matteo approached.
The glass turned blue.
A voice said:
“DNA required.”
Matteo stepped back.
The voice repeated:
“Primary bloodline.”
Elena approached.
The glass turned green.
The door unlocked.
Everyone stared at her.
Elena stepped inside.
The vault contained no gold.
No cash.
No weapons.
Only shelves of files.
Thousands of them.
Every file contained a name.
Every name belonged to a person with power.
Anna picked up one.
Her own name.
She opened it.
Her childhood photograph stared back at her.
Her school records.
Her father's financial history.
Her mother's death certificate.
And one document dated thirty-five years earlier.
A payment authorization signed by Matteo's father.
Anna whispered.
“They knew me.”
Matteo looked around.
“They knew all of us.”
He found a file labeled:
ELENA MARINO.
Inside was a birth record.
Then another document.
Then another.
Finally, a page stamped:
SUBJECT MEMORY MODIFICATION COMPLETE.
Elena stared at it.
“I knew it.”
Matteo looked at her.
“What?”
“I wasn't dreaming.”
Her hands shook.
“I remember this room.”
Everyone turned.
Elena stepped backward.
“I was here.”
“When?”
“When I was seventeen.”
Matteo frowned.
“You were never here.”
Elena looked at him.
“They brought me.”
“Who?”
She closed her eyes.
Then whispered:
“Luca.”
Matteo stared at his son.
Leonardo looked terrified.
Elena continued.
“He told me he was my brother.”
Leonardo shook his head.
“No.”
“You did.”
“I never met you.”
“Yes.”
“You're wrong.”
Elena suddenly screamed.
A memory hit her.
A hallway.
A locked door.
Leonardo standing outside.
A man holding a syringe.
And her father.
Not Matteo.
The other father.
She opened her eyes.
Her expression changed.
“Leonardo…”
He stepped toward her.
“What?”
“You were the one who told them where I was.”
Leonardo froze.
“I didn't.”
Elena pointed at him.
“You did.”
Matteo moved between them.
Leonardo backed away.
“No.”
Anna looked at the security screens.
Someone was entering the building.
Hundreds of armed men.
She whispered:
“We have a problem.”
Matteo looked at the monitor.
The men wore black uniforms.
At their front walked Marco.
Matteo turned.
“Marco?”
The real Marco was standing beside him.
He looked at the screen.
His face went pale.
“That isn't my army.”
Matteo watched the approaching men.
Their commander removed his mask.
It was Sofia's face.
But Sofia was standing beside Matteo.
Anna whispered.
“It's a replica.”
Matteo stared.
Then the vault doors slammed shut.
A voice came over the speakers.
“Welcome back, Matteo.”
May you like
His father smiled.
“The real war begins now.”
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