Chapter 6 - Luca didn't move.“That's impossible.”
Eleanor's mother looked at him.
“You were six when he disappeared.”
“My brother died.”
“No.”
“He never existed.”
“He existed.”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“Then why did no one tell me?”
“Because your father ordered everyone to forget him.”
Eleanor stared between them.
“How is this connected to me?”
Her mother looked at her.
“Because Adrian was not your father.”
Eleanor's voice cracked.
“Then who was?”
Her mother hesitated.
Then said:
“Marco Moretti.”
Luca stopped breathing.
His father's name.
Eleanor shook her head.
“No.”
Her mother nodded.
“Marco Moretti was your biological father.”
The silence was unbearable.
Luca stepped backward.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
Eleanor looked at Luca.
That meant they weren't strangers.
They were connected by blood.
Not romance.
Not coincidence.
Family.
But before Eleanor could speak, Luca asked:
“Why did my father leave you?”
Her mother's expression darkened.
“He didn't leave me.”
“He tried to kill me.”
Eleanor stared.
“What?”
Her mother looked toward the dark tracks.
“Marco discovered I had proof of his criminal network.”
“And Charles?”
“He helped me disappear.”
Eleanor's eyes widened.
“Dad?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did he treat me like I meant nothing?”
Her mother looked at her sadly.
“Because the more he loved you, the more dangerous you became.”
Eleanor didn't understand.
Her mother continued.
“Marco had enemies. Powerful enemies. They believed you were his child.”
“They knew?”
“They suspected.”
“So why did they wait six years?”
“They didn't.”
Her mother's voice trembled.
“They've been watching you since you were born.”
Eleanor felt sick.
“All those years?”
“Yes.”
Her mother reached for her hand.
“I built the trust because I knew one day they would come for you.”
Eleanor pulled away.
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I wanted you to live.”
“You call this living?”
Her mother looked down.
“I know.”
Suddenly, headlights appeared in the distance.
Several black vehicles entered the station.
Luca immediately reached for his weapon.
“Get down.”
The vehicles stopped.
Doors opened.
Men stepped out.
At their center was an elderly man with silver hair.
Luca stared.
“No.”
The man smiled.
“Hello, son.”
Luca froze.
Eleanor's mother whispered:
“Marco.”
Luca's hand trembled.
His father was supposed to have died nine years earlier.
But there he stood.
Alive.
Marco Moretti looked at Eleanor.
Then smiled.
“I've been waiting a long time to meet my daughter.”
Eleanor felt the world tilt.
Luca stepped in front of her.
“You're not touching her.”
Marco laughed.
“Still protecting people who aren't yours.”
His eyes moved toward Eleanor's mother.
“You made the same mistake.”
A gunshot cracked.
Marco's men fired.
Luca pulled Eleanor behind a concrete wall.
Her mother disappeared into the darkness.
Eleanor screamed.
“Mom!”
No answer.
Luca returned fire.
“Stay down!”
Eleanor saw Marco escaping toward a waiting car.
She grabbed a discarded pistol.
Luca looked at her.
“Have you ever used one?”
“No.”
“Then don't.”
“I've been manipulated my entire life.”
She stood.
“This is the first time I get to choose.”
She fired.
The shot shattered the rear windshield of Marco's car.
The vehicle swerved.
It crashed into the station barrier.
Luca ran toward it.
Eleanor followed.
But the driver's seat was empty.
A hidden tunnel had opened beneath the platform.
Marco had escaped.
On the ground was a small black box.
Eleanor picked it up.
A label was attached.
FOR ELEANOR ONLY.
She opened it.
Inside was a keycard.
And one photograph.
A baby.
Held by three people.
Her mother.
Marco.
And a man standing beside them.
Charles.
On the back was a date.
The day Eleanor was born.
And beneath it:
THIS WAS THE FIRST NIGHT THEY ALL BETRAYED EACH OTHER.
Luca stared at the photo.
Then whispered:
“My father didn't abandon you.”
Eleanor looked at him.
Luca's eyes filled with disbelief.
“He wasn't trying to hide you from the world.”
He looked at Charles's image.
“He was hiding you from me.”
Eleanor's heart stopped.
Before she could ask why, the keycard in her hand beeped.
A screen lit up.
One new message appeared.
THE ORIGINAL WILL HAS BEEN ACTIVATED.
Then another line.
BENEFICIARY: ELEANOR ROSE WHITMORE
May you like
And beneath it:
SECOND BENEFICIARY: LUCA ADRIAN MORETTI.
Related Stories
