Chapter 8 - The Brother Who Came BackAlessandro wanted to shoot him.
Every instinct screamed to pull the trigger.
Instead, he asked one question.
“Why did you come back?”
Gabriel smiled sadly.
“Because your father stole twenty years from me.”
“You were declared dead.”
“I was made dead.”
“By whom?”
Gabriel looked around the room.
“You still don't see it.”
Alessandro tightened his grip.
“Explain.”
Gabriel walked downstairs.
The guards followed him with guns aimed at his chest.
He ignored them.
“Father built this empire on three lies,” Gabriel said.
“First, that loyalty was earned through fear.”
“Second, that money could bury blood.”
“And third, that the traitor was me.”
Alessandro stared at him.
“You betrayed the family.”
“No.”
Gabriel looked at Lily.
“I protected it.”
He pointed at the cake.
“That cake is a message.”
Alessandro frowned.
“What message?”
“Open the bottom tier.”
Marco immediately stepped forward.
“Don't touch it.”
Gabriel laughed.
“You're still following my brother's orders, Marco?”
Marco looked at him.
Gabriel smiled.
“You know exactly what I mean.”
Alessandro looked at Marco.
“What does he mean?”
Marco said nothing.
Gabriel's smile faded.
“Ask him where he was the night Daniel Romano died.”
Alessandro turned sharply.
Marco finally spoke.
“I was there.”
Sophia covered Lily's ears.
Alessandro's voice hardened.
“Why?”
“Because your father ordered me to follow Daniel.”
“And?”
“I arrived too late.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“That is another lie.”
Marco closed his eyes.
“I saw the car.”
“And?”
“I saw someone else there.”
Alessandro's heart pounded.
“Who?”
Marco looked toward Elena.
Everyone followed his gaze.
Elena stepped backward.
“No.”
Marco's voice broke.
“Your sister.”
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
Alessandro lowered his weapon.
“Elena?”
She shook her head.
“I didn't kill him.”
Gabriel said nothing.
That was somehow worse.
Alessandro turned toward his sister.
“What happened?”
Elena whispered:
“I was trying to save Gabriel.”
The hall went silent.
She explained.
Their father had discovered Gabriel wanted to leave the family.
Gabriel had been secretly seeing a woman.
She was pregnant.
Antonio wanted the child erased.
Elena had helped Gabriel escape.
Daniel had helped them.
The car fire had been staged.
But someone betrayed them afterward.
Someone who knew where they went.
Someone who knew Sophia.
Someone who knew Emilia.
Alessandro suddenly heard a sound.
Click.
Everyone turned.
The timer on the cake had changed.
14:00.
Now it showed:
00:10.
Gabriel looked at the cake.
His expression vanished.
“That wasn't supposed to happen.”
Alessandro stared at him.
“What?”
Gabriel stepped backward.
“I didn't set that.”
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Lily began screaming.
“Daddy said this part would happen!”
Six.
Five.
Four.
Alessandro grabbed Lily.
Gabriel shouted:
“GET DOWN!”
Three.
Two.
One.
Nothing happened.
The screen went black.
Then a hidden panel underneath the cake opened.
Inside was a small metal box.
And on top of the box was a note.
Alessandro picked it up.
It contained one sentence.
THE BOMB WAS NEVER THE WEAPON. THE WEAPON IS THE RECORDING.
His phone rang.
It was Victor.
May you like
Victor whispered one sentence before the line went dead.
“Alessandro, your mother is alive.”
