Chapter 14 - The Price of the Bloodline
My mother's secret explained every grave in my past.
“Put the gun down.”
My mother laughed.
“You still sound like your father.”
“You have five seconds.”
“You won't shoot me.”
“You're wrong.”
She studied me.
Then she looked at Lily.
“She is the reason everything happened.”
Clara stepped in front of her.
“You will not touch my daughter.”
My mother smiled.
“Your daughter?”
Then she looked at Emma.
“She raised her.”
Emma stood frozen.
“You gave her to me.”
“Yes.”
“You promised she would be safe.”
“I lied.”
Julian fired.
My mother ducked.
Chaos erupted.
Clara grabbed Lily.
Emma covered them.
Lucian fired from behind a pillar.
Marianne shot back.
The station became a storm of bullets and broken glass.
I reached my mother.
She shot me.
The bullet struck my vest.
I slammed her against the platform wall.
“You're going to tell me everything.”
She smiled through the pain.
“Everything?”
“Yes.”
“Then start with your brother.”
I froze.
“Lucian?”
“She was pregnant with his child.”
I looked toward Clara.
My mother laughed.
“Not Lily.”
“Then who?”
She whispered,
“The child who died.”
My blood ran cold.
“The child was used as a replacement.”
I stared.
“You changed the birth records.”
“Yes.”
“You made Lily disappear.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Lily was the only child tied to both families.”
“Valenti and Moretti.”
“Yes.”
“Then the Council wanted her?”
“They wanted her bloodline.”
I tightened my grip.
“For what?”
“Control.”
She laughed.
“You think this is about money?”
“No.”
“It's about leverage.”
She pointed toward Lily.
“A child born from two rival bloodlines can unite both organizations.”
I looked at Clara.
“My father planned it.”
Clara nodded.
“Your mother helped him.”
My mother corrected her.
“I helped myself.”
A shot rang out.
Marianne fell.
Julian stood behind her.
He looked at me.
“Go.”
My mother twisted free.
She ran toward the tracks.
I chased her.
She jumped onto an empty train.
I followed.
We fought between the cars.
She was faster than I expected.
“You were always weak,” she said.
“Maybe.”
I slammed her against the wall.
“But I'm stronger than you.”
She laughed.
“You don't know what strength is.”
The train started moving.
She reached for a pistol.
I kicked it away.
“You're going to prison.”
“No.”
She smiled.
“You're going to kill me.”
I stopped.
“No.”
“That is why you'll lose.”
She pulled a small blade.
Before she could strike, Lucian stepped behind her.
He disarmed her.
“You're done.”
She looked at him.
“My son.”
Lucian's expression broke for a second.
“You were never my mother.”
She smiled.
“You're wrong.”
She reached into her coat.
Pulled out a photograph.
A photograph of me.
As a child.
Standing beside her.
Then another.
A newborn baby.
She handed it to Lucian.
“Your brother was never Matteo.”
Lucian stared.
“What?”
My mother smiled.
“You are not twins.”
The world went silent.
“You are half brothers.”
I stared.
Lucian looked at me.
“You're lying.”
She shook her head.
“Your father adopted Matteo.”
I felt sick.
“But why?”
“Because Matteo was the heir.”
Lucian laughed.
“So I was disposable.”
“No.”
My mother looked at us.
“You were the insurance.”
“For what?”
She smiled.
“To make sure the real heir never learned who he was.”
I looked down at the photograph.
There was a name written beneath it.
Matteo Bellini.
My birth name.
Not Valenti.
My mother smiled.
“Your real father is Giovanni Moretti.”
Everything inside me stopped.
Behind her, footsteps approached.
May you like
Giovanni stood at the end of the train.
And he was smiling.
