Chapter 9 - The Underground Vault
The truth was buried under my father's house.
We escaped through the basement.
Julian carried Lily.
Emma stayed close to me.
The explosion had collapsed half the mansion.
Smoke filled the corridors.
“Where are we going?” Emma asked.
“Down.”
“There is no down.”
I looked at Julian.
“There is.”
We reached the old wine cellar.
Julian moved a stone bottle holder.
The floor opened.
A staircase descended into darkness.
I stared.
“My father never told me this existed.”
“He didn't want you to know.”
We reached a massive steel door.
Lily handed me the brass key.
It fit.
The vault opened.
Hundreds of files lined the walls.
Photographs.
Bank accounts.
Birth certificates.
Death certificates.
Even passports.
I walked toward a central table.
A single folder waited there.
My name was printed on it.
MATTEO VALENTI.
I opened it.
Inside was my entire life.
School records.
Medical records.
Relationships.
Failures.
Mistakes.
Everything.
Someone had been watching me since childhood.
I turned to Julian.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“You protected me from this?”
“I tried.”
“You were working for my father.”
“Once.”
“When?”
“Until the day Lucian disappeared.”
I looked at the file.
There was a photograph of Lucian.
Beside it was a second photograph.
A newborn baby.
Lily.
I looked at Emma.
She shook her head.
“No.”
The second photograph had a note on the back.
CHILD OF L.V. AND E.H.
My stomach tightened.
“E.H.”
Emma closed her eyes.
“Emma Harper.”
I stared.
“Lucian was Lily's father.”
“Yes.”
“And Ethan?”
Emma shook her head.
“Ethan helped Daniel hide us.”
“Why did you never tell me?”
“Because Lucian wasn't supposed to be alive.”
I turned to Julian.
“And now he is?”
Julian shook his head.
“No.”
I frowned.
“Then who is Lucian?”
“That's the problem.”
A voice came through the speakers.
“You still haven't figured it out.”
I froze.
The vault doors slammed shut.
Every light turned red.
A monitor flickered on.
Lucian appeared.
He smiled.
“You've been looking for me.”
I stared at the screen.
“Where are you?”
“Inside your head.”
“Stop playing games.”
He laughed.
“Matteo, you always did think violence was the answer.”
Julian stepped forward.
“Show yourself.”
“I don't need to.”
A second screen switched on.
Emma.
Alone.
In a small room.
I turned.
She was still beside me.
My pulse spiked.
The image on the screen was live.
Another Emma.
Bound to a chair.
Blood on her face.
Emma beside me covered her mouth.
“That's not me.”
Lucian's voice continued.
“One of you is lying.”
The lights went out.
When they returned, Lily was gone.
Emma screamed.
I spun around.
Julian was on the floor.
Unconscious.
The vault door was open.
Lily was gone.
And written across the steel door in red paint were four words.
ASK YOUR MOTHER.
I turned slowly toward Emma.
She was crying.
“What did you do?”
She shook her head.
“I didn't.”
“You know something.”
“Yes.”
“What?”
She stared at the words.
Then whispered,
“Lily isn't mine.”
I felt the room disappear.
“What?”
“She was given to me.”
“By whom?”
May you like
Emma's lips trembled.
“Lucian.”
