Chapter 13 - THE REGISTRYChaos spread faster than fire.
Phones rang.
People shouted.
Lawyers screamed.
Judges demanded explanations.
Men who had spent decades pretending to be untouchable suddenly looked frightened.
The registry had been released.
Every secret adoption.
Every hidden heir.
Every falsified death.
Every child moved between families.
Everything.
Lucia looked at Nicholas.
“What have you done?”
He smiled.
“What Dad failed to do.”
She turned toward me.
“You think this frees you?”
“No.”
She laughed.
“It destroys you.”
“Maybe.”
“Everything you own is connected.”
“I know.”
“Your company.”
“My warehouses.”
“My banks.”
“The properties.”
“All of it.”
“I know.”
She stared at me.
“Then why release it?”
“Because you can't control ashes.”
The police moved toward Lucia.
She pulled a gun.
Vanessa stepped in front of her.
“Mother.”
Lucia froze.
“You're not my daughter.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.”
“You were never meant to be.”
Vanessa raised her chin.
“But I was raised by you.”
Lucia's hand trembled.
“You owe me.”
“No.”
“You owe me everything.”
“I owe you nothing.”
Lucia fired.
Nicholas moved.
The bullet hit his shoulder.
Peter screamed.
Vanessa grabbed him.
I shot Lucia's weapon from her hand.
The police tackled her.
Silence returned.
For three seconds.
Then an alarm sounded.
Adrian ran toward us.
“The main server is about to self-destruct.”
“What server?”
“The registry archive.”
“Can we stop it?”
“Maybe.”
“Where?”
“Below the old Moretti headquarters.”
We moved.
The basement contained a massive server room.
Red lights flashed.
Thirty seconds.
Twenty-eight.
Twenty-seven.
Nicholas held his injured shoulder.
“You can't stay.”
“I have to.”
“Dominic.”
“Don't.”
The timer fell.
Twenty.
Nineteen.
Eighteen.
Grace found a panel.
“There's a manual override.”
“Use it.”
“It's locked.”
“What's the password?”
Everyone looked at me.
I remembered my father's final letter.
The date of my mother's death.
The time on the clock.
2:14.
I entered it.
The system opened.
Files appeared.
Thousands.
I searched for one name.
Maria Moretti.
My mother's file opened.
A video.
She looked older.
Tired.
Afraid.
She spoke directly to me.
“Dominic, forgive me.”
I couldn't breathe.
“I didn't kill your mother,” she said.
“I killed for her.”
Then she revealed the truth.
My biological mother, Elena, had escaped with Vanessa.
Not Peter.
Vanessa.
Because Lucia wanted Vanessa's bloodline.
Peter was born years later.
Nicholas was his father.
The registry had lied about Peter's identity to protect him.
But there was one final secret.
Maria continued:
“Your father wasn't the mastermind.”
My pulse stopped.
She named someone.
A person I'd never considered.
Grace.
I turned slowly.
Everyone followed my gaze.
Grace looked confused.
“Why are you looking at me?”
Maria's recording continued.
“The woman who knows where the first registry was created is the daughter of the man who designed it.”
Grace went pale.
Her hand moved to her neck.
A silver pendant.
The same black cross as Peter's.
Nicholas stared.
“That's impossible.”
Grace stepped backward.
“I don't know what this means.”
But Peter walked toward her.
He touched the pendant.
And whispered:
“You're the lady from Mom's pictures.”
Grace's face changed.
“No.”
Peter nodded.
“You were there.”
I stared at her.
“Grace…”
She backed toward the wall.
Then her expression became cold.
Not frightened.
Not confused.
Cold.
“I was hoping you'd never remember.”
The lights went out.
When they returned, Grace was gone.
So was the registry drive.
May you like
And on the server screen appeared one sentence:
THE FIRST FAMILY IS STILL ALIVE.
