Chapter 14 - The War Beneath The HoneyDante Had One Bullet Left And I Had The Truth
The first man dropped near the flower stall.
The second disappeared behind a truck.
Dante fired until the magazine clicked empty.
He grabbed me.
"Run."
We sprinted toward the storage building.
Marco covered us.
Vincent followed.
Bullets tore through the walls.
I found the hidden basement door beneath my table.
Dante opened it.
We descended.
The tunnel below was older than the market.
Stone walls.
Wooden beams.
Shelves filled with jars.
My father's final archive.
Dante looked around.
"Your family built this."
I nodded.
At the end of the tunnel was a locked door.
The key from Saint Agnes fit.
Inside was a room filled with photographs.
Documents.
Recordings.
Boxes.
And one chair.
Someone had been sitting there recently.
On the chair was a cassette recorder.
I pressed play.
My father's voice filled the room.
"If Vincent found this, then I'm already dead."
Dante went still.
My father continued.
"Vincent was the one who manipulated Salvatore."
I looked at Dante.
"He turned the brothers against each other."
The recording crackled.
"He killed Sofia's father."
Another click.
"He ordered Sofia's death."
Another.
"He arranged the hospital records."
Another.
"He created the fake ledger."
Dante stared.
"Why?"
My father's voice answered.
"Because Vincent wants control."
Then another voice appeared.
Vincent.
"I don't want control."
A gunshot exploded behind us.
I turned.
Vincent stood in the doorway.
He had blood on his sleeve.
He was smiling.
"I want inheritance."
Dante raised his empty gun.
Vincent laughed.
"You used to think power came from money."
He pointed at me.
"It comes from blood."
He threw a folder onto the floor.
Inside were DNA reports.
Dante looked.
I picked one up.
The results showed that I was not Edward Bennett's biological daughter.
I stared.
"What?"
Vincent smiled.
"Surprise."
Dante stepped closer.
"She's Elena Russo."
"No."
Vincent shook his head.
"She is Elena Russo by law."
He smiled.
"By blood, she's mine."
Silence.
My hands shook.
"You?"
Vincent nodded.
"Your mother and I had an affair."
Dante's face became terrifying.
"You're lying."
Vincent laughed.
"Ask her."
My mother.
The truth.
My entire identity collapsed.
But something inside me refused to accept it.
I remembered my father's letter.
I remembered the photograph.
I remembered the second shadow.
"You forged the DNA."
Vincent stopped smiling.
I looked at Dante.
"He's desperate."
Vincent fired.
Dante shoved me aside.
The bullet entered his chest.
He collapsed.
"Dante!"
I dropped beside him.
Vincent stepped forward.
"Now tell me where Lily is."
I looked up.
He smiled.
"She's the real heir."
I saw the gun beside his hand.
I lunged.
We fought.
The gun slid across the floor.
Vincent grabbed my throat.
Then Marco appeared.
He fired once.
Vincent fell.
Silence.
I crawled to Dante.
Blood covered his shirt.
His eyes opened.
"Did we win?"
I laughed through tears.
"Not yet."
His eyes closed.
"No."
I shook him.
"Dante."
Nothing.
Marco knelt.
He checked Dante's pulse.
Then looked at me.
"He's alive."
I exhaled.
"How bad?"
Marco stared toward the corridor.
"Bad."
A sound came from behind us.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Salvatore walked into the room.
He looked at Vincent's body.
Then at Dante.
Then at me.
May you like
He smiled.
"You killed the wrong man."
