Chapter 11 - My father had not died when we believed.That was the first revelation.
The second was worse.
He had disappeared voluntarily.
My mother told us everything.
Twenty years earlier, Antonio Moretti discovered that the Original Five had been manipulating the city for decades.
At first, he participated.
Then he learned what they planned.
Children.
Heirs.
Bloodlines.
The organization was selecting families based on genetics.
Not wealth.
Not power.
Blood.
The five trusts could only be unlocked by specific descendants.
And the Moretti bloodline carried the master key.
“That is why you had four sons,” my mother said.
“To make sure one survived.”
I stared at her.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because every child was a target.”
Elias looked away.
“Luca wasn't.”
“No,” my mother said.
“Luca was sent to destroy the line from within.”
I felt anger rising.
“Then why did you protect him?”
“Because your father loved him.”
Silence.
My father had loved Luca.
Even after discovering the betrayal.
That explained everything.
The hidden coffin.
The fake death.
The food.
Beatrice.
All of it was part of a plan to keep the brothers alive.
But Victor had corrupted it.
My phone buzzed.
A message.
UNKNOWN:
ONE HOUR.
Attached was a photograph of Samuel.
Blood on his face.
I stared.
My mother grabbed my wrist.
“Go.”
“We go together.”
“No.”
“You're my mother.”
“And you're my son.”
She smiled.
“You still have something your father never had.”
“What?”
“Mercy.”
I shook my head.
“I don't want mercy.”
“You will.”
Then she handed me a tiny key.
“Your father left one final room.”
“Where?”
She whispered:
“Under the river.”
We drove toward the Chicago River.
Elias stayed behind with my mother.
Beatrice came with me.
We reached an abandoned pier.
Beneath it was a steel hatch.
The key opened it.
A ladder descended into darkness.
At the bottom was a vault.
Inside sat an old computer.
A single file.
I opened it.
My father's video appeared.
He looked directly at the camera.
“Adrian.”
I froze.
“If you're seeing this, then your mother failed to keep you out.”
I almost laughed.
“She was always terrible at following orders.”
My father's smile faded.
“I know you hate me.”
He continued.
“You should.”
He explained everything.
The Original Five had one weakness.
Not money.
Not governments.
Not violence.
Trust.
They had spent decades convincing their heirs that family was everything.
So Antonio created a counter-plan.
He would make each family believe the others had betrayed them.
Turn them against one another.
He would hide the ledger.
Fake his death.
Protect his children.
But there was one problem.
Luca.
“Luca knows the organization better than anyone,” my father said.
“He will come for you.”
Then the video froze.
A second file opened automatically.
A birth certificate.
Mine.
Then Samuel.
Then Elias.
Then Aaron.
Then another document.
Luca Moretti.
Mother: Isabella Romano.
Father: Antonio Moretti.
I stared.
Luca was my father's biological son.
He wasn't planted.
He was family.
Then why had everyone lied?
The answer appeared on the final document.
Custody transfer.
Luca had been taken from his mother at birth.
The Moretti family had raised him.
I whispered:
“He was stolen.”
Beatrice nodded.
“By Victor.”
I looked at the video again.
My father's voice returned.
“The tragedy is that Luca believes we abandoned him.”
A final line appeared.
THE PERSON WHO TOOK LUCA WILL BE THE PERSON WHO KILLS VICTOR.
Then the screen went black.
Beatrice stared at me.
“Your father knew who Victor feared.”
“Who?”
Before she could answer, the vault door opened.
Luca stood there.
Gun pointed at me.
“I wondered when you'd discover that.”
I raised my hands.
“Where is Samuel?”
Luca lowered the gun slightly.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
He stepped closer.
“I never wanted your money.”
“Then what?”
“Justice.”
“Against Victor?”
He shook his head.
“Against your family.”
He looked at Beatrice.
“And against me.”
I frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Luca's eyes filled with tears.
“I killed Elias.”
I froze.
Elias was alive.
Then Luca whispered:
May you like
“The man upstairs isn't Elias.”
The lights went out.
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