Chapter 8 - The fourth son's name was Samuel Moretti.I had never heard it.
Not once.
Dominic tossed the birth certificate onto the hood of the car.
Samuel Moretti.
Mother: Elena Moretti.
Father: Antonio Moretti.
Date of birth: six years after me.
I stared at the paper.
“That can't be real.”
Dominic smiled.
“You should ask your mother.”
“She is dead.”
“That's what everyone keeps telling you.”
My grip tightened around my gun.
“What do you want?”
“The ledger.”
“You already have a copy.”
“The copy is incomplete.”
“What are you missing?”
Dominic pointed at me.
“The last page.”
I looked at the ledger.
The last page was blank.
“No.”
Dominic smiled.
“Exactly.”
“What is on it?”
“You.”
Silence.
Dominic's men raised their guns.
Elias whispered,
“Run.”
I did.
Gunfire tore across the cemetery.
Snow exploded around us.
Beatrice fired back.
Elias grabbed my sleeve.
We ran between tombstones.
Dominic shouted,
“Adrian!”
I didn't stop.
We reached the far wall.
A car waited.
Beatrice had planned everything.
We jumped inside.
She drove.
Bullets struck the trunk.
“You knew they would come.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because someone told them where we were.”
I looked at Elias.
He stared out the window.
“Who?”
He whispered,
“Luca.”
I wanted to deny it.
But everything pointed back to him.
The video.
The betrayal.
The hidden truth.
Luca.
My brother who had been declared dead twelve years ago.
The brother who had manipulated everyone.
We arrived at a motel outside the city.
Elias went inside.
Beatrice locked the doors.
I turned toward her.
“Tell me everything.”
She sighed.
“About what?”
“Luca.”
“He's dangerous.”
“I know.”
“No, Adrian. You don't.”
She looked directly at me.
“Luca isn't trying to take your empire.”
“Then what does he want?”
“Revenge.”
“For what?”
She hesitated.
“Your father killed his biological mother.”
I froze.
“Who was his mother?”
Beatrice whispered:
“Your father's first wife.”
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“My father was married before my mother.”
“Yes.”
“Why did no one tell me?”
“Because your mother had her erased.”
I stared at the windshield.
My family was beginning to look less like a family and more like a battlefield.
Elias returned.
He carried a small tape recorder.
“This was hidden with the ledger.”
He pressed play.
My father's voice.
“If my sons ever hear this, understand one thing.”
A pause.
“Luca was never supposed to become part of this family.”
Another pause.
“He was brought here because someone wanted to destroy us.”
Then my father's voice became quieter.
“His mother knew the truth.”
The recording ended.
Elias looked at me.
“Who was his mother?”
I shook my head.
“I don't know.”
Beatrice did.
She looked terrified.
“Her name was Isabella.”
I searched my father's old photographs.
Then I found her.
A beautiful woman with dark hair.
Standing beside my father.
And a baby.
Luca.
On the back:
ISABELLA. LUCA. 12 YEARS BEFORE ADRIAN.
I felt something cold move through me.
My father had hidden this from me.
My mother had erased her.
Luca had spent twelve years believing we stole his family.
Maybe he wasn't after money.
Maybe he wanted to make us suffer.
The phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
Luca.
“Did you find Samuel?”
My heart stopped.
“How do you know about him?”
He laughed.
“Because I found him first.”
I stood.
“Where?”
“Safe.”
“Put him on.”
Silence.
Then a boy's voice.
Weak.
Terrified.
“Adrian?”
I froze.
Samuel.
Alive.
Luca said,
“You have twenty-four hours.”
“For what?”
“Bring me the ledger.”
“And Samuel?”
“You get your brother.”
The line went dead.
Elias stared at me.
“It's a trap.”
“I know.”
Beatrice shook her head.
“You can't go.”
I looked at her.
“I have no choice.”
She whispered,
“He wants you to choose.”
“What?”
“He doesn't want the ledger.”
She pointed toward the black notebook.
“He wants you to open the last page.”
I looked down.
The final page was blank.
Or so I thought.
I held it beneath the lamp.
Invisible ink began to appear.
Four words emerged.
LUCA IS NOT THE FOURTH.
I stared.
May you like
Then another line appeared.
THE FOURTH IS ADRIAN.
Related Stories
