Chapter 10 - Matteo sat across from Adrian in the underground room.The resemblance was undeniable.

They had the same father's face.

The same dark eyes.

The same expression when angry.

But Adrian remembered his brother differently.

Matteo had always smiled too easily.

Now he looked like a man who had forgotten what smiling was for.

“You faked your death.”

“Yes.”

“You let me bury an empty coffin.”

“Yes.”

“You let me believe you were gone for eight years.”

“Yes.”

Adrian's fists tightened.

“Why?”

Matteo looked at Emma.

“Because I needed everyone to believe I was dead.”

“Everyone?”

“Especially him.”

He pointed toward Victor.

Victor's face remained unreadable.

Adrian looked between them.

“You're working together.”

“No.”

Matteo stood.

“I'm the reason he failed.”

Victor smiled.

“And I'm the reason you're still alive.”

Matteo ignored him.

“After I discovered the network, I realized our father hadn't created it.”

Adrian frowned.

“Then who did?”

“Our grandfather.”

Matteo placed documents on the table.

The Moretti family had been moving people through legitimate shipping routes for decades.

Refugees.

Witnesses.

Children.

People who disappeared from records.

Some were sold.

Some were hidden.

Some were used as leverage.

Matteo had discovered it all.

He had tried to destroy it.

Instead, he became trapped inside it.

“I was poisoned,” Matteo said.

“By Victor?”

“Yes.”

Victor smiled.

“Barely.”

“They wanted me dead.”

“Correct.”

“Why didn't you finish the job?”

Victor's eyes moved toward Adrian.

“Because your father changed the order.”

Adrian stared.

“My father saved you?”

“No.”

Matteo shook his head.

“He saved Adrian.”

Silence.

Matteo explained.

“Our father knew I would expose the network. He also knew Adrian was next in line to inherit everything.”

Adrian looked at the documents.

“So they killed me?”

“No.”

Matteo stared at him.

“They tried to turn you into a puppet.”

The double, Matthew, stepped forward.

“That was my job.”

Adrian looked at him.

“You were trained to replace me.”

“Yes.”

“Then why didn't you?”

Matthew hesitated.

“Because you weren't the monster they told me you were.”

Adrian almost laughed.

“You've never met me.”

“I watched you.”

“How long?”

“Six years.”

Adrian felt sick.

Matthew continued.

“You never knew.”

“Watched me where?”

“Everywhere.”

The surveillance room suddenly made sense.

The photographs.

The cameras.

The messages.

The knock.

Matthew had been studying him.

Adrian looked toward Emma.

“Why her?”

Matthew's expression changed.

“Because Emma knew too much.”

Emma looked down.

Matteo spoke.

“She saw me the night I was poisoned.”

“And Daniel?”

“He saw the ledger.”

“And Lily?”

Matteo was silent.

Adrian stepped forward.

“What does my niece have to do with any of this?”

Matteo looked at him.

“Nothing.”

Victor laughed.

“That's not true.”

Matteo turned.

Victor continued.

“Lily has something.”

Emma's face went white.

Adrian looked at her.

“What?”

Emma shook her head.

“I don't know.”

Victor smiled.

“She does.”

He produced a small photograph.

A baby.

Lily.

A hospital bracelet.

And beneath her name:

PROPERTY OF MORETTI FOUNDATION.

Adrian's expression changed.

“What is that?”

Emma whispered:

“Daniel found it.”

Daniel nodded.

“We learned the foundation had been tracking children born to women connected to the network.”

Adrian stared at Lily's photograph.

“Why?”

Matteo answered.

“To control their parents.”

Emma began crying.

“They threatened Lily before she was even born.”

Adrian turned toward Victor.

“You threatened a child.”

Victor's voice remained calm.

“We threatened everyone.”

Then the mansion alarms suddenly screamed.

Victor's face changed.

Matteo looked toward the ceiling.

“What happened?”

Marcus checked his phone.

“All external doors are open.”

Adrian looked at him.

“By whose order?”

Marcus swallowed.

“Yours.”

Adrian stared.

“I never gave one.”

Marcus showed him the screen.

An authorization code.

Adrian's private code.

And beneath it:

ADRIAN MORETTI.

Someone was using his identity.

The double smiled.

Matthew had disappeared.

Adrian turned.

“Where is he?”

No answer.

A gunshot came from above.

Then another.

Then another.

Matteo grabbed Adrian.

“Move.”

“Lily!”

“We get her first.”

“Where?”

Matteo pointed toward the tunnel.

“The old nursery.”

Adrian followed.

They raced through the underground corridor.

Above them, the mansion erupted into chaos.

Doors slammed.

Alarms shrieked.

Security teams shouted.

Then came a child's cry.

“Mommy!”

Emma screamed.

“Lily!”

They reached a steel door.

It opened.

Lily was inside.

Alive.

Emma ran to her.

Adrian's relief lasted two seconds.

Then he saw the wall.

Someone had written a sentence in black ink.

MATTHEW ISN'T THE IMPOSTOR.

Adrian stepped closer.

The second line appeared underneath.

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