Chapter 6 - EMMA CARTER WAS NEVER AN ACCIDENTThe abandoned church stood beneath a gray sky.
Alejandro arrived alone.
No guards.
No Victor.
Only the old church and a cold wind moving through the broken windows.
He stepped inside.
“I'm here.”
The door shut behind him.
A projector flickered on.
Images appeared against the stone wall.
Emma.
Emma at age two.
Emma at three.
Emma sleeping.
Emma in the estate kitchen.
Emma beside Alejandro.
Alejandro's face tightened.
Then a video began.
Clara was seated in a chair.
Emma sat beside her.
Both alive.
A masked man stood behind them.
He spoke through a voice modulator.
“You've spent your life protecting your bloodline.”
Alejandro looked around.
“Show yourself.”
“You believe Emma is a servant's child.”
“She is.”
“No.”
The man laughed softly.
“She is yours.”
Alejandro stopped breathing.
“What?”
The screen changed.
A hospital document appeared.
Alejandro Moretti.
Patient file.
A sealed genetic report.
He stared at it.
The birth date belonged to Emma.
The mother was listed as unknown.
The father…
His name was partially covered.
But there was enough.
A. MORETTI.
Alejandro's hands tightened.
“Impossible.”
The masked man spoke.
“You had a daughter six years ago.”
Alejandro shook his head.
“I would know.”
“You weren't supposed to.”
The video continued.
A younger Clara appeared.
She was standing outside a hospital.
Holding a newborn baby.
Alejandro stared at the screen.
He remembered that hospital.
Six years earlier.
He had been there after an assassination attempt.
He remembered waking up for three days.
He remembered a woman crying near the corridor.
He had never asked who she was.
The screen went black.
Then Clara appeared.
Her face was bruised.
The masked man held the gun closer.
“She knows.”
Alejandro stepped toward the projector.
“Clara.”
Clara looked at the camera.
Her eyes were filled with tears.
“I'm sorry.”
“Clara, where are you?”
She shook her head.
“Don't trust…”
The masked man slapped her.
Emma screamed.
Alejandro lunged toward the screen as though he could physically reach them.
“Don't touch her!”
The voice behind the mask laughed.
Then another voice entered the room.
A woman's voice.
Alejandro knew it immediately.
Valentina.
“You shouldn't have come alone, brother.”
Alejandro spun around.
Valentina stood at the back of the church.
Elegant.
Calm.
Wearing the silver bracelet with the red stone.
Alejandro raised his gun.
“You killed me today.”
Valentina shook her head.
“No.”
“You poisoned my drink.”
“No.”
“You planted the camera.”
“No.”
“Then why were you there?”
Valentina smiled.
“Because I was trying to stop it.”
Alejandro hesitated.
Valentina slowly removed the bracelet.
Inside the red stone was a tiny capsule.
She held it up.
“This was planted on me.”
“By whom?”
Valentina's face became serious.
“By the man who wants both of us dead.”
Alejandro stared.
“Matteo?”
Valentina's expression changed.
“You've seen him.”
“No.”
“Then why are you asking his name?”
Silence.
Alejandro realized he had made a mistake.
Valentina smiled.
“There you are.”
A gunshot exploded.
The window behind Alejandro shattered.
He dove behind a stone pillar.
Another shot.
Then another.
Valentina dropped.
Alejandro rushed toward her.
She was bleeding from the shoulder.
Outside, a black SUV sped away.
Valentina grabbed Alejandro's wrist.
“Listen.”
Alejandro looked down.
“Emma…”
Valentina struggled to breathe.
“She's not the only child.”
Then she fainted.
Alejandro looked at the broken window.
May you like
Somewhere in New York, another child was being hunted.
And whoever was behind this had just started the next phase.
Related Stories
