Chapter 9 - The BetrayalMarcus was gone.
His safe house was empty.
His phone was disconnected.
Vincent searched every location connected to him.
Nothing.
Adrian stood in the center of the room.
His hands were shaking.
Not from fear.
From anger.
“He knew.”
Vincent looked at him.
“Knew what?”
“Where Mia was.”
Adrian looked at the note.
“Lucian said my brother knows where she is.”
Vincent remained silent.
Adrian turned.
“You know something.”
“I know Marcus has secrets.”
“You protected him.”
Vincent didn't answer.
Adrian stepped closer.
“How long?”
“Three years.”
Adrian stared.
“Three years?”
Vincent nodded.
“I knew Marcus survived the shooting.”
“And you let me believe he was dead.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he said your life depended on it.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“You don't get to decide that.”
“No.”
Vincent lowered his weapon.
“But I thought he was right.”
Adrian walked away.
On the table lay an old photograph of Marcus and Adrian as children.
They were smiling.
Adrian picked it up.
Then noticed something behind them.
A house.
A red door.
He remembered it.
Their childhood home.
There was a hidden room beneath it.
A room their father had forbidden them to enter.
Adrian turned.
“Vincent.”
“What?”
“We're going home.”
The old Moretti estate had been abandoned for years.
They arrived after midnight.
The house was dark.
Adrian walked through the dusty halls.
Every step brought memories.
His father's voice.
Marcus laughing.
His mother's piano.
Then he found the red door.
It was locked.
Vincent forced it open.
Behind it was a staircase.
They descended.
A secret room waited below.
Inside were dozens of tapes.
Documents.
Photographs.
And one video cassette.
Adrian inserted it.
His father's face appeared.
“If you're watching this, I'm dead.”
Adrian watched.
Matteo continued.
“Lucian believes the Moretti family holds the key to a medical breakthrough.”
He paused.
“He is wrong.”
Adrian frowned.
“The mutation is not the key.”
He leaned closer.
“The mutation is the warning.”
The video changed.
A laboratory.
Mia's DNA.
Adrian's blood.
Lucian's files.
Then another document appeared.
A genetic map.
Adrian stared.
The pattern wasn't just from him.
It traced back to a woman.
A woman Adrian recognized.
His mother.
But his mother had died giving birth to him.
That was impossible.
Then the screen displayed another name.
Sofia Volkov.
Adrian stopped breathing.
Volkov.
He suddenly understood.
Mia wasn't connected to Volkov because of Lucian.
She was connected because Clara had a hidden identity.
Clara's real surname wasn't Moretti.
It was Volkov.
Vincent whispered:
“Adrian…”
Adrian turned.
“I know.”
A noise came from behind them.
Footsteps.
They turned.
Marcus stood in the doorway.
Blood covered his shirt.
He looked exhausted.
Adrian aimed his gun.
“Where is my daughter?”
Marcus lifted his hands.
“She's alive.”
“Where?”
“Safe.”
“Tell me.”
Marcus stared at him.
Then whispered:
“She's with your mother.”
Adrian froze.
“She died twenty-nine years ago.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
He pulled out a photograph.
An old woman stood beside Mia.
Adrian recognized the face immediately.
His mother.
Alive.
May you like
Marcus whispered:
“She was never dead.”
