Chapter 8 - Adrienne ran.The scream had come from the guest wing.
Tony's team moved with him.
The door was open.
Inside, Elena lay unconscious.
Vivien was gone.
A window stood shattered.
Adrienne looked down.
Blood.
Not enough to indicate death.
Someone had dragged Vivien outside.
Tony examined the ground.
“Two sets of footprints.”
“Follow them.”
They did.
The trail ended at the old greenhouse.
The door was locked.
Adrienne kicked it open.
Vivien was tied to a chair.
A man stood behind her.
Adrienne raised his weapon.
“Let her go.”
The man smiled.
Adrienne recognized him.
Anthony Cole.
Except he wasn't alone.
Another figure stood beside him.
A woman.
Dark hair.
Pale face.
Adrienne stopped breathing.
“Sofia.”
She looked at him.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then Sofia whispered:
“You got old.”
Adrienne laughed despite himself.
“So did you.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
Mia was somewhere behind her.
Alive.
Bruno stood beside the child.
The dog growled at Anthony.
Adrienne looked at Sofia.
“You're the one who took her.”
“I was trying to protect her.”
“From me?”
“From everyone.”
Anthony stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Adrienne aimed at him.
“You have five seconds.”
Anthony smiled.
“Do you know why your father disappeared?”
Adrienne ignored him.
“Where is Mia?”
Sofia pulled the child behind her.
“She stays with me.”
Adrienne stared.
“She's my daughter.”
“I know.”
“She deserves to know me.”
“She deserves to live.”
Adrienne's jaw tightened.
Anthony laughed.
“You still think this is about love.”
Adrienne looked at him.
“Then what is it about?”
“Control.”
Anthony pointed toward the old greenhouse floor.
“Everything your father built was designed to control people.”
“The trust?”
“The empire.”
“The money?”
“The money was bait.”
Adrienne's eyes narrowed.
“What was the real prize?”
Anthony smiled.
“You.”
He tapped his chest.
“Moretti blood.”
Then Sofia suddenly looked at Anthony.
“That's enough.”
Anthony turned.
Sofia pulled a small device from her pocket.
“Give me the key.”
Anthony's expression changed.
“You found it?”
Sofia nodded.
Adrienne watched.
“What key?”
Sofia looked at him.
“The key your father hid inside Bruno's collar.”
Adrienne remembered the black capsule.
Not a number.
A room.
A locker.
Anthony lunged.
Sofia ran.
Everything happened at once.
Tony fired.
Anthony disappeared behind a steel column.
Mia screamed.
Bruno charged.
Adrienne caught Mia.
“I've got you.”
She clung to him.
“Uncle Addy!”
Adrienne froze.
“Daddy,” Sofia corrected softly.
Mia stared at him.
“Daddy?”
Adrienne's eyes burned.
He pulled her close.
“Yes.”
For one perfect second, everything stopped.
Then Bruno barked.
The dog was staring at the greenhouse floor.
Adrienne looked down.
A hidden hatch had opened beneath the soil.
Inside was a narrow metal ladder.
Sofia whispered:
“That's where he kept it.”
Adrienne looked at her.
“What?”
“The original trust.”
They descended.
Underneath the greenhouse was a vault.
Inside were boxes of documents.
Photographs.
Passports.
Bank records.
And a single red folder.
Adrienne opened it.
The first document made his blood freeze.
It was a contract between his father and another family.
A family Adrienne knew very well.
The Romano family.
Mia's mother was not the only Romano involved.
Sofia stepped closer.
“What is it?”
Adrienne handed her the page.
She read it.
Her face changed.
“They weren't trying to kill Mia.”
Adrienne looked at her.
“What were they trying to do?”
Sofia whispered:
“They were trying to make Mia the owner of the entire empire.”
Adrienne stared.
“Why?”
Sofia looked at him.
“Because whoever controls Mia…”
“…controls you.”
A gunshot exploded above them.
The vault door began closing.
Anthony's voice echoed through the chamber.
“You finally found the truth.”
Adrienne looked up.
Anthony continued:
“Now you get to choose which child dies.”
Mia screamed.
Bruno lunged toward the closing door.
And Adrienne saw something written on the inside of the vault.
A final warning.
ONE CHILD.
May you like
ONE HEIR.
ONE SURVIVOR.
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