Chapter 10 - Nobody spoke.I think the silence lasted five seconds.
Maybe ten.
It felt like an hour.
My mother's face remained on the screen.
Adrian looked at me.
I looked at him.
My mind rejected the words before my heart could even understand them.
“My brother?”
My mother nodded.
“Your father had another child.”
Samuel stepped closer to her.
“Adrian.”
I stared at the screen.
“No.”
My mother continued.
“Richard had an affair with Evelyn.”
My entire world tilted.
“No.”
She looked tired.
Almost relieved.
“I separated you when you were children.”
Adrian stepped toward the monitor.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your identity had to remain hidden.”
My voice shook.
“You let me marry my own brother?”
“No.”
My mother shook her head.
“You were never siblings.”
I didn't understand.
“Then what are you saying?”
She looked toward Samuel.
“Adrian is Samuel's son.”
“Not Richard's?”
“No.”
I stared.
Adrian was not my brother.
Not my father's son.
But then why had she said he was?
She sighed.
“Because the truth is even worse.”
Samuel stepped into frame.
“Adrian was created to be your protector.”
I almost laughed.
“You can’t be serious.”
“He was raised by the Cole family.”
“Why?”
“To keep him close to Victor.”
My mind raced.
“Then he was planted.”
“Yes.”
“By my father?”
“Yes.”
“And my mother knew?”
“Yes.”
“Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Adrian betray me?”
Samuel answered.
“Because he stopped obeying.”
Adrian turned toward the screen.
“You should have told me.”
Samuel stared at him.
“You were supposed to complete the plan.”
“What plan?”
My mother's voice broke.
“The trust was never about money.”
Everything stopped.
“What was it about?”
“Control.”
She continued.
“Your father built a network that could expose governments, corporations, criminal syndicates, private banks, judges, politicians, military contractors.”
I stared.
“The trust controlled access to it.”
Gabriel went pale.
“That isn't possible.”
My mother looked at him.
“It is.”
Luca whispered,
“Project M.”
She nodded.
“Project Moretti.”
A network of evidence.
Blackmail?
No.
Leverage.
Documentation.
Proof.
Every powerful person my father had ever investigated.
Every corrupt deal.
Every hidden account.
Every secret.
Everything stored behind one biometric key.
Mine.
I understood.
“That’s why everyone wanted me.”
“Yes.”
“That’s why Adrian married me.”
“Yes.”
“That’s why Victor tried to kill me.”
“Yes.”
“That’s why Evelyn was watching.”
“Yes.”
“And Samuel?”
My mother looked at him.
“He built the system.”
Samuel smiled.
“Your father took it from me.”
I looked at the screen.
“So everyone has been fighting over a vault.”
“Not a vault.”
My mother corrected me.
“A network.”
Suddenly, the warehouse lights shut off.
A single emergency light came on.
Adrian looked toward the door.
“Someone is here.”
Gunfire erupted outside.
Dominic shouted,
“Move!”
We took cover.
Nico checked the windows.
“Multiple vehicles.”
“Who?”
“Unknown.”
Then a message appeared on the warehouse screen.
PROJECT M HAS BEEN ACTIVATED.
Another line appeared.
PRIMARY TARGET: ELENA MORETTI.
Then another.
SECONDARY TARGET: EVERYONE WHO PROTECTED HER.
I looked at Dominic.
“Who can activate it?”
He answered,
“Your biometric key.”
I looked down at my hands.
The key my father gave me was suddenly warm.
A small light appeared on its surface.
Blue.
Then red.
Then black.
Gabriel stared.
“That's not a key.”
“What is it?”
“A transmitter.”
My stomach dropped.
My father's final gift wasn't meant to open anything.
It was meant to announce me.
To everyone watching.
I threw it to the floor.
Too late.
Every phone in the warehouse buzzed.
Mine included.
A message appeared on all of them.
SHE HAS BEEN FOUND.
Adrian grabbed my arm.
“We need to move.”
I pulled away.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You knew everything?”
“No.”
He stared at me.
“There is one thing I was never told.”
“What?”
“Who my real mother is.”
I froze.
“Evelyn.”
He shook his head.
“Not her.”
“Then who?”
He looked at my mother through the screen.
“Her.”
My mother closed her eyes.
The screen suddenly cut.
I felt numb.
“My mother?”
Adrian nodded.
“Your mother is my biological mother.”
I stared at him.
That meant...
We were not siblings.
But we were related through the same mother.
Half-siblings.
The marriage.
The affair.
The years.
I felt sick.
My mother had manipulated both of us from childhood.
Adrian's phone rang.
He answered.
A distorted voice said,
“Bring Elena to the cathedral.”
“Why?”
“Because her mother has one final confession.”
The call ended.
I looked at Adrian.
“What confession?”
He shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Outside, engines roared.
Dominic loaded his weapon.
“We leave now.”
I grabbed my coat.
“Where?”
“The cathedral.”
I looked at the burning warehouse.
Then at my brothers.
Then at Adrian.
One question burned in my mind.
Why had my mother raised me and Adrian separately?
Why had she allowed us to meet?
And why had she allowed us to marry?
Because there was still one missing piece.
May you like
One secret.
And somehow, the answer was waiting inside an old cathedral.
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