Chapter 11 - The cathedral had been abandoned for nearly a decade.Its stained-glass windows were broken.
The altar was covered in dust.
Candles burned along the center aisle.
Too many candles.
Someone had been here recently.
We entered together.
Dominic in front.
Matteo behind.
Luca and Gabriel covering the sides.
Nico scanning the upper balcony.
Adrian stayed beside me.
Neither of us spoke.
We had run out of words.
At the altar stood my mother.
Alone.
No Evelyn.
No Samuel.
No guards.
Just her.
She looked older than she had two hours earlier.
“Come closer,” she said.
Dominic shook his head.
“You stay where you are.”
My mother smiled sadly.
“Always protecting her.”
“She doesn't need protection from us.”
My mother looked at me.
“She will.”
I stepped forward.
“Tell me everything.”
She closed her eyes.
“Your father did not trust me.”
I frowned.
“But you worked with him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I loved him.”
Her voice cracked.
“And because I was afraid of him.”
“Afraid?”
She nodded.
“Richard had built Project M after discovering that Victor and Samuel were fighting over a private intelligence network.”
“The network.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did he put it in my name?”
“Because he knew they could not touch you without exposing themselves.”
I looked at her.
“Then why did you?”
She stared at me.
“I didn't know how far they would go.”
“That doesn't answer me.”
“No.”
She took a breath.
“I made a deal.”
“With Victor?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
“To keep you alive.”
I felt cold.
“You sold him access to me.”
“I gave him partial access.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“And me?”
My mother looked at him.
“You were insurance.”
“For what?”
“If Elena died, you would inherit the trust.”
I stared.
She continued.
“But only if you remained married to her.”
Adrian's face tightened.
“So you orchestrated everything.”
“Yes.”
“The affair?”
“I allowed Vanessa to enter his life.”
“The punishment?”
My mother's eyes filled with tears.
“That was never supposed to happen.”
I looked at her.
“You watched it happen.”
“I lost control.”
“No.”
My voice hardened.
“You chose.”
She looked away.
“Your father made me believe sacrifice was necessary.”
“And you believed him?”
“I believed survival was.”
Silence filled the cathedral.
Then the doors shut.
Everyone turned.
Evelyn appeared in the aisle.
Samuel stood behind her.
And Victor Cole walked between them.
Alive.
Adrian stared.
“Father.”
Victor smiled.
“Son.”
The word echoed.
I felt no fear.
Only anger.
Victor approached the altar.
“Elena.”
I looked at him.
“You killed my father.”
“No.”
“You ordered his death.”
“No.”
“You tried to steal the trust.”
“Yes.”
At least he was honest.
“Why?”
“Because your father stole my future.”
“What future?”
Victor smiled.
“Control.”
I stepped closer.
“You've been fighting my family for twenty years.”
“For more than twenty.”
He glanced toward Samuel.
“Ask him.”
Samuel looked away.
Victor continued.
“The Moretti family never owned Project M.”
I frowned.
“Then who did?”
He looked at me.
“You.”
I shook my head.
“That makes no sense.”
“It was created from your father's research, but built around your biometric identity.”
He pulled out a device.
The screen displayed my fingerprints.
My retina scan.
My voice print.
Everything.
“You are not the key.”
He paused.
“You are the system.”
Gabriel looked stunned.
“What does that mean?”
Victor smiled.
“Every file is encrypted through Elena's biometric pattern.”
I finally understood.
If they killed me, the system would lock forever.
That was why they needed me alive.
That was why the trust mattered.
That was why my marriage mattered.
I looked at Adrian.
“You knew?”
“Not all of it.”
Victor sighed.
“Adrian knew enough.”
I turned toward him.
“And you still let me suffer.”
He looked down.
“I did.”
My mother started crying.
Evelyn stepped forward.
“I told you he would fail.”
Victor glared at her.
“You were supposed to control him.”
“I tried.”
Samuel laughed quietly.
“You all did.”
I looked at Samuel.
“And what did you want?”
He looked at me.
“The network.”
“And Evelyn?”
“The truth.”
I looked at Evelyn.
“What truth?”
She stepped closer.
“Your father didn't die because of Project M.”
“Then why?”
She looked directly into my eyes.
“Because he discovered something about you.”
My breath caught.
“What?”
She reached into her coat.
Pulled out a photograph.
My father holding me as a child.
In the background, another baby.
Me?
No.
The photograph showed two infants.
One was me.
The other was Adrian.
I looked at Adrian.
He stared.
“Your father knew we would eventually meet,” Evelyn said.
“But why?”
“Because he wanted the two heirs to activate Project M together.”
I frowned.
“Two heirs?”
“Half-siblings.”
My mother whispered,
“Richard never knew Adrian wasn't his son.”
I looked at her.
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
“To my father?”
“Yes.”
“To everyone.”
“Yes.”
Evelyn continued.
“Project M requires two genetic signatures.”
One Moretti.
One Voss.
I stared at Adrian.
“That means us.”
She nodded.
“We are the keys,” Adrian said.
Victor suddenly raised his gun.
“Enough.”
Dominic moved.
Victor fired.
The bullet missed.
Chaos erupted.
Everyone scattered.
Evelyn tackled Samuel.
Matteo fired toward Victor.
Victor ran toward me.
He grabbed my wrist.
“Come with me.”
I fought him.
Adrian attacked him.
The two men crashed into the altar.
My mother screamed.
Then a gunshot rang out.
Victor froze.
Blood spread across his chest.
He collapsed.
But the person holding the gun wasn't Dominic.
It was Margaret Cole.
She stood in the cathedral doorway.
Her face was expressionless.
She looked at me.
Then at Adrian.
And finally at my mother.
“You should have finished this twenty years ago.”
May you like
She raised the gun again.
“Now I will.”
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