Chapter 9 - The VaultThe hidden chamber opened beneath the church.
Inside were dozens of shelves.
Files.
Hard drives.
Photographs.
Bank records.
Names.
Politicians.
Judges.
Police chiefs.
Business leaders.
And at the center stood a glass case.
Inside was a black ledger.
Daniel looked at it.
“That book destroyed my life.”
Alessandro stared.
“It belongs to her.”
“No,” Daniel said.
“It belongs to the truth.”
I turned.
“What truth?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Black Meridian wasn't created by the Morettis.”
“Then who?”
He nodded toward me.
“Your family.”
I laughed.
“No.”
“Yes.”
He handed me a photograph.
My father.
Standing beside Matteo.
I felt sick.
“My father died when I was sixteen.”
“Your father didn't die.”
“What?”
“He disappeared.”
I shook my head.
“My mother said…”
“Your mother lied.”
The room spun.
Daniel looked ashamed.
“She was protecting you.”
“From what?”
“From your own inheritance.”
Alessandro stepped forward.
“Don't tell her everything.”
Daniel looked at him.
“She deserves the truth.”
He opened the ledger.
Inside were coded transactions.
At the bottom of each page was the same symbol.
The black circle.
The white line.
My hands trembled.
“What does it mean?”
Daniel answered.
“It means control.”
“Control of what?”
“Everything.”
A siren sounded outside.
Victor ran into the chamber.
“They've breached the church.”
Alessandro looked at Daniel.
“How many?”
“Twenty.”
I grabbed Emma.
“Where do we go?”
Daniel pointed at a staircase.
“Down.”
We ran.
The vault shook from an explosion.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
Emma cried.
Alessandro pushed his wheelchair as fast as it would go.
Then the staircase ended.
A solid steel wall blocked the path.
Daniel turned toward Emma.
“Isabella.”
Emma looked at him.
“Put your hand here.”
She did.
The wall unlocked.
I stared.
“Why can she open everything?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Because Black Meridian was designed around her blood.”
I didn't understand.
Then the wall opened.
Beyond it was an underground train platform.
A train waited.
Daniel helped Emma inside.
Alessandro followed.
I climbed aboard.
The doors shut.
As the train began moving, a monitor flickered on.
A video appeared.
My father was sitting in a chair.
He looked directly at the camera.
And he said:
“Nora, forgive me.”
Then the video showed what happened on the night he disappeared.
He wasn't alone.
May you like
He was meeting my mother.
And standing behind them was Alessandro’s father.
