Chapter 12 - The LetterLeo did not remember writing the letter.
But it was his handwriting.
Every line looked authentic.
Every signature.
Every detail.
The letter described how Maria had been killed.
How Leo had ordered it.
How he had hidden her body.
How he had allowed Beatrice to be raised under another name.
Beatrice stared at him.
“You said you never knew.”
“I didn't.”
She stepped backward.
“Then who wrote this?”
Leo's voice cracked.
“I don't know.”
The final page contained a photograph.
Leo standing over Maria.
A gun in his hand.
Blood on his shirt.
Beatrice looked at the photo.
“No.”
Leo closed his eyes.
“I don't remember.”
Then Harrison's voice came from the speakers.
“You weren't supposed to.”
The vault doors locked.
Smoke began filling the room.
Leo shouted:
“Harrison!”
Laughter echoed.
“You want to know the truth?”
The walls shifted.
Hidden screens appeared.
Old footage began playing.
Leo saw his father.
Maria.
Gabriel.
Adrian.
Victoria.
And himself.
Six years earlier.
Leo was arguing with Maria.
She was crying.
Then someone entered.
A man stepped behind Leo.
Injected him.
The footage cut.
The next scene showed Leo unconscious.
His father speaking to Maria.
“You will disappear.”
Maria shook her head.
“No.”
“You don't have a choice.”
Then another person entered.
Harrison.
He held a syringe.
Maria screamed.
Beatrice covered Lily's eyes.
The video continued.
Leo's father said:
“Once he wakes, he will believe she is dead.”
Beatrice looked at Leo.
“You were drugged.”
Leo stared at the screen.
The memories returned in fragments.
Pain.
A needle.
A voice.
Maria screaming.
Then darkness.
Harrison had manipulated his memories.
But why?
The next screen answered.
Harrison had once worked for Leo's father.
He had been tasked with protecting the Rossi secrets.
When the father died, Harrison took control.
He had arranged the war.
The explosions.
The betrayals.
The deaths.
Everything.
He had turned Leo against Maria.
Against Adrian.
Against Gabriel.
And now he wanted the vault.
A door opened.
Harrison appeared.
He wasn't smiling anymore.
“Give me the remaining records.”
Leo raised his gun.
“You destroyed my life.”
Harrison shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at Beatrice.
“She did.”
Beatrice froze.
“What?”
Harrison pointed at Maria's photograph.
“Your mother was the one who opened the vault years ago.”
Maria had betrayed the Rossi family.
She had tried to expose everything.
Harrison's eyes hardened.
“She chose you.”
Beatrice stepped forward.
“She saved me.”
“She condemned everyone.”
Harrison fired.
Leo shoved Beatrice aside.
The bullet struck his shoulder.
“Leo!”
He fell.
Harrison grabbed Lily.
Beatrice screamed.
“Take me!”
Harrison stopped.
“Very well.”
He dragged both toward the hidden exit.
Before disappearing, he looked back.
“Let's see what your mother's daughter is willing to sacrifice.”
The vault door closed.
Leo lay bleeding.
Beatrice crawled toward him.
He reached for her hand.
“Go.”
She shook her head.
“Not without you.”
His eyes met hers.
For the first time, there was no fear between them.
Only trust.
Beatrice looked toward the exit.
Then back at Leo.
“I promised Lily I would never leave her.”
Leo whispered:
“Then don't.”
May you like
Beatrice stood.
And followed Harrison into the darkness.
