Chapter 14 - The Last RussoThree days later, the city knew.
Names were exposed.
Accounts were frozen.
Officials resigned.
Old cases were reopened.
The Russo empire began collapsing.
But Carlo wasn't found.
Neither was Teresa's missing network.
Victor stood in his father's study.
Most of the furniture had been removed.
Only the desk remained.
Elena entered.
“You haven't slept.”
“Neither have you.”
She sat across from him.
“Did they find my father's body?”
“No.”
Victor looked at the floor.
“There are still people searching.”
Elena nodded.
“What about Carlo?”
“Nothing.”
A silence followed.
Then a phone rang.
Victor answered.
A voice whispered:
“You have one hour.”
Victor stood.
“Who is this?”
“You already know.”
The call ended.
Elena looked at him.
“Carlo?”
Victor nodded.
They followed the coordinates to an abandoned theater.
Inside, every seat was empty.
A projector was running.
On the screen was Anthony Russo.
Victor stopped.
The recording showed his father standing in the same theater years earlier.
Anthony looked into the camera.
“Victor, if you are here, Carlo has survived.”
Victor stared.
Anthony continued.
“He will try to make you believe the war is over.”
A pause.
“It isn't.”
The screen changed.
A photograph appeared.
A woman.
Teresa.
Alive.
Victor stepped closer.
Then another image.
Matteo.
Alive.
Then another.
Gabriel.
Alive.
Elena gasped.
“Where are they?”
Anthony's recording continued.
“They are all prisoners of the same person.”
The screen went black.
A light appeared at the back of the theater.
A woman walked forward.
Victor recognized her.
Isabella Bellandi.
“You.”
She shook her head.
“I had no part in this.”
Victor raised his gun.
“Then why are you here?”
“Because Carlo contacted me.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
Elena looked around.
“What does he want?”
The theater doors slammed shut.
A voice came through the speakers.
“Nothing.”
Carlo.
Victor turned.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“You killed my father.”
“No.”
Carlo stepped onto the stage.
“I saved him.”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“He died because of you.”
Carlo shook his head.
“Your father died because he chose you over power.”
Victor stared.
“Where is my family?”
Carlo smiled.
“Not your family.”
He looked at Elena.
“Your bloodline.”
A screen behind him lit up.
Images of Daniel.
Anthony.
Teresa.
Lucia.
Mara.
Victor.
Elena.
Matteo.
Every secret connected.
Then the last photograph appeared.
A woman Victor had never seen.
She was standing beside Anthony.
Carlo whispered:
“Your grandmother.”
Victor froze.
“My grandmother died before I was born.”
“She didn't.”
Elena stared.
“Who is she?”
Carlo smiled.
“The person who started everything.”
A gunshot rang out.
Isabella dropped.
Chaos erupted.
Victor grabbed Elena.
Carlo vanished.
The theater filled with smoke.
When it cleared, a single envelope lay on the stage.
Victor picked it up.
Inside was a photograph.
On the back:
COME TO THE LAKE HOUSE. ALONE.
Beneath it was one final sentence.
BRING ELENA, BECAUSE SHE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN OPEN THE DOOR.
Victor looked at Elena.
“What door?”
May you like
She slowly touched the silver pendant.
“The one my father warned me about.”
