Chapter 10 - THE BELLINI TRUSTThe voice echoed through the vault.
“Your entire lives have been designed around one question.”
The countdown continued.
08:42.
“Which of you deserves the family?”
Luca looked around.
“Show yourself.”
A hidden screen activated.
An old man appeared.
Victor's father.
The patriarch.
The architect.
Still alive.
His silver hair was neatly combed.
His expression was almost peaceful.
“Elena,” he said.
She stared at the screen.
“You killed my mother.”
“No.”
“She said you wanted her dead.”
“I wanted her silence.”
“That killed her.”
“Eventually.”
Luca stepped toward the screen.
“Why me?”
The old man smiled.
“Because you were useful.”
“I was a child.”
“Yes.”
“You changed my birth records.”
“Yes.”
“You made me believe Victor was my father.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To create a controllable heir.”
“And Elena?”
“To create an uncontrollable one.”
Elena's voice shook.
“Then why keep me alive?”
“Because the trust recognizes blood.”
The old man looked at Luca.
“And because you were never meant to inherit.”
Luca looked at the countdown.
06:17.
“What happens at zero?”
“One heir dies.”
“Who decides?”
“The trust.”
Luca frowned.
“How?”
“The blood.”
A slot opened in the floor.
Inside was a biometric scanner.
Elena stepped closer.
“No.”
The old man's voice softened.
“Don't worry.”
Luca looked at him.
“If we refuse?”
“You both die.”
The timer continued.
04:58.
Matteo examined the walls.
“There has to be a manual override.”
The old man laughed.
“Your father spent twenty years searching for one.”
“Victor?”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
The old man's expression changed.
“Still alive.”
Luca looked toward Elena.
“Why did you shoot him?”
The old man smiled.
“I didn't.”
A door at the rear opened.
Victor stumbled inside.
Blood on his shirt.
He collapsed against the wall.
Luca rushed toward him.
“Dad.”
Victor looked at him.
“Get Elena out.”
Luca shook his head.
“No.”
“Listen to me.”
Victor grabbed his arm.
“Your grandfather built the trust around fear.”
“How do we stop it?”
Victor looked toward the scanner.
“You don't.”
Elena stepped forward.
“Then what do we do?”
Victor's eyes moved to her.
“You choose.”
“Choose what?”
“Which lie you want to survive.”
Luca stared.
“What does that mean?”
Victor reached into his coat.
He pulled out a small silver key.
Not brass.
Silver.
Stamped with a different number.
318.
Luca looked at it.
“There's another room.”
Victor nodded.
“Room 318 is where your grandfather kept the original records.”
“Why didn't he destroy them?”
“Because he wanted proof of his power.”
The timer hit three minutes.
Victor looked at Elena.
“Your mother wasn't the only person who knew.”
“Who else?”
Victor looked at Luca.
“Your biological father.”
Luca felt his stomach drop.
“Who?”
Victor’s eyes filled with something Luca had never seen in him before.
Regret.
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“No.”
“Then how can you know he's alive?”
Victor whispered:
“Because I saw him.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
The room went silent.
“Where?”
Victor turned toward the hidden camera.
A smile appeared on the old man's face.
“He's closer than you think.”
Suddenly the lights went out.
The timer stopped.
A gunshot echoed.
Victor collapsed.
Luca caught him.
“Elena!”
She turned.
The biometric scanner had opened.
Inside was a single envelope.
She pulled it out.
Written across the front:
FOR ELENA ONLY.
She opened it.
A photograph fell out.
A man.
A newborn baby.
And a hospital bracelet.
Elena's eyes widened.
She whispered:
“That’s him.”
“Who?”
“My father.”
Luca stared.
The photograph showed a man standing beside Elena's mother.
But the man's face wasn't Gabriel Russo.
It was Matteo.
Luca slowly turned.
Matteo stood behind them.
May you like
Holding his gun.
And pointing it at Elena.
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