Chapter 11 - MATTEONobody moved.
Matteo's face was unreadable.
Luca stepped between him and Elena.
“You're her father.”
Matteo didn't answer.
Elena stared at him.
“No.”
Matteo lowered his weapon.
“I didn't know.”
“You knew everything.”
“No.”
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“My mother trusted you.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me grow up.”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me.”
“I couldn't.”
Luca's voice was cold.
“Why?”
Matteo looked toward Victor.
“Because your father ordered me to protect both of you.”
Victor was still conscious.
Barely.
“Matteo…”
“Tell them.”
Victor closed his eyes.
Matteo continued.
“Elena's mother was running from your grandfather. She came to me.”
“You protected her?”
“I tried.”
“Then why did she die?”
Matteo looked down.
“Because Victor found her first.”
Luca turned toward Victor.
“You murdered her.”
Victor whispered:
“No.”
“Enough.”
“She was poisoned.”
“By whom?”
“Isabella.”
Elena's face went blank.
“My aunt?”
Victor nodded.
“Isabella believed Elena would expose the family.”
Matteo added:
“She tried to stop her.”
“But why did my mother leave me?”
“She didn't.”
Elena stared.
“What?”
“She never abandoned you.”
“She died believing you had been taken from her.”
Luca looked at Matteo.
“Taken by whom?”
Matteo's expression became grim.
“Your grandfather.”
The pieces finally aligned.
Isabella had killed Elena's mother.
The grandfather had erased the records.
Victor had faked his death.
Adriano had tried to protect the family.
And Matteo had carried the secret.
But one question remained.
“Why is Elena the primary heir?”
Matteo looked at the silver key.
“Because her mother knew the trust would eventually be activated.”
“Activated by what?”
“Both bloodlines.”
Luca understood.
“They planned for this.”
“Yes.”
“They created the system.”
“Yes.”
“And now it's killing us.”
Matteo nodded.
The vault door suddenly opened.
Adriano stood outside.
He was holding Marco.
Alive.
Barely.
“Get down!”
Adriano fired over Luca's shoulder.
A hidden gunman fell from the upper walkway.
Then another.
Then another.
The vault became chaos.
Matteo returned fire.
Luca dragged Elena behind a stone pillar.
Adriano cut Marco free.
“Move!”
They ran through the vault's rear passage.
The old man appeared on the screen again.
“You cannot leave.”
Adriano shot the screen.
The image shattered.
“Now we can.”
They reached the underground garage.
But three vehicles were waiting.
Black SUVs.
Doors opened.
Gunmen stepped out.
Adriano whispered:
“We're surrounded.”
Luca looked at Elena.
She was holding the silver key.
A strange calm had settled over her.
“Room 318.”
“What?”
“My mother wrote something.”
“What?”
Elena looked toward the garage wall.
“The trust doesn't control the bloodline.”
She raised the key.
“The bloodline controls the trust.”
Luca stared.
“Then why are we running?”
“Because they want us scared.”
She stepped forward.
“If we activate it first…”
She looked at him.
“…we control everything.”
Matteo shook his head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because the trust was designed to punish whoever activates it.”
Elena looked at him.
“How?”
Matteo didn't answer.
Adriano did.
“It takes payment.”
“What payment?”
“One life.”
Elena's face went pale.
Luca understood.
The system had never been designed to choose an heir.
It had been designed to sacrifice one.
He looked at Elena.
“No.”
She shook her head.
“We have no choice.”
“There is always another choice.”
A voice came from the far end of the garage.
“Not this time.”
Isabella stepped into the light.
She held a gun to Marco's head.
“Give me the keys.”
Luca slowly raised his hands.
“Let him go.”
Isabella smiled.
“Choose, Luca.”
She lifted the weapon.
“The silver key…”
Then pointed at Elena.
“…or Marco.”
Luca stared at both of them.
The next second changed everything.
Elena stepped forward.
“Take me.”
Luca turned.
“No.”
She looked at him.
“I know how this ends.”
She walked toward Isabella.
“I was born for this.”
Luca grabbed her wrist.
“You don't get to decide that.”
Elena whispered:
“I'm not deciding.”
She looked toward the ceiling.
“I'm remembering.”
A voice came through the speakers.
The old patriarch.
“Excellent.”
Elena looked up.
“I know where you are.”
The speakers crackled.
“You've always been smarter than your brother.”
Luca froze.
His brother?
Elena stared into the darkness.
Then said the sentence that made the room go silent.
“You made two heirs.”
She raised the key.
“But you forgot something.”
“What?”
Elena smiled.
“You also made a spare.”
A gunshot rang out.
Isabella dropped her weapon.
Blood spread across her shoulder.
Everyone turned.
Standing behind her was Victor.
Still alive.
Still bleeding.
Holding a gun.
And beside him was a man Luca had never seen before.
May you like
Victor looked at Luca.
“Meet your real father.”
