Chapter 14 - THE WOMAN WHO OWNED THE DRAGONThe Last BetrayalAlina dragged Matteo behind a column.
Blood soaked his shirt.
"You're hit."
"It's not deep."
"You always say that."
"I've been shot before."
"That's not reassuring."
He almost smiled.
Across the theater, Adrian crawled toward the stage.
The woman stepped into the spotlight.
Sofia.
Alive.
Leo's mother.
Alina stared.
"You killed Adrian."
Sofia lowered the gun.
"He killed my husband."
"Gabriel?"
"Yes."
Matteo shook his head.
"No."
Sofia looked at him.
"Your brother betrayed us."
"You're lying."
She laughed.
"Everyone in this family lies."
Alina stood.
"What do you want?"
Sofia looked at her.
"Your signature."
Again.
Always the signature.
Alina understood.
"The empire."
"Exactly."
"But why?"
Sofia's eyes moved to Matteo.
"Because if you sign everything to me, the Vescari name survives."
"And you become the new Victor."
Sofia smiled.
"No."
She pointed to herself.
"I become the first legitimate Vescari ruler in eighty years."
Alina's stomach dropped.
"You're Mara's granddaughter."
Sofia nodded.
"Through Isabella."
"Then Adrian was your brother."
"Half-brother."
"And Gabriel?"
"My weapon."
Alina felt sick.
"Leo?"
"His blood gives me legitimacy."
"And me?"
"Your blood gives me ownership."
Sofia stepped closer.
"Sign."
Alina looked at Matteo.
He shook his head.
"No."
Sofia pressed the gun toward him.
"Sign or he dies."
Alina picked up the pen.
Her hand trembled.
"Where?"
Sofia smiled.
"Here."
Alina placed the pen on the document.
Then stopped.
"You made one mistake."
Sofia frowned.
"What?"
"You assumed I didn't know what the pendant did."
Alina smiled.
For the first time, she wasn't afraid.
She broke the pendant open.
The microfilm was gone.
Sofia's expression changed.
"Where is it?"
Alina looked toward Adrian.
He was barely conscious.
He lifted one hand.
A tiny flash drive sat between his fingers.
Sofia turned.
Too late.
Matteo's men stormed the theater.
Police sirens screamed outside.
Sofia fired.
The gunshot hit the ceiling.
Matteo tackled her.
The three of them crashed onto the stage.
Alina grabbed Leo's blanket from the floor.
Inside the hem was a hidden memory card.
The real evidence.
Everything.
Every account.
Every murder.
Every name.
Every recording.
Victor.
Isabella.
Sofia.
Adrian.
And Matteo.
Alina stared at one final file.
GABRIEL VESCARI — FINAL RECORDING.
She opened it.
Gabriel appeared on screen.
His face was pale.
His voice quiet.
"If Alina is watching this, then everyone I was afraid of has finally found her."
He smiled.
"That means she is old enough to choose."
He paused.
"The Vescari bloodline was never meant to belong to one person."
A breath.
"It belongs to whoever has the courage to end it."
Alina looked at Matteo.
Gabriel continued:
"Alina, your mother saved your life."
"And Matteo saved hers."
Alina frowned.
"What?"
The recording continued.
"Twenty years ago, Matteo was the one who opened the escape route."
She turned.
Matteo looked away.
"You lied."
"I was eighteen."
"You still lied."
"I thought you'd be safer hating me."
Gabriel smiled faintly.
"Now you know."
The screen went black.
Police entered the stage.
Sofia was handcuffed.
Adrian was taken to the hospital.
And Matteo stood beside Alina, blood on his shirt.
For the first time, the dragon on his neck no longer looked like a warning.
May you like
It looked like a question.
Because the empire was about to belong to Alina.
