Chapter 10: The Father Who Came Back From The Dead
The world stopped.
At least, that was how it felt to Alejandro Moretti.
For fifteen years, one truth had remained unbreakable.
His father was dead.
Lorenzo Moretti.
The man who built the foundation of the Moretti empire.
The man whose funeral Alejandro attended.
The man whose death pushed him into becoming the person he was today.
A ghost from the past.
A memory carved into stone.
But now...
That ghost was standing in front of him.
Alive.
Breathing.
Smiling.
“Hello, son.”
Two words.
Two words that destroyed fifteen years of certainty.
Nobody in the mansion moved.
The guards had their weapons raised.
But Alejandro didn’t give the order.
Because his mind was trapped between reality and memory.
His father.
Alive.
Impossible.
Again.
That word.
The word Alejandro hated most.
Because every time he said it, the truth became darker.
Lorenzo looked around the room.
“The mansion hasn’t changed.”
His eyes moved toward the walls.
“The same paintings.”
“The same furniture.”
“The same mistakes.”
Alejandro finally found his voice.
“You died.”
Lorenzo smiled.
“Did I?”
The question was simple.
But it carried something dangerous.
Alejandro stepped forward.
“I attended your funeral.”
“Yes.”
“I watched them bury you.”
“Yes.”
“Then explain.”
Lorenzo looked at him.
“You spent fifteen years believing everything you were told.”
A pause.
“Now you understand how it feels.”
Emma stood behind Alejandro.
She was staring at Lorenzo with a strange expression.
Not fear.
Recognition.
A memory was trying to return.
A small room.
A man's voice.
A hand placing a necklace around her neck.
A voice saying:
“Never forget who you are.”
Emma grabbed her head.
Lorenzo noticed.
And smiled.
“There she is.”
Alejandro immediately moved between them.
“Stay away from her.”
Lorenzo laughed softly.
“Still protecting people you barely understand.”
Alejandro’s eyes darkened.
“You know who she is.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me.”
Lorenzo looked at Emma.
“She is the reason you lost everything.”
Emma froze.
Alejandro looked confused.
“What does that mean?”
Lorenzo walked slowly around the room.
“Everyone thinks Isabella disappeared because she discovered your secrets.”
He smiled.
“But the truth is…”
He looked directly at Alejandro.
“She disappeared because she discovered mine.”
Fifteen years ago.
Before Isabella became Alejandro’s wife.
Before the empire.
Before the betrayal.
There was another story.
A story nobody knew.
Lorenzo Moretti had two children.
Alejandro.
And Emma.
But Emma was not born into the Moretti family publicly.
She was hidden.
Because Lorenzo knew something.
A secret child could become a weapon.
Especially a child with a perfect memory.
Unlike Alejandro.
Emma remembered everything.
That was why The Vipers feared her.
That was why they erased her memories.
But Lorenzo revealed something even worse.
Emma wasn’t just a witness.
She was the key.
“The key to what?” Alejandro asked.
Lorenzo looked at him.
“To controlling the entire organization.”
Alejandro laughed.
A cold, empty laugh.
“You expect me to believe this?”
Lorenzo looked disappointed.
“You still think this is about belief.”
He pointed toward the underground facility.
“You saw the machines.”
Alejandro said nothing.
“You saw the files.”
Silence.
“You saw your own name.”
Lorenzo stepped closer.
“The truth doesn’t care if you accept it.”
Then Lorenzo placed a small device on the table.
A recording.
“My final gift to you.”
Alejandro stared.
“What is it?”
“Your memory.”
The room became silent.
Lorenzo pressed the button.
A voice recording began.
At first, static.
Then...
Alejandro’s own voice.
But different.
Angrier.
More desperate.
The recording was from fifteen years ago.
“Isabella, you don’t understand.”
Her voice answered:
“No, Alejandro. I understand everything.”
A crash.
Someone shouting.
Then Alejandro’s voice:
“If they find out about Emma, they will kill her.”
Isabella:
“Then tell the truth.”
Alejandro:
“I can’t.”
Isabella:
“Why?”
Silence.
Then the words that shocked everyone:
“Because I already made the deal.”
Alejandro stepped backward.
“No…”
The recording continued.
Isabella sounded heartbroken.
“You promised me you would destroy The Vipers.”
“I tried.”
“No.”
Her voice became colder.
“You became them.”
A long silence.
Then Alejandro’s voice whispered:
“I did what I had to do.”
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Emma looked at Alejandro.
Not with hatred.
With confusion.
“You made a deal?”
Alejandro stared at the device.
“I don’t remember.”
Lorenzo smiled.
“Exactly.”
He walked closer.
“Because after that night, your memories were changed.”
Alejandro looked at him.
“By who?”
Lorenzo’s smile disappeared.
“By you.”
The answer made no sense.
But somehow...
It felt familiar.
Like a locked door inside Alejandro’s mind had just moved.
A memory appeared.
A hidden room.
Alejandro sitting in the chair.
Dr. Victor standing beside him.
Isabella crying.
And Alejandro saying:
“Erase it.”
Alejandro grabbed his head.
Pain exploded through his mind.
Emma rushed toward him.
“Alejandro!”
He saw flashes.
Hundreds of moments.
Moments he forgot.
Moments he buried.
He saw Isabella.
He saw Marco.
He saw himself.
And then...
He saw the night she disappeared.
The truth.
The thing everyone had hidden.
Alejandro was not the victim.
He was the person who started everything.
When he opened his eyes, he was on the floor.
Everyone was watching him.
Lorenzo smiled.
“Welcome back, son.”
Alejandro slowly stood.
His face had changed.
Not because he remembered everything.
But because he remembered enough.
He looked at Lorenzo.
“Where is Isabella?”
Lorenzo’s smile faded slightly.
“You still care about her?”
“She is my wife.”
“No.”
Lorenzo shook his head.
“She was your weakness.”
Alejandro stepped forward.
“Where is she?”
For the first time, Lorenzo looked uncertain.
Because the question was not from the old Alejandro.
Not the confused man.
Not the broken man.
This was the Alejandro who existed before his memories were taken.
The man who frightened even The Vipers.
Finally, Lorenzo answered.
“She is with Marco.”
Alejandro’s eyes narrowed.
“And why?”
Lorenzo looked at Emma.
“Because Marco knows the truth.”
A pause.
“The truth about the night Isabella disappeared.”
Then Lorenzo whispered:
“The night you tried to kill your own wife.”
Emma felt the world collapse.
Alejandro stood frozen.
Because somewhere deep inside...
A memory was returning.
A gunshot.
Isabella falling.
His hands.
Blood.
But something was wrong.
Something didn’t fit.
Because the last thing he remembered before losing consciousness was not Isabella dying.
It was someone else entering the room.
Someone else holding the gun.
Someone else saying:
"This was never your choice, Alejandro."
At that moment, Alejandro finally understood.
The truth was not hidden because he was guilty.
The truth was hidden because someone wanted him to believe he was guilty.
And the person who knew everything...
Was the one man he had not seen yet.
May you like
The man who pulled the trigger.
To be continued...
