Chapter 13 - The Father in the DarkAlessandro did not believe him.
He had buried his father three years earlier.
He had watched the coffin close.
Richard saw the disbelief.
“You were shown a body.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Why would I trust you?”
“You shouldn’t.”
Richard placed a photograph on the table.
Alessandro stared.
His father.
Older.
Alive.
Standing inside a prison medical wing.
The photograph had been taken six months earlier.
Alessandro’s hands tightened.
“Where?”
“Federal detention facility.”
“You’re lying.”
Richard shrugged.
“You asked what I wanted.”
He leaned forward.
“I want the prison doors opened.”
Alessandro stared.
“Why?”
“Because your father built Project Lark.”
Richard paused.
“And he still controls it.”
At the mansion, Emma was hiding inside the old piano room.
Luca stayed beside her.
Sophia was still recovering.
Isabella guarded the door.
Marco searched for Alessandro.
Then a voice came through the speakers.
“Emma.”
The child froze.
It was Alessandro’s voice.
“Emma, it’s me.”
Luca looked suspicious.
“Don’t answer.”
But Emma stepped toward the speaker.
“Alessandro?”
“Yes.”
“Are you okay?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Luca shook his head.
“That isn’t him.”
Emma stared at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because he would never say he was okay.”
The speaker went silent.
Then another voice replaced it.
A man.
Old.
Cold.
“Hello, granddaughter.”
Emma looked at Isabella.
“Who is that?”
Isabella’s face became ghostly white.
“Your grandfather.”
At the warehouse, Alessandro heard his father’s voice through the same system.
“You always were a disappointing son.”
Alessandro closed his eyes.
“Dad.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you were given the empire and turned it into weakness.”
“You killed Luca.”
“I tried.”
“You killed Isabella.”
“No.”
“You poisoned Sophia.”
“Not my order.”
Alessandro opened his eyes.
“Then who did?”
His father laughed.
“You still don’t understand.”
He continued:
“The enemy is not outside your family.”
Alessandro looked at Richard.
His father said:
“The enemy is inside your own blood.”
The call ended.
Richard stared at Alessandro.
Then the warehouse lights turned red.
An alarm sounded.
Richard looked toward the door.
“Someone is coming.”
“Who?”
Richard’s face changed.
“Your sister.”
The doors exploded inward.
Isabella entered.
Weapon in hand.
She shot the first guard.
Then the second.
Alessandro stared.
“Isabella!”
She looked at him.
“You took too long.”
She cut his restraints.
“Move.”
They ran.
But Richard stayed behind.
Alessandro turned.
“Richard!”
Richard smiled.
“Run.”
“Why?”
Richard looked at him.
“Because your father just activated Project Lark.”
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And across Manhattan, every encrypted account connected to the Moretti family suddenly transferred ownership.
To Emma.
