Chapter 5 - The Uncle Who Died TwiceAlessandro stared at Matteo.
The man before him had supposedly died in a car accident twelve years ago.
Alessandro had attended the funeral.
He had watched the coffin disappear beneath earth.
He had carried flowers to the grave.
But Matteo was standing alive.
Older.
Harder.
Smiling.
“You buried the wrong man,” Matteo said.
Marco raised his weapon.
Matteo laughed.
“You shoot me, the hospital explodes.”
Alessandro’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re bluffing.”
“No.”
Matteo tossed a phone across the floor.
On its screen was a live camera.
Sophia lay in Room 417.
A man stood beside her bed.
He held a syringe.
Emma cried out.
“Mommy!”
Matteo smiled.
“Exactly.”
Alessandro’s voice became ice.
“What do you want?”
“The girl.”
“No.”
“Then Sophia dies.”
Alessandro stepped forward.
Matteo raised his weapon.
“One step closer and she gets the needle.”
Alessandro stopped.
He hated helplessness.
It was the one emotion he could not tolerate.
Matteo continued.
“Your father built this empire with blood. Isabella discovered where the blood came from.”
“What did she discover?”
“That Project Lark wasn’t a business.”
Alessandro waited.
“It was a succession plan.”
Silence.
Matteo looked at Emma.
“Your father believed the Moretti bloodline would collapse without a legitimate heir.”
Alessandro frowned.
“I was his heir.”
“You were his weapon.”
Matteo smiled.
“Isabella was the heir.”
Alessandro’s expression changed.
“Why did he hide her?”
“Because she refused to become him.”
“And Emma?”
Matteo’s eyes moved to the child.
“She was the only thing Isabella loved enough to betray everyone for.”
Alessandro looked at Emma.
The little girl was crying silently.
“Where is Isabella?”
Matteo smiled.
“She’s dead.”
“Then who is calling the shots?”
Matteo’s smile disappeared.
“You still think I’m the boss?”
Alessandro froze.
Matteo stepped backward.
“I’m only the messenger.”
“Who sent you?”
Matteo looked at Emma.
“Ask your little queen.”
Emma shook her head.
“I don’t know him.”
Matteo laughed.
“You know more than you think.”
He reached into his pocket.
He pulled out an old necklace.
Emma gasped.
“That’s Mom’s.”
Alessandro stared.
Sophia wore that necklace every day.
Matteo held it between two fingers.
“This was found twelve years ago.”
“Where?”
“At Isabella’s grave.”
Alessandro’s mind raced.
Sophia had the necklace now.
Which meant Sophia had somehow received it after Isabella died.
Matteo backed toward the exit.
“You have eight minutes.”
“For what?”
“The hospital.”
He disappeared.
Marco rushed to the security panel.
“We need to get there.”
Alessandro was already moving.
He grabbed Emma.
“Let’s go.”
But before they reached the stairs, Rosa called out.
“Alessandro!”
He stopped.
She held another envelope.
“I found this inside the archive.”
He took it.
The paper was old.
A single sentence had been written on it.
If Emma is ever discovered, find the woman who raised her.
Alessandro turned toward Rosa.
“You mean Sophia.”
Rosa shook her head.
“No.”
May you like
She looked terrified.
“I mean me.”
