Chapter 11 - THE TRIAL OF THE DE LUCAJulian was handcuffed before he could reach Lily.
Everything happened at once.
Police pulled him away.
Claire screamed.
Cassandra tried to intervene.
Adrian was tackled.
Marcus disappeared into the smoke.
By sunrise, every news channel in Chicago carried the same headline.
MAFIA HEIR JULIAN DE LUCA ARRESTED FOR MULTIPLE MURDERS.
Julian was taken to federal custody.
The evidence was overwhelming.
Fingerprints.
Bank transfers.
Witness statements.
Video footage.
Every piece appeared designed to prove he had ordered murders committed across the city.
His lawyer looked sick.
“Whoever did this has been preparing for years.”
Julian stared through the glass.
“Marcus.”
His lawyer shook his head.
“Marcus doesn’t exist on paper.”
“What?”
“No birth records. No fingerprints. No bank accounts. Nothing.”
Julian laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
Then the lawyer slid a folder across the table.
“There’s something worse.”
Julian opened it.
A DNA test.
Lily Bennett.
Biological father:
Unknown.
Julian’s heart sank.
Claire had disappeared.
Cassandra was unreachable.
Nora had vanished.
Thomas was still in intensive care.
Everyone was gone.
Then an officer entered.
“You have a visitor.”
Julian expected his lawyer.
Instead, Cassandra walked in.
Alive.
She sat across from him.
“I need you to listen carefully.”
Julian stared.
“How are you here?”
“I negotiated.”
“With whom?”
“Marcus.”
Julian leaned forward.
“What did you give him?”
“My life.”
“What?”
Cassandra whispered:
“I told him I would take the blame.”
Julian shook his head.
“For what?”
“For Claire’s murder.”
Silence.
“Claire is dead?”
Cassandra nodded.
Julian closed his eyes.
“No.”
“She was killed yesterday.”
“You saw her?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Cassandra looked down.
“In the warehouse.”
Julian stared.
“That’s impossible.”
Cassandra began crying.
“She came to me after Lily was taken.”
“What happened?”
“She told me she wanted you to know the truth.”
“What truth?”
Cassandra reached into her coat.
She placed a letter on the table.
Julian recognized the handwriting immediately.
Claire.
He opened it.
The first sentence shattered him.
Julian, Lily is not your daughter.
He stopped reading.
Cassandra whispered:
“There’s more.”
Julian continued.
But she is the daughter of the man you have spent four years hunting.
Julian looked up.
Cassandra’s lips trembled.
“Claire was pregnant before she met you.”
“With whom?”
Cassandra whispered:
“Marcus.”
Julian stopped breathing.
“No.”
Cassandra nodded.
“And that means…”
Julian looked down at the letter.
The final line read:
Your war is no longer about the DeLuca family. It is about the child Marcus believes belongs to him.
Julian slowly folded the letter.
Then he smiled.
Cassandra stared.
“Why are you smiling?”
Julian looked through the glass.
“Because Marcus made one mistake.”
“What?”
“He told me Lily belonged to him.”
Julian’s smile disappeared.
“And Marcus always forgets one thing.”
“What?”
“I know exactly how men like him think.”
May you like
He stood.
“And I’m going to escape.”
