Chapter 12: The Daughter Nobody Knew Existed
The words on the screen felt heavier than the walls around them.
EMMA IS THE LAST MORETTI HEIR.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Even the fire in the fireplace seemed quieter.
Alejandro stared at the message.
His mind rejected it before his heart could even understand it.
No.
Impossible.
He had one daughter.
One child.
Kiara.
He remembered every moment.
Every birthday.
Every laugh.
Every night he stayed awake because she had nightmares.
He remembered holding her tiny hand.
He remembered the pink ribbon in her hair.
He remembered losing her.
But now…
Another child stood in front of him.
A child who had saved his life.
A child who carried the same blood.
A child who somehow connected every secret buried inside the Moretti family.
Emma.
“My daughter?”
The words escaped Alejandro’s mouth.
Almost like he was afraid to say them.
Emma looked at him.
She did not understand.
“My mommy said I’m her daughter.”
The innocence of the answer hurt everyone.
Because Emma did not know she was standing in the middle of a war that started before she was born.
Clara covered her mouth.
“She knew…”
Alejandro turned toward her.
“You knew?”
Clara looked away.
That single movement was enough.
His expression changed.
“You knew.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I suspected.”
“Suspected?”
Alejandro’s voice became sharper.
“For four years, you suspected I had another child?”
Clara shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at Emma.
“I suspected there was another child connected to Kiara.”
The room became silent.
Victor stepped closer.
“Explain.”
Clara looked at Alejandro.
“After Kiara died, I found something in her room.”
Alejandro froze.
“What?”
“A drawing.”
“A drawing?”
Clara nodded.
“Kiara drew three people.”
She looked at Emma.
“Her.”
“Me.”
“And another little girl.”
Alejandro stared.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Clara’s face broke.
“Because I thought it was just a child’s imagination.”
A pause.
“Then I found the photograph.”
Bruno looked at her.
“What photograph?”
Clara swallowed.
“Kiara and Emma.”
Everyone froze.
“Together.”
Alejandro looked at Emma.
“When?”
Clara whispered:
“Before the accident.”
The room changed.
Because now the question was no longer whether Emma was connected.
The question was how.
Emma looked down.
She remembered almost nothing from when she was a baby.
Only small pieces.
A song.
A smell.
A woman’s voice.
And a little girl laughing.
“Kiara…”
She whispered the name.
Alejandro heard it.
“How do you know that name?”
Emma looked confused.
“I don’t know.”
She touched her head.
“But I remember someone saying it.”
The room became quiet.
Bruno looked at the screen again.
“There’s more.”
He opened another file.
A document appeared.
PROJECT ECLIPSE: FAMILY PROTECTION PROTOCOL
Below it were two names.
KIARA MORETTI
EMMA CARTER
Alejandro stared.
“Protection?”
Angelo nodded slowly.
“The project was never about controlling them.”
Everyone looked at him.
“It was about protecting them.”
Victor frowned.
“Then why did Kiara die?”
Angelo looked down.
“Because someone inside the project changed the rules.”
Bruno scrolled through the files.
“There’s an encrypted section.”
He tried opening it.
Denied.
Again.
Denied.
Emma stepped closer.
The device in her hand suddenly flashed.
Everyone noticed.
The camera recognized her.
A green light appeared.
IDENTITY CONFIRMED
Bruno stared.
“The system knows her.”
Emma looked at the device.
“Why?”
Nobody answered.
The file unlocked.
A new video appeared.
The quality was much clearer.
A younger Angelo sat in an office.
Beside him was a woman.
Alejandro recognized her immediately.
His mother.
Isabella Moretti.
A woman who died when he was a teenager.
But she was alive in the video.
And she was holding a baby.
A baby girl.
Emma.
Alejandro stepped backward.
“No…”
His mother’s voice played.
“Angelo, promise me.”
The old man in the video looked at her.
“What?”
“Promise me you will protect both girls.”
Angelo nodded.
“I will.”
Isabella looked at the baby.
“Because one day, they will decide whether this family survives.”
The video ended.
Alejandro stared at his father.
“You knew my mother was involved?”
Angelo said nothing.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
The answer was quiet.
Alejandro laughed.
A broken laugh.
“My entire life…”
He looked around the room.
“Everyone knew something except me.”
Nobody defended themselves.
Because nobody could.
Then Emma walked toward Alejandro.
Her small hand grabbed his finger.
The same way Kiara used to.
Alejandro froze.
Because the feeling was familiar.
The tiny hand.
The trust.
The warmth.
For a moment, he was not looking at Emma.
He was seeing Kiara.
A memory.
A little girl running toward him.
“Daddy!”
The memory vanished.
Alejandro looked down.
Emma was staring at him.
“Are you mad at me?”
The question destroyed him.
“No.”
His answer came instantly.
“Never.”
“Then why are you sad?”
Alejandro looked away.
Because the truth was painful.
He was not sad because Emma existed.
He was sad because he had lost years.
Four years.
Four years when he could have protected her.
Four years when he could have watched her grow.
Four years stolen by secrets.
“I should have known.”
Emma tilted her head.
“Known what?”
“That you were there.”
She thought for a moment.
Then said:
“Maybe you weren’t ready.”
The sentence shocked him.
Because it sounded exactly like something Kiara would say.
Simple.
Forgiving.
Kind.
Victor watched his brother.
And for the first time, he saw Alejandro not as a rival.
Not as a boss.
Not as the person who inherited everything.
But as a father.
Then suddenly…
The mansion shook.
A loud explosion came from downstairs.
Everyone turned.
Bruno immediately grabbed his weapon.
“Someone breached the main entrance.”
Angelo looked toward the hallway.
Impossible.
Nobody should have been able to enter.
Then every screen in the mansion turned on.
A face appeared.
A man nobody recognized.
Except Angelo.
The old man’s expression changed.
“No.”
Alejandro noticed.
“Who is that?”
Angelo whispered:
“The person who created Project Eclipse.”
The man on the screen smiled.
“Hello, Moretti family.”
A pause.
“I believe it’s time we collect what belongs to us.”
His eyes moved.
Straight toward Emma.
“And take back Subject Zero.”
Emma stepped behind Alejandro.
The mafia boss looked at the screen.
His voice became dangerous.
“You came into my house.”
The man smiled.
“No, Alejandro.”
A pause.
“You misunderstand.”
The cameras around the mansion activated.
Every screen showed the same message.
PROPERTY OF THE ECLIPSE ORGANIZATION
The man continued:
“I’m not entering your house.”
His smile widened.
May you like
“I’m taking it back.”
End of Chapter 12
