CHAPTER 6 THE GRANDDAUGHTER HE NEVER KNEW HE HAD
For several seconds, nobody breathed.
Adrian stood at the bottom of the staircase with his weapon raised.
His father stood above him.
Alive.
Older.
Calmer.
And smiling as if the last seven years had never happened.
Adrian's finger rested against the trigger.
"You died."
His father's expression barely changed.
"So did Gabriel."
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"Where is my mother?"
"Dead."
"You're lying."
"I wish I were."
Adrian stared at him.
The man descended another step.
"My name is Victor Moretti."
Adrian laughed bitterly.
"I know your name."
Victor stopped.
"Then lower the weapon."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because dead men don't usually walk into houses carrying secrets."
Victor's smile disappeared.
"You're exactly like me."
"No."
Adrian's voice became colder.
"That's the difference."
Victor looked at Lily.
The little girl was hiding behind Adrian's coat.
Victor's expression softened.
"Come here, sweetheart."
Lily shook her head.
Adrian moved slightly in front of her.
"Don't talk to her."
Victor looked at him.
"You don't understand what she is."
Adrian's eyes hardened.
"She's my daughter."
"No."
Victor pointed toward Lily.
"She's the last piece."
"The last piece of what?"
"The inheritance."
Gabriel stepped forward.
"Don't listen to him."
Victor looked at Gabriel.
"Still alive."
Gabriel smiled without warmth.
"Disappointed?"
Victor laughed.
"I always knew you would survive."
"Then why did you fake my death?"
"Because you knew too much."
Adrian looked between them.
"What did he know?"
Victor ignored him.
"Gabriel always believed he could escape."
"And you always believed you could control everyone."
Victor nodded.
"Control is the only reason this family survived."
Adrian raised the gun higher.
"You poisoned me."
Victor's eyes flickered.
Only once.
But Adrian saw it.
"You know."
Victor sighed.
"I was hoping you'd ask."
"Why?"
"Because you were becoming uncontrollable."
"So you tried to kill me."
"I tried to protect you."
Adrian laughed.
"You call poisoning your son protection?"
"It was temporary."
"You nearly killed me."
"I knew you'd survive."
"You didn't know."
Victor's eyes hardened.
"I knew exactly what would happen."
Adrian's hand trembled.
Not fear.
Anger.
His heart suddenly skipped.
He felt it.
A strange flutter.
Then another.
Vincent noticed.
"Boss."
"I'm fine."
Victor smiled.
"You see?"
Adrian looked at him.
"You know about my heart."
"Of course."
"How?"
Victor's voice became almost gentle.
"Because I built the system keeping you alive."
The room went silent.
Adrian stared.
"What system?"
Victor walked toward an old cabinet.
He opened it.
Inside were dozens of medical files.
Adrian recognized his name.
His date of birth.
His blood type.
His childhood records.
Hospital reports.
Blood tests.
Then—
a photograph.
Adrian as a teenager.
Standing beside his father.
Victor placed the file on the table.
"Your heart condition was detected when you were seventeen."
Adrian's face changed.
"That's impossible."
"Your mother found out."
"And?"
"She wanted you treated."
"Why didn't I know?"
"Because I stopped her."
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"Why?"
"Because the treatment would have exposed something."
"What?"
Victor looked at Lily.
"The bloodline."
Adrian stared.
"What does Lily have to do with my heart?"
"Everything."
Victor opened another file.
Inside was a genetic report.
Adrian read the first page.
Then the second.
His face slowly changed.
"No."
Sarah stepped closer.
"What?"
Adrian handed her the document.
She read it.
Her face went white.
"This says..."
Victor interrupted.
"That Adrian's heart condition isn't a disease."
Sarah looked at him.
"Then what is it?"
Victor answered:
"A genetic defect."
Adrian shook his head.
"You said the treatment could fix it."
"Not entirely."
"Then what?"
Victor smiled.
"The defect is linked to the Moretti bloodline."
Gabriel stepped forward.
"He's lying."
Victor turned.
"Am I?"
Gabriel said nothing.
Adrian looked at him.
"You knew."
Gabriel's eyes dropped.
"I knew part of it."
"How much?"
"Enough."
Adrian stared at him.
"You all knew."
Gabriel looked up.
"We were trying to keep you alive."
Adrian's voice cracked.
"By lying."
"Yes."
"By hiding my daughter."
"Yes."
"By letting me believe my father was dead."
Gabriel nodded.
"Yes."
Adrian looked at Lily.
She was watching him.
Her eyes were frightened.
He immediately lowered his voice.
"None of this is your fault."
She nodded.
Victor watched them.
Then he said:
"She doesn't know what she carries."
Adrian turned.
"What?"
Victor pointed toward the pendant around Lily's neck.
"That."
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"The key."
Victor nodded.
"The Moretti Trust."
Adrian looked at Gabriel.
"Explain it."
Gabriel sighed.
"Your grandfather established a private financial network before he died."
"How much?"
"Enough to destabilize governments."
Adrian stared.
"How much?"
Gabriel looked at him.
"Thirty-two billion dollars."
Silence.
Sarah's face changed.
Adrian didn't react.
"Why didn't I know?"
"Because the trust was divided."
"Between?"
"Two bloodlines."
Adrian looked at Elena.
She stood silently near the doorway.
"Mine."
Gabriel nodded.
"And hers."
Elena stepped forward.
"My mother was your father's first wife."
Adrian looked at her.
"Meaning you're my sister."
"Yes."
He stared.
"So Lily's pendant—"
"Contains half the authorization."
"And the other half?"
Elena touched the small pendant beneath her shirt.
"This."
Adrian stared.
Two identical silver circles.
One around Lily's neck.
One around Elena's.
Victor smiled.
"Now you understand."
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"Why did the Black Circle want Lily?"
"Because the trust can only be opened when the two pieces are brought together."
"Then why didn't they take Elena?"
Victor laughed.
"They tried."
Elena's expression darkened.
"More than once."
"She escaped."
"With Gabriel's help."
Adrian looked at Gabriel.
"You protected her."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Gabriel stared at him.
"Because she was the only person who could expose the truth."
A sound came from outside.
Vincent turned.
"Vehicles."
Everyone froze.
Victor looked toward the windows.
"They're here."
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"Who?"
Victor didn't answer.
A bullet shattered the glass.
Everyone dropped.
Adrian grabbed Lily.
Sarah pulled her close.
Vincent fired toward the window.
Gabriel moved to the side entrance.
Another burst of gunfire tore through the room.
Victor ducked behind the staircase.
Adrian shouted:
"How many?"
Vincent looked through the broken window.
"At least twelve."
"Whose men?"
"Black Circle."
Victor laughed.
"Of course."
Adrian stared at him.
"You knew they were coming."
Victor shook his head.
"No."
Then he looked at Lily.
"But I knew they would eventually."
Adrian pulled Lily into a hallway.
"Stay here."
"No."
Her fingers tightened around his.
"Daddy."
He knelt.
"Listen to me."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Are you going away?"
"No."
"You promised."
"I remember."
He touched her cheek.
"I always come back."
She nodded.
Adrian stood.
He looked at Sarah.
"Keep her behind you."
Sarah nodded.
"I will."
Vincent approached.
"Boss."
"What?"
"We need to leave."
Adrian shook his head.
"No."
"Adrian—"
"If we run, they follow."
Victor stepped from behind the staircase.
"He's right."
Adrian looked at him.
Victor continued.
"This house has another exit."
"Where?"
"Under the fireplace."
Gabriel stared.
"You never told me."
"I never trusted you."
Gabriel smiled.
"Fair."
Victor walked toward the fireplace.
He pressed a hidden mechanism.
The stone wall shifted.
A staircase appeared.
Adrian stared.
"Where does it lead?"
"To the lake."
"How old is it?"
"Older than you."
Adrian looked at Vincent.
"Get Sarah and Lily out."
Vincent nodded.
"What about you?"
Adrian looked at Victor.
"I'm staying."
Vincent frowned.
"Boss—"
"Take them."
Vincent hesitated.
Then nodded.
Sarah grabbed Lily's hand.
Lily looked back.
"Daddy."
Adrian smiled.
"I'll be right behind you."
She nodded.
They disappeared into the passage.
Gabriel stayed.
Elena stayed.
Victor stayed.
Adrian looked at all three.
"Now talk."
Victor stared at him.
"About what?"
"Everything."
The shooting continued above them.
But beneath the house, the world became strangely quiet.
Victor led them through a stone corridor.
At the end was a small underground room.
A desk.
A safe.
Several old photographs.
Adrian walked toward them.
He saw his grandfather.
His grandmother.
His father.
His mother.
Gabriel.
Elena.
Then—
Sarah.
Pregnant.
Adrian stopped.
"That photograph."
Victor looked at it.
"Taken twenty years ago."
"Who took it?"
"Your mother."
"Why?"
Victor didn't answer.
Adrian turned.
"Tell me."
Victor sighed.
"Because Sarah was carrying twins."
Adrian stared.
"Twins?"
Elena looked away.
Adrian's eyes moved between them.
"Lily and Elena?"
"No."
Elena shook her head.
"I was already twenty."
Adrian's face changed.
"Then who?"
Victor opened the safe.
He removed a file.
Adrian took it.
Two birth certificates.
Two babies.
Two names.
The first:
LILY MARIE MORETTI.
The second:
MAYA ROSE MORETTI.
Adrian couldn't breathe.
"Another child."
Victor nodded.
"Your second daughter."
"Where is she?"
Victor stared at him.
"That's the problem."
Adrian's voice dropped.
"Where?"
"Missing."
"Since when?"
"The night she was born."
Adrian looked at Sarah.
She shook her head.
"I didn't know."
"You were there."
"I was unconscious."
Victor spoke quietly.
"The baby was taken."
"By whom?"
"The Black Circle."
Adrian's expression became murderous.
"Why?"
"Because she wasn't supposed to survive."
Adrian froze.
"What?"
Victor looked at the file.
"She had the genetic marker."
"What marker?"
"The one that could unlock the entire trust."
Adrian stared.
"Lily doesn't have it?"
Victor shook his head.
"No."
"Elena?"
"No."
"Then who?"
Victor looked directly at him.
"Maya."
The name echoed in the room.
Adrian stared at the birth certificate.
His hands began shaking.
He had spent three years believing Lily was his only child.
Now he had learned there was another daughter.
A daughter who had been stolen at birth.
A daughter who might still be alive.
A daughter carrying the genetic key everyone had been killing for.
Then Adrian noticed something.
A small handwritten note attached to the file.
He read it.
His face went pale.
"What?"
Gabriel stepped closer.
Adrian handed him the note.
Gabriel read it.
His eyes widened.
"That's impossible."
"What?"
Gabriel looked at Adrian.
"Maya wasn't taken by the Black Circle."
"Then who took her?"
Gabriel looked toward Victor.
Victor's expression had changed.
For the first time, genuine fear appeared in his eyes.
"The person who took Maya..."
He stopped.
Adrian waited.
Victor whispered:
"Was your mother."
Silence.
Adrian stared at him.
"My mother is dead."
Victor nodded.
"Yes."
"Then how could she have taken her?"
Victor looked at the door.
"Because she didn't die seven years ago."
Adrian's blood ran cold.
"Then where is she?"
A voice answered from the darkness.
"Right here."
Everyone turned.
A woman stepped into the room.
Gray hair.
Elegant black coat.
Cold blue eyes.
Adrian's breath disappeared.
His mother.
Alive.
She looked at him.
Then at the photograph.
Finally, she smiled.
"My son."
Adrian raised his weapon.
His voice shook.
"Where is my daughter?"
The woman didn't answer.
She looked at Lily's empty pendant on the desk.
Then whispered:
"Which one?"
Adrian froze.
Behind her, another figure appeared.
A young woman.
Twenty years old.
Dark hair.
Pale face.
A familiar scar above her eyebrow.
Adrian stared.
Elena gasped.
Gabriel stepped backward.
The young woman looked directly at Adrian.
And spoke.
"Dad?"
Adrian couldn't move.
Because he recognized her eyes.
His own eyes.
And around her neck hung the missing half of the Moretti pendant.
The girl smiled sadly.
"My name is Maya."
Then she looked at the woman beside her.
"And she's been telling me for twenty years that you abandoned us."
Adrian's mother smiled.
Outside, gunfire continued.
Inside, Adrian realized the war had never been about money.
May you like
It had been about his children.
And his mother had been holding one of them all along.
