CHAPTER 10 THE MOTHER, THE LIAR, AND THE LAST PIECE OF THE JADE SECRET.
The rain started before sunrise.
Heavy.
Cold.
Relentless.
Almost as if the sky itself was mourning the truth that had finally begun to surface.
Inside the small cottage in Blackwood Valley, nobody moved.
Daniel Cross lay unconscious on the floor.
The same man who had spent days helping them uncover the past...
The same man who claimed he wanted justice...
Was now holding a message accusing Sophia Vale.
“Do not trust Sophia.”
The words burned into everyone's mind.
Especially Olivia's.
Because only hours earlier...
She had finally met the woman she had dreamed about her entire life.
Her mother.
The woman whose face she had imagined countless times.
The woman she believed abandoned her.
And now...
A stranger was telling her that woman was dangerous.
Ethan looked at Sophia.
Then at Daniel.
Then back at Sophia.
“Explain.”
His voice was calm.
But everyone could hear the anger underneath.
Sophia looked devastated.
“I don't know why he wrote that.”
Ethan pointed toward Daniel.
“But he knew things.”
Sophia shook her head.
“So do I.”
Victoria stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Everyone looked at her.
For thirty years, Victoria had allowed other people to control the truth.
Not anymore.
“We have spent our entire lives believing one version of events.”
She looked at Daniel.
“Then another person appears and gives us a different one.”
Her eyes moved to Sophia.
“We are not choosing sides.”
A pause.
“We are finding facts.”
Daniel slowly opened his eyes.
Everyone froze.
His breathing was weak.
But he was awake.
Ethan immediately grabbed him.
“Who attacked you?”
Daniel looked around.
His eyes landed on Sophia.
And fear appeared on his face.
“She knows.”
Sophia stepped back.
“Knows what?”
Daniel tried to sit up.
“The truth.”
Nobody spoke.
“What truth?”
Daniel looked at Olivia.
Then Victoria.
Then Ethan.
“The night the children disappeared…”
He struggled to breathe.
“Sophia was there.”
Olivia's heart stopped.
Her mother looked shocked.
“I was there because I was looking for them.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
His voice became quieter.
“You were there before they disappeared.”
The accusation hit harder than anyone expected.
Olivia stared at Sophia.
“Is that true?”
Sophia's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
Everyone froze.
Olivia felt like the floor disappeared.
“You were there?”
Sophia nodded.
“But not for the reason you think.”
She looked at Alexander.
“Tell them.”
Alexander closed his eyes.
Because he knew this moment would come.
“Sophia was investigating Antonio Moretti.”
Everyone turned.
“What?”
Alexander explained.
“Before everything happened, Sophia discovered something.”
“What?”
“She discovered Antonio had been moving money through illegal channels.”
Richard's expression changed.
Ethan noticed.
“You knew.”
Richard looked away.
Again.
Another secret.
Alexander continued.
“Sophia believed Antonio was planning something.”
“So she went to the Moretti estate that night.”
Victoria whispered:
“And Isabella?”
Sophia began crying.
“I saw her.”
A pause.
“She was alive.”
Olivia covered her mouth.
“You saw me?”
Sophia nodded.
“You were holding Ethan's hand.”
The room became silent.
“You were both scared.”
“You were crying.”
“You kept asking where your parents were.”
Olivia felt tears forming.
She had no memory.
Only fragments.
A garden.
A storm.
A boy holding her hand.
Ethan.
Sophia continued.
“I tried to take you both away.”
“But someone stopped me.”
“Who?”
Nobody breathed.
Sophia looked at Richard.
Richard's face changed.
“No.”
Sophia whispered:
“Your father.”
Antonio Moretti.
Thirty years earlier.
Sophia had entered the Moretti estate after discovering Antonio's plan.
She expected to find evidence.
Instead...
She found children.
Isabella.
Nathaniel.
And Antonio.
Antonio had planned everything.
He knew the children represented the future of both families.
He knew Isabella carried the Moretti inheritance.
He knew Nathaniel carried the Vale fortune.
Together...
They represented billions.
Control.
Power.
Everything Antonio wanted.
But Sophia discovered something else.
Antonio did not want the children dead.
He wanted them erased.
Different identities.
Different families.
Different lives.
Children without a past were easier to control.
Present day.
Ethan looked at Richard.
“Did you know?”
Richard didn't answer.
Ethan stepped closer.
“Did you know my father was alive?”
Richard finally whispered:
“No.”
A pause.
“But I knew about Antonio.”
Everyone froze.
Victoria looked at him.
“What?”
Richard looked broken.
“My father told me part of the plan.”
Silence.
“You knew?”
Richard nodded.
“I was young.”
“I was afraid.”
“Your father controlled everything.”
Victoria's eyes filled with pain.
“You let him take my daughter?”
Richard closed his eyes.
“No.”
His voice cracked.
“I tried to stop him.”
Nobody believed him.
Not immediately.
Because for thirty years...
Richard had hidden the truth.
Then Daniel laughed weakly.
Everyone looked at him.
“You still don't understand.”
Ethan frowned.
“What?”
Daniel slowly reached into his coat.
He pulled out a small recorder.
“I recorded everything.”
Sophia's face changed.
“What did you do?”
Daniel looked at her.
“I needed proof.”
He pressed a button.
A voice filled the room.
Antonio Moretti.
Thirty years younger.
Everyone froze.
The dead man's voice.
The voice of the mastermind.
The recording began.
“Richard, you are weak.”
“You hesitate because you still believe family matters.”
A pause.
“That is why I will handle it.”
Everyone listened.
Antonio continued:
“The girl will be moved.”
“The boy will be renamed.”
“And when they grow up, they will never know who they were.”
Victoria covered her mouth.
Ethan clenched his fists.
Then came the sentence that destroyed Richard completely.
“If Richard refuses, remove him too.”
The room went silent.
Because Antonio had never trusted his own son.
Daniel stopped the recording.
Everyone stared at Richard.
Ethan spoke quietly.
“He was going to remove you too.”
Richard nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you tell anyone?”
Richard looked at Victoria.
“Because I was afraid.”
Victoria stepped back.
“For thirty years?”
Richard's eyes filled with regret.
“Yes.”
The answer hurt more than any lie.
Then Daniel revealed something else.
Something nobody expected.
“The recording was not the only thing I found.”
He pulled out a small envelope.
Inside was a document.
A legal transfer.
Ethan looked at it.
His face changed.
“What is this?”
Daniel answered:
“The final ownership agreement.”
Victoria looked confused.
“Ownership of what?”
Daniel looked at Olivia.
“The Moretti empire.”
Then Ethan.
“The Vale fortune.”
A pause.
“Everything was transferred to one person.”
Nobody spoke.
“Who?”
Daniel looked at the document.
Then said:
“The person who was supposed to inherit both families.”
Olivia whispered:
“Isabella.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
Everyone froze.
“Not Isabella.”
He looked at Ethan.
“Ethan.”
The room went completely silent.
Ethan stared.
“What?”
Daniel continued.
“Antonio changed the documents after Isabella disappeared.”
“He believed the boy would be easier to control.”
“He created Ethan Moretti.”
“He built a perfect heir.”
Victoria looked horrified.
“My son…”
Daniel nodded.
“Was never meant to be a son.”
“He was meant to be a container for an empire.”
Suddenly...
The cottage windows shattered.
Everyone dropped down.
A gunshot echoed.
Chaos erupted.
Someone was outside.
Alexander rushed toward Olivia.
Ethan protected her.
Victoria screamed.
Then another shot.
Silence.
When they looked outside...
A figure disappeared into the forest.
But something was left behind.
A black envelope.
Ethan picked it up.
Inside was a photograph.
A recent photograph.
Taken only days ago.
It showed:
Olivia.
Ethan.
Victoria.
Richard.
And someone standing behind them.
Someone they thought was dead.
On the back of the photo were five words.
“The founder is still alive.”
Everyone froze.
Because Antonio Moretti...
The man buried thirty years ago...
Might not have been dead.
And if he was alive...
May you like
Then the entire truth they had uncovered...
Was only another layer of the lie.
