CHAPTER 13 THE LAST HEIR OF THE LOST DYNASTY.
The room had never been this silent.
Not when Olivia discovered she was Isabella Moretti.
Not when Ethan learned he was Nathaniel Vale.
Not even when Antonio Moretti returned from the dead.
Because now...
A stranger had walked into the mansion.
A man carrying the symbol of a family everyone believed had disappeared more than a century ago.
The Bellandi family.
The original owners of the empire.
The bloodline erased from history.
Antonio Moretti stared at the man standing beside Evelyn.
For the first time that night...
The powerful founder of the Moretti empire looked uncertain.
“You.”
The man's expression remained calm.
“Yes, Antonio.”
His voice was deep.
Cold.
Familiar.
“You didn't expect to see me.”
Nobody understood.
Except Antonio.
And Evelyn.
Victoria looked at Evelyn.
“You knew about him?”
Evelyn did not answer.
That silence told everyone enough.
Another secret.
Another betrayal.
Ethan looked exhausted.
“How many people have been lying to us?”
Nobody answered.
Because nobody had a number.
The stranger stepped forward.
“My name is Adrian Bellandi.”
The room froze.
Olivia felt her heart race.
Bellandi.
The name that supposedly belonged to a forgotten family.
The name connected to the jade pendant.
The name connected to her blood.
Adrian looked at her.
For a moment, his expression softened.
“Isabella.”
Olivia immediately stepped back.
“Don't call me that.”
Adrian stopped.
“I understand.”
His voice was gentle.
“You spent your entire life being someone else.”
A pause.
“You have the right to choose who you are.”
Those words surprised her.
Because everyone else had spent the past few days telling her who she was.
Moretti.
Bellandi.
A lost daughter.
An heir.
A symbol.
Nobody asked what she wanted.
Except him.
Antonio walked toward Adrian.
“You should have stayed hidden.”
Adrian smiled.
“You should have stayed buried.”
The tension between them was immediate.
Two men.
Two families.
Two generations of secrets.
Ethan looked at Alexander.
“What is happening?”
Alexander whispered:
“The past has returned.”
Adrian placed a folder on the table.
“I did not come here for revenge.”
Everyone looked suspicious.
“Then why?”
“To restore what was stolen.”
He opened the folder.
Inside were old documents.
Older than anything they had seen before.
Property records.
Family agreements.
Historical documents.
Olivia looked at them.
“What are these?”
Adrian answered:
“The original Bellandi inheritance.”
He pointed toward the papers.
“Before the Moretti name existed…”
“The Bellandi family controlled everything.”
“The land.”
“The companies.”
“The financial network.”
“The jade pendant.”
Victoria looked at Olivia.
“The pendant was theirs?”
Adrian nodded.
“Yes.”
“It was created by my ancestors.”
“For the true heir.”
Antonio laughed.
A cold, arrogant laugh.
“You expect them to believe you?”
Adrian looked at him.
“You know I am telling the truth.”
Antonio's expression tightened.
Because he did.
Adrian continued.
“My grandfather was the last Bellandi who knew the complete story.”
“He spent his entire life trying to recover what was stolen.”
“Then he disappeared.”
Ethan frowned.
“Disappeared?”
Adrian nodded.
“The same year Antonio Moretti began expanding his empire.”
Everyone became silent.
Richard looked at Antonio.
“You knew.”
Antonio didn't answer.
Richard stepped closer.
“You knew the Bellandi family existed.”
Antonio finally spoke.
“Yes.”
The honesty shocked everyone.
Richard's voice became bitter.
“And you erased them.”
Antonio looked at him.
“I protected what we built.”
Richard shook his head.
“No.”
“You stole it.”
Antonio's eyes turned cold.
“Careful.”
But Richard continued.
“For my entire life, I believed you were a powerful businessman.”
He looked around the mansion.
“But now I realize…”
“You were just a thief who became rich.”
The room went silent.
Nobody expected Richard to challenge Antonio.
Especially not after thirty years of fear.
Antonio stared at his son.
“You disappoint me.”
Richard smiled sadly.
“You have no idea how long I've waited to hear that.”
The sentence shocked Ethan.
Because for the first time...
He understood something.
Richard had not just been hiding secrets.
He had been living as a prisoner.
Then Adrian revealed something unexpected.
“Antonio was not the only one involved.”
Everyone looked at him.
“There were others.”
Victoria frowned.
“Who?”
Adrian looked at Evelyn.
The room changed instantly.
Evelyn remained calm.
But Olivia noticed something.
Fear.
Small.
Almost invisible.
But real.
Adrian continued:
“The Black Lotus Society was not created by Antonio.”
“It existed before him.”
“It existed before the Moretti empire.”
“And Antonio was only one of their members.”
Ethan looked shocked.
“Then who controls it?”
Adrian looked toward the ceiling.
“No one knows.”
A pause.
“Because the person at the top has never shown their face.”
Suddenly...
The mansion security system activated.
Lights flashed.
Doors locked automatically.
Everyone froze.
A voice came through the speakers.
A distorted voice.
“Interesting.”
Everyone looked around.
The voice continued:
“All of you finally gathered in one place.”
Victoria looked frightened.
“Who is that?”
No answer.
The voice continued.
“The lost daughter.”
“The stolen son.”
“The fallen heir.”
“The old traitor.”
“And the man who thinks he owns everything.”
Antonio's face changed.
Because he recognized the voice.
“No…”
Ethan noticed.
“You know who that is.”
Antonio remained silent.
The voice laughed.
“Antonio.”
A pause.
“You always believed you were the player.”
“But you were only a piece.”
The security screens turned on.
Every screen in the mansion showed the same image.
A person sitting in darkness.
Nobody could see the face.
Only a hand.
And on that hand...
A ring.
A black lotus ring.
Adrian immediately stepped back.
“No.”
Victoria looked at him.
“What?”
Adrian whispered:
“The Master.”
The person on the screen spoke.
“For thirty years, I allowed everyone to believe their own version of the story.”
A pause.
“Antonio believed he controlled the Moretti family.”
“Evelyn believed she controlled Antonio.”
“Richard believed guilt was punishment enough.”
“Alexander believed survival was victory.”
The voice became colder.
“But none of them understood.”
A pause.
“The children were never the objective.”
Everyone froze.
“Then what was?”
The answer came slowly.
“The bloodline.”
Olivia felt a chill.
The voice continued.
“Isabella Bellandi.”
“Your blood carries something that belongs to us.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“What do you want?”
The person laughed.
“You still think this is about money.”
A pause.
“It is about history.”
The screens went black.
Then one final message appeared:
“MIDNIGHT. THE OLD BELLANDI CHAPEL.”
Nobody spoke.
Adrian stared at the screen.
Victoria looked terrified.
Alexander looked confused.
But Antonio...
Antonio looked defeated.
Ethan noticed.
“What is at the chapel?”
Antonio didn't answer.
Ethan grabbed him.
“What is there?”
Antonio slowly looked up.
And whispered:
May you like
“The reason I killed my own father.”
Everyone froze.
