CHAPTER 8 THE ORGANIZATION BEHIND THE JADE PENDANT.
The Moretti mansion had always been a place of power.
A place where decisions were made behind closed doors.
A place where billion-dollar deals were signed.
A place where people whispered the Moretti name with admiration and fear.
But now...
The mansion had become a crime scene of memories.
Every room held a question.
Every hallway carried a secret.
And every person inside was wondering the same thing.
How deep did the lie go?
Ethan stood in the library, staring at the second jade pendant.
Two identical pieces.
Two children.
One impossible history.
He looked at Alexander.
“You recognized that symbol.”
Alexander remained silent.
Ethan stepped closer.
“Tell me what it means.”
Alexander looked exhausted.
Because he knew the truth would destroy the last remaining pieces of their family.
“It is not just a symbol.”
He touched the jade carefully.
“It is a warning.”
Victoria looked confused.
“A warning from who?”
Alexander turned toward her.
“From the people who controlled your father-in-law.”
The room became silent.
Richard frowned.
“My father was controlled by no one.”
Alexander looked at him.
“You still believe that?”
Richard said nothing.
Because deep inside...
He wasn't sure anymore.
Alexander continued.
“Antonio Moretti was powerful.”
“But he was not the most powerful person in the room.”
Ethan looked at the pendant.
“Then who was?”
Alexander answered:
“A group that operated behind wealthy families.”
“A group that didn't care about money.”
“They cared about influence.”
Olivia stepped closer.
“What group?”
Alexander hesitated.
Then said:
“The Black Lotus Society.”
Nobody spoke.
The name itself sounded like a legend.
Victoria frowned.
“I have never heard of it.”
“That was the point.”
Alexander explained.
“They never wanted people to know they existed.”
“They helped powerful families protect their secrets.”
“They removed problems.”
“They erased evidence.”
“They controlled information.”
Ethan looked disturbed.
“And my grandfather worked with them?”
Alexander nodded.
“Yes.”
Richard immediately shook his head.
“No.”
Everyone looked at him.
“You don't know my father.”
Alexander looked at him.
“I knew him better than you think.”
Richard's face hardened.
“What does that mean?”
Alexander stared at him.
“It means your father was afraid of the Black Lotus.”
A pause.
“And he was willing to sacrifice anything to survive.”
Thirty years earlier.
Antonio Moretti had built his empire with intelligence.
But intelligence alone was not enough.
The world of billionaires was not controlled by money.
It was controlled by secrets.
Antonio discovered that powerful families around the world protected themselves through a hidden network.
A network that could make problems disappear.
A network that could change identities.
A network that could rewrite history.
The Black Lotus Society.
At first, Antonio believed he could use them.
He believed he was smarter than them.
He was wrong.
Because once someone entered their world...
They rarely left.
Present day.
Ethan walked toward Richard.
“Did you know about them?”
Richard looked away.
That was the answer.
Ethan's expression changed.
“You did.”
Richard finally spoke.
“I knew my father had connections.”
“Not everything.”
Ethan laughed bitterly.
“Everyone knows something except me.”
Richard looked hurt.
“You were a child.”
“I was your son.”
The sentence destroyed Richard.
Because there was no defense.
Suddenly...
A loud sound came from the security room.
Everyone turned.
A guard rushed in.
“Mr. Moretti.”
His face was pale.
“We found something.”
“What?”
The guard held a small device.
“A hidden camera.”
Victoria froze.
“Where?”
The guard looked uncomfortable.
“In this room.”
Everyone looked around.
The library.
The place where they had discussed every secret.
Every confession.
Every truth.
Someone had been watching.
For how long?
Nobody knew.
Ethan grabbed the device.
“Can we trace it?”
The guard shook his head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because someone removed the tracking system.”
Alexander's face changed.
“That means they are not amateurs.”
Then Olivia noticed something.
A tiny mark carved into the wooden table.
She touched it.
A lotus symbol.
But different.
Not the Moretti lotus.
Not the jade symbol.
A darker version.
She looked at Alexander.
“Is this them?”
Alexander nodded.
“Yes.”
Her expression changed.
“They were here?”
Alexander looked around the room.
“No.”
His voice became serious.
“They never left.”
That night...
Victoria couldn't sleep.
She walked through the mansion.
For thirty years, she believed this house protected her family.
Now she wondered if it had always been the cage.
She entered Isabella's old bedroom.
A room untouched since the day her daughter disappeared.
The toys.
The furniture.
Everything remained exactly the same.
She sat on the floor.
Then she noticed something.
A small crack behind the old painting.
Confused, she moved the frame.
Behind it was a hidden compartment.
Inside was a letter.
Old.
Yellowed.
With one name written on it.
Isabella.
Victoria's hands shook.
She opened it.
The handwriting was unfamiliar.
The first sentence made her heart stop.
“If you are reading this, then they failed to erase you.”
Victoria continued.
“You were never the target.”
She froze.
“What?”
The letter continued:
“Your father was.”
Victoria's breathing became faster.
The letter was not from a stranger.
It was from someone who knew everything.
Someone who knew the night Isabella disappeared.
Then came the final sentence:
“Do not trust the man who raised you.”
Victoria dropped the letter.
Because she knew immediately who it meant.
Richard.
Meanwhile...
Ethan received a phone call.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Who is this?”
A woman's voice responded.
“You finally know about the pendant.”
Ethan recognized the voice.
Evelyn.
“What do you want?”
“I want you to stop looking.”
Ethan laughed.
“After thirty years of lies?”
Evelyn became quiet.
Then said:
“You think you are searching for answers.”
“You are not.”
“You are opening a door that should have stayed closed.”
Ethan's expression hardened.
“Tell me the truth.”
A pause.
Then Evelyn said:
“Your father did not die because of an accident.”
Ethan froze.
“What?”
“Alexander Vale survived because someone saved him.”
“Who?”
Evelyn whispered:
“Your mother.”
Silence.
Ethan looked toward Olivia.
“What are you saying?”
Evelyn continued.
“The night your parents disappeared…”
“Your mother was not killed.”
“She was taken.”
Ethan's heart raced.
“My mother is alive?”
Evelyn didn't answer.
Instead, she said:
“Find the woman who carries the second half of the jade secret.”
“What does that mean?”
The call ended.
At the same time...
Across the city...
A woman watched the Moretti mansion from inside a black vehicle.
She was older.
Elegant.
Calm.
She held a photograph.
A photograph of two children.
Olivia.
Ethan.
She smiled.
“They finally found each other.”
The person beside her asked:
“Should we stop them?”
The woman shook her head.
“No.”
“Let them discover everything.”
A pause.
“Because the truth is more painful than the lie.”
She looked at the photograph.
Then whispered:
“Especially when they learn…”
“That the woman who saved them…”
“Was the woman they thought abandoned them.”
Back at the mansion...
Olivia opened her bedroom door.
Someone had entered.
On her bed was a small package.
No name.
No message.
Only a jade pendant.
But this one was different.
It had the symbol of the Black Lotus.
And underneath it...
A handwritten note.
Three words.
Three words that changed everything.
“Your mother survived.”
Olivia stared at the note.
Her hands trembled.
Because for her entire life...
She believed she was abandoned.
Now she had to face the impossible.
May you like
Her real mother might still be alive.
And she might be the only person who knew why two children disappeared thirty years ago.
