Chapter 8 - THE NIGHT CARMINE ASKED THE TRUTH
Carmine read the message again.
Then again.
His father's face remained on the screen.
Older.
Thinner.
But unmistakable.
His father was alive.
And he was standing beside Matteo.
Leo looked up at him.
“Daddy?”
Carmine locked the phone.
“Stay here.”
“Where are you going?”
“To find your brother.”
Leo immediately stood.
“I'm coming.”
“No.”
“But—”
“Leo.”
Carmine's voice softened.
“This isn't your fight.”
Leo stared at him.
“Yes, it is.”
Carmine froze.
Leo's eyes were wet.
“He's my brother.”
Carmine couldn't argue.
He crouched.
“You're right.”
Leo nodded.
“But you're staying with the guards.”
“No.”
“Leo.”
“I don't want another person to disappear.”
Carmine's expression broke.
He pulled the boy into his arms.
“I won't disappear.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
Leo whispered:
“Mommy promised too.”
Carmine closed his eyes.
“I know.”
Elena was waiting downstairs.
She looked at Carmine.
“You saw him.”
“My father.”
She nodded.
“I thought he was dead.”
“So did I.”
“How long have you known?”
“Three months.”
Carmine's face hardened.
“You knew he was alive for three months?”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing?”
“I couldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because he was watching.”
Carmine stepped closer.
“Why did my father take Matteo?”
“He didn't.”
Carmine stopped.
“What?”
“Your father didn't take him.”
“Then who did?”
Elena looked toward Helena.
“She did.”
Carmine turned.
Helena didn't deny it.
“I moved Matteo.”
“When?”
“Eight years ago.”
“Why?”
“Because Raines found him.”
“And you gave him to my father?”
“No.”
Helena looked at Elena.
“Elena gave him to me.”
Carmine frowned.
“Then where did he go?”
Helena closed her eyes.
“I lost him.”
The words hung in the air.
“You lost my son?”
“I was ambushed.”
“By Raines?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“I was carrying Matteo out of the city.”
“And?”
“They took him.”
Carmine's voice became dangerously quiet.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“Then how did my father end up with him?”
Helena shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Carmine turned away.
Too many lies.
Too many missing pieces.
Too many people who claimed ignorance.
He needed the truth.
Not another explanation.
The truth.
The old church became their temporary headquarters.
Carmine, Elena, Helena and the security team spread documents across the altar.
Maps.
Bank records.
Hospital files.
Photographs.
Everything.
Carmine studied the evidence.
“Let's start with the night the boys were born.”
Elena nodded.
“I went into labor at 11:40 p.m.”
“Where?”
“St. Vincent's.”
“When was Leo born?”
“12:18 a.m.”
“And Matteo?”
Elena looked at Helena.
“1:03 a.m.”
Carmine frowned.
“That doesn't match.”
“No.”
“Why was Matteo registered as being born at the same time?”
“Because someone changed the record.”
“Who?”
“Daniel.”
Carmine looked at the file.
“Why?”
“Because he was trying to hide the real birth order.”
Carmine's eyes narrowed.
“Why does that matter?”
Elena hesitated.
“Because one child inherited something before the other.”
“What?”
“The trust.”
Carmine looked confused.
“My father established the trust before they were born.”
“Yes.”
“What does birth order have to do with it?”
Elena slid a document toward him.
“The trust doesn't recognize names.”
Carmine read it.
His face changed.
“It recognizes DNA.”
“Yes.”
“And the firstborn?”
“Becomes the primary heir.”
Carmine stared.
“So Leo…”
“Was born first.”
“And Matteo?”
“Second.”
Carmine looked at the two files.
Then he understood.
Raines didn't simply want the children.
He needed Leo's legal identity.
He needed the firstborn.
Because Leo controlled the trust.
Carmine's voice became cold.
“That's why he wanted Leo.”
“Yes.”
“And Matteo?”
“He needed Matteo because Matteo is the only person who can prove the records were altered.”
Carmine looked at Elena.
“You knew this.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of Raines?”
“Of everyone.”
Carmine looked toward Helena.
“And you?”
Helena stared at the floor.
“I was afraid too.”
Carmine shook his head.
“You were all afraid.”
He looked at the documents.
“And Leo paid the price.”
Nobody spoke.
Carmine closed his eyes.
Then Leo's voice came from behind him.
“Why didn't anyone tell me?”
Everyone turned.
Leo stood in the doorway.
His face was pale.
Carmine walked toward him.
“Leo…”
“You said you weren't hiding anything.”
“I didn't want you to be scared.”
“I was already scared.”
Carmine stopped.
Leo looked at Elena.
“Are you really my Mommy?”
Elena nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why did you leave me?”
“I didn't.”
“Then why wasn't I with you?”
Elena's tears fell.
“Because I thought keeping you alive was more important than being with you.”
Leo looked at Helena.
“Did you know my Mommy?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know Daddy?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know I was his son?”
“Yes.”
Leo's voice trembled.
“Why did you let me think nobody wanted me?”
Helena couldn't answer.
Carmine stepped toward her.
“Tell him.”
Helena looked at Leo.
“I was afraid.”
“Of me?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because I thought if you hated everyone, you would stay quiet.”
Leo's face crumpled.
“I was just a kid.”
“I know.”
“You could have told me.”
“I know.”
Carmine looked at Helena.
“Now you tell him the rest.”
Helena took a breath.
“I wasn't supposed to raise you.”
“Then who was?”
“Your father.”
Leo looked at Carmine.
“Why didn't he?”
Helena looked at Carmine.
“Because he didn't know you existed.”
Carmine closed his eyes.
Leo asked:
“Why?”
Helena whispered:
“Because your grandfather ordered me to make sure he never found out.”
The church went silent.
Carmine's eyes opened.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed you would choose Elena and the children over the empire.”
Carmine laughed bitterly.
“He was right.”
Elena stepped forward.
“He was afraid you would destroy yourself trying to protect us.”
Carmine looked at her.
“He had no right.”
“No.”
“He stole eight years from me.”
“Yes.”
“He stole eight years from Leo.”
Elena nodded.
“And from you.”
Carmine stared at her.
Then he asked the question he had been avoiding.
“Did you ever stop loving me?”
Elena's eyes filled.
“No.”
“Then why didn't you come back?”
“Because every time I tried, someone found me.”
“Who?”
“Your father.”
Carmine froze.
“My father hunted you?”
“No.”
Elena shook her head.
“He protected me.”
Carmine stared.
“Then why did you say—”
“Because he needed Raines to believe I was dead.”
Carmine stepped back.
His father had been hiding Elena.
Protecting Leo.
Controlling the trust.
And manipulating everyone.
But why?
Suddenly, Helena's phone rang.
She answered.
Her face changed.
“What?”
She listened.
Then looked at Carmine.
“They found Daniel.”
“Where?”
“Dead.”
Carmine's expression hardened.
“Who killed him?”
“We don't know.”
“Anything else?”
Helena's hand trembled.
“He left a message.”
“For whom?”
“You.”
Carmine took the phone.
A recording played.
Daniel's voice was weak.
“Carmine… if you're hearing this, don't trust your father.”
Carmine stared.
The recording continued.
“He will tell you he protected the family.”
A pause.
“He will tell you Raines was the enemy.”
Another pause.
“But that's not the truth.”
Carmine's heart began pounding.
Daniel whispered:
“Raines didn't start Project Orion.”
Carmine's eyes widened.
“Your father did.”
The recording ended.
Carmine looked at Elena.
Then Helena.
Then Leo.
Nobody spoke.
A new message appeared on Carmine's phone.
MIDNIGHT. THE OLD MANOR.
Underneath it:
BRING LEO. COME WITHOUT ELENA.
Carmine stared.
Elena immediately shook her head.
“No.”
“He wants me there.”
“He wants Leo.”
“I know.”
“Then don't go.”
Carmine looked at Leo.
The boy was standing beside him.
“What if Matteo is there?”
Elena went silent.
Carmine continued.
“What if my father is holding him?”
“We don't know.”
“But I do know one thing.”
“What?”
Carmine's voice became cold.
“I've spent eight years letting other people decide what happens to my family.”
He looked toward the dark church windows.
“That's over.”
At midnight, Carmine arrived at the old manor.
He went alone.
At least, that's what Raines believed.
Leo was hidden inside a secure vehicle two streets away.
Four guards surrounded the area.
Elena was with them.
Helena remained at the estate.
Carmine entered the manor.
The doors closed behind him.
A voice echoed through the darkness.
“You came.”
Carmine looked ahead.
An old man stepped into the light.
Gray hair.
Walking cane.
A tired face.
But unmistakable.
His father.
Carmine couldn't speak.
The old man smiled.
“You look just like me.”
Carmine's voice finally came.
“You're supposed to be dead.”
“I was.”
“Then what are you?”
His father looked at him.
“A man who made terrible choices.”
“Where is Matteo?”
“In the basement.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
Carmine's jaw tightened.
“Then take me to him.”
His father shook his head.
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because first, you need to know why Leo was never supposed to be your son.”
Carmine froze.
“What?”
His father looked toward the basement.
“Because Leo wasn't the first child Elena gave birth to.”
Carmine stared.
His father smiled sadly.
“The truth is much worse than you think.”
Then a voice came from behind Carmine.
“He's lying.”
Carmine turned.
Elena stood in the doorway.
And beside her—
was Leo.
His father looked at the boy.
Then whispered:
“Impossible.”
Elena stepped forward.
“You should have known I'd follow.”
Carmine looked between them.
Then his father's face changed.
Not anger.
Fear.
Pure fear.
He stared at Leo and whispered:
“Then where is the real firstborn?”
A loud crash came from the basement.
Everyone turned.
May you like
A child's voice screamed:
“Daddy!”
