Chapter 12 - The Last Rossi Secret
Leo could barely hear himself breathe.
"My mother took Lily?"
Elena nodded.
"She believed she was protecting you."
"By kidnapping my daughter?"
"She believed Lily was the only thing keeping you from destroying the family."
Leo laughed bitterly.
"She didn't know me."
Elena looked at him.
"She knew you too well."
Leo stepped closer.
"Where is Lily?"
"With her."
"Then take me there."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because your mother is dying."
Silence.
Leo stared at her.
"What?"
"She has been sick for years."
"She knew she was dying?"
"Yes."
"Then why take Lily?"
"Because she wanted to see you one last time."
Leo's face hardened.
"This is a game."
"No."
"Everything has been a game."
Elena shook her head.
"Not this."
She handed him a letter.
"Your mother wrote this for you."
Leo opened it.
My son,
If you are reading this, then I have failed to protect you again.
I spent my life believing obedience was the same thing as love.
Your father taught me that fear was protection.
I believed him.
I was wrong.
I betrayed Elena.
I betrayed Adrian.
I betrayed you.
And most of all, I betrayed Lily.
I took her because I believed I could keep her safe.
I was wrong.
There is one final truth you must know.
Marcus Rossi was not the man who built the child network.
He inherited it.
The man who created it was someone else.
Someone who still controls it.
Someone you have trusted all your life.
His name is—
The letter stopped.
The final line had been torn away.
Leo stared at it.
"Who?"
Elena looked at him.
"I don't know."
"You knew everything else."
"Not this."
Mateo entered the room.
"Leo."
"What?"
"We have a problem."
He handed Leo his phone.
A photograph.
Victoria.
Standing beside a grave.
Again.
But this time, the grave was different.
The name carved into it was:
MARGARET ROSSI.
Leo's mother.
He stared.
"When was this taken?"
"Tonight."
Leo looked at Elena.
"She's dead?"
Elena nodded.
"She died two hours ago."
Leo closed his eyes.
He had been searching for a living woman.
And she had already been dead.
Then who was the woman speaking through the phone?
Who had taken Lily?
Who had appeared in the photograph?
Elena suddenly grabbed Leo's arm.
"There's something else."
"What?"
"The woman you saw wasn't your mother."
Leo stared.
"Then who?"
Elena's eyes filled with fear.
"Her twin."
Leo went silent.
"Your father had a second daughter."
Leo's blood ran cold.
"My aunt?"
"Yes."
"Why have I never heard of her?"
"Because Marcus erased her."
"Why?"
"Because she was the only person who knew the original architect of the network."
Leo stared.
"Who?"
Elena whispered:
"Your father's father."
Silence.
"Your grandfather?"
Elena nodded.
"He's alive."
The revelation shattered the last piece of Leo's understanding.
His grandfather had supposedly died before Leo was born.
A heart attack.
Private funeral.
No photographs.
No grave.
No public records.
Everything suddenly looked suspicious.
Adrian entered.
He had heard everything.
"I knew."
Leo turned.
"You knew?"
Adrian nodded.
"Father told me once."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I thought he was dead."
Elena shook her head.
"He isn't."
Adrian looked at her.
"Where is he?"
Elena didn't answer.
Then the lights went out.
A gunshot shattered the window.
Mateo dragged Beatrice to the floor.
Leo pulled Elena behind the wall.
Another shot.
Then another.
Someone was shooting from outside.
Adrian ran toward the back exit.
"Don't!"
Leo shouted.
Too late.
The door slammed.
Silence.
Then Adrian's voice came through the darkness.
"Leo!"
Leo ran.
Adrian was standing in the alley.
A man stood behind him.
Gun pressed against his head.
The man was old.
Very old.
But his posture was straight.
His eyes were cold.
And Leo recognized him immediately.
A face from an old family portrait.
A face he had seen only once as a child.
His grandfather.
The man smiled.
"Hello, Leo."
Leo raised his gun.
"Let my brother go."
The old man laughed.
"You still think this is about your brother?"
He looked past Leo.
At Beatrice.
Then at Elena.
And finally at Lily, who was being brought from a waiting car by another man.
Leo's blood froze.
"Lily."
His daughter ran toward him.
"Papa!"
Leo moved.
The old man raised his gun.
"One more step."
Leo stopped.
Lily cried.
"Papa!"
Leo's entire body shook.
The old man smiled.
"Now you understand."
"What do you want?"
"Nothing."
He looked at Beatrice.
"I already have everything."
Beatrice stepped forward.
"No."
The old man smiled.
"You don't remember me."
Beatrice stared at him.
Then suddenly she did.
A flash.
A basement.
A man holding her hand.
A needle.
A voice.
"Forget."
Beatrice screamed.
"You!"
The old man's smile widened.
"Yes."
She began trembling.
"You took me."
"I saved you."
"You erased my memories."
"Because you saw something you shouldn't have."
"What?"
The old man looked at Leo.
"Your father didn't create the network."
He pointed at Beatrice.
"She did."
Leo froze.
"What?"
The old man laughed.
"She was the key."
Beatrice shook her head.
"I was a child."
"Exactly."
He looked at Leo.
"Your family didn't hide Beatrice because she was dangerous."
He smiled.
"They hid her because she was the only living witness to everything."
Leo stared at Beatrice.
"What did you see?"
Beatrice's eyes widened.
A memory returned.
Not from twenty-two years ago.
From much earlier.
She remembered a room.
Children.
Files.
Money.
And her mother Elena standing beside someone.
Not Marcus.
Not Adrian.
Not Victoria.
Someone else.
Beatrice whispered:
"It was..."
The old man smiled.
"Remember."
Beatrice looked at Leo.
"It was your father."
Leo stared.
"No."
Beatrice shook her head.
"No."
"He was there."
"He was the one giving the orders."
Leo's grandfather laughed.
"Yes."
"But he wasn't the one running it."
Beatrice's eyes filled with tears.
"Then who was?"
The old man pointed toward Elena.
"Ask her."
Everyone turned.
Elena was crying.
Leo stared at her.
"You know."
Elena lowered her head.
"I know."
"Who?"
Elena whispered:
"The person who started everything..."
She looked at Beatrice.
"...was her biological mother."
Silence.
Beatrice stopped breathing.
"What?"
Elena's voice broke.
"I lied."
"Your mother wasn't Elena Miller."
Beatrice stared.
"Then who was she?"
Elena closed her eyes.
"Victoria."
Leo's world shattered.
Victoria wasn't merely the woman who had tried to kill Lily.
She wasn't merely Leo's father's accomplice.
She was Beatrice's biological mother.
And the woman Beatrice had spent her entire life believing was a stranger...
had been standing beside her every day.
The old man smiled.
"Now the final secret can finally come home."
And somewhere in the darkness behind them, Victoria stepped out.
Alive.
May you like
Smiling.
Holding the original ledger.
