Chapter 11 - THE BLOOD TEST
Adrian didn't speak.
For several seconds, he simply stared at Sarah.
Lily stood between them, holding Mr. Buttons against her chest, completely unaware that the adults around her were watching the foundations of their lives collapse.
"You said she wasn't mine."
Sarah's eyes filled with tears.
"I know."
"You let me believe that."
"I was trying to protect you."
"You lied."
"Yes."
Adrian looked away.
His breathing had become uneven.
Vincent noticed immediately.
"Boss."
"I'm fine."
"No, you're not."
Adrian ignored him.
He looked at Sarah again.
"Why?"
Sarah swallowed.
"Because Giovanni told me you would never survive the truth."
"That's not an answer."
"He said your heart condition was hereditary."
Adrian froze.
"What?"
Sarah looked at him.
"Your father knew."
Vincent's face changed.
Adrian slowly turned.
"You knew?"
Vincent didn't answer.
"Vincent."
The older man lowered his eyes.
"Your father knew about the condition."
Adrian stared at him.
"When?"
"Before he disappeared."
"How long?"
"Years."
Adrian laughed bitterly.
"So everyone knew except me."
Vincent shook his head.
"Giovanni didn't want you to know."
"Why?"
"Because he believed fear would make you weak."
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"He was wrong."
"Yes."
Adrian looked toward Lily.
She was sitting on an old wooden bench inside the cabin, quietly coloring.
He walked toward her.
"What are you drawing?"
She held up the paper.
A family.
Three people.
Adrian.
Sarah.
Lily.
No faceless man.
Adrian stared.
"You gave him a face."
Lily smiled.
"Because I know you now."
Adrian felt tears burn behind his eyes.
He crouched.
"Can I keep it?"
She nodded.
"It's for you."
He took the drawing carefully.
Then he noticed something.
At the bottom corner, Lily had drawn a small red door.
"What's this?"
"I don't know."
"Did you draw it before?"
She nodded.
"Lots of times."
Adrian looked at Sarah.
She looked confused.
"Where is that door?"
Lily pointed toward the floor.
"There."
Everyone turned.
A red metal door was partially hidden beneath the wooden boards.
Vincent moved first.
He pried the boards away.
There was a keypad.
Adrian stared.
"Another secret."
Vincent looked at the numbers.
"No idea."
Lily stepped closer.
She entered four digits.
The lock clicked.
Everyone froze.
Adrian stared at her.
"How did you know the code?"
Lily shrugged.
"I dreamed it."
The door opened.
Inside was a narrow staircase.
They descended.
At the bottom was a vault.
Not money.
Not weapons.
Documents.
Photographs.
Hard drives.
And one black box.
Adrian opened it.
Inside was a letter.
His name was written on the envelope.
ADRIAN.
He opened it.
The handwriting belonged to Giovanni.
My son,
If you are reading this, then everything went wrong.
Adrian stopped.
His hands trembled.
The letter continued.
You were never meant to inherit my empire.
You were meant to destroy it.
Adrian looked at Vincent.
"Keep going."
Vincent shook his head.
"You should read it."
Adrian continued.
Maria will tell you that power is the only thing that protects family.
She is wrong.
Power is what destroyed ours.
Adrian's eyes moved down the page.
Matteo was never your enemy.
He was your shield.
Elias is not your brother.
He is the man who taught your mother how to control people through fear.
And Lily...
Adrian stopped.
The next line made his blood run cold.
Lily is the key to everything I hid.
Adrian looked toward Sarah.
She was crying.
"What does that mean?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
He continued reading.
There is a trust in Lily's name.
Not money.
Evidence.
Everything I discovered about Maria.
Every murder.
Every betrayal.
Every transaction.
Every name.
I knew Maria would eventually come for it.
That's why I hid it inside the one person she would never suspect.
Your daughter.
Adrian's breathing stopped.
Lily.
A seven-year-old girl had unknowingly become the guardian of the most dangerous secrets in the Moretti family.
At the bottom of the letter was one final sentence.
Protect her, Adrian.
Not because she is your daughter.
Because she is the reason this family can finally end.
The lights suddenly went out.
A second later, the vault door slammed shut.
Vincent grabbed his weapon.
"We're locked in."
Adrian rushed toward the door.
"Open it."
"I'm trying."
Sarah grabbed Lily.
Then a voice came through the intercom.
Elias.
"You found it."
Adrian looked upward.
"Let us out."
"No."
"What do you want?"
"You."
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"Take me."
Elias laughed.
"Gladly."
"Leave them."
"I never said I wanted the girl."
Adrian froze.
"What?"
Elias continued.
"I want you to open the vault."
Adrian looked around.
"The vault is already open."
"Not that vault."
A pause.
"The one under the cemetery."
Adrian's face changed.
Vincent whispered:
"Saint Michael's."
Adrian looked at him.
"What is Saint Michael's?"
Vincent answered:
"Your family's cemetery."
Elias spoke again.
"Bring Lily."
Adrian's blood turned cold.
"No."
"Then Sarah dies."
A screen on the wall suddenly came alive.
Sarah gasped.
It showed a live camera feed.
Outside.
A man stood behind Sarah's mother.
A gun against her head.
Adrian stared.
Elias spoke.
"You have twenty minutes."
The screen went black.
Lily looked up.
"Daddy?"
Adrian knelt.
"We're going somewhere."
"Where?"
"To finish something."
She hugged him.
"Are you coming back?"
Adrian held her tightly.
"Yes."
Vincent looked at him.
"You can't go."
Adrian stood.
"I have to."
"Your heart—"
"My daughter is being threatened."
Vincent sighed.
"Then I'm coming."
Adrian looked at Sarah.
She nodded.
"We're all going."
The vault door opened.
And Adrian stepped into the darkness.
May you like
He had spent his life building an empire.
Tonight, he was going to destroy it.
