Chapter 14 - THE LAST BETRAYAL
Luca stared at the screen.
Two men.
Both looked like Rafael.
Both were older.
Both wore the same black coat.
One stood beside Isabella.
The other stood in the warehouse.
Luca slowly turned toward his father.
"Who is that?"
Rafael's face was pale.
"I don't know."
The man beside Isabella smiled.
"Of course you don't."
Luca stepped toward the screen.
"Let her go."
"Why?"
"Because this ends now."
The man laughed.
"You've said that before."
Luca studied his face.
Something felt wrong.
Then Naomi whispered:
"Look at his left hand."
Luca focused.
The man on the screen had a scar.
The real Rafael did not.
Luca understood.
"A double."
Rafael nodded.
"Alexander used him."
The man on the screen laughed.
"Not exactly."
He removed his coat.
Then his face.
A mask.
Underneath was Alexander Cole.
Alive.
Young-looking despite his age.
Calm.
Smiling.
Luca's eyes hardened.
"You."
Alexander looked at him.
"Finally."
"Where is my mother?"
"Safe."
"Bring her here."
"After you give me the reserve."
Luca smiled.
"You still think I have it."
"I know you do."
"No."
Luca held up the drive.
"I destroyed it."
Alexander's smile disappeared.
"You wouldn't."
"I did."
"Then your family dies."
Luca looked at Isabella.
Then at Vivian.
Then Adrian.
He understood the game.
Alexander needed fear.
He needed Luca to believe the only way to save his family was to surrender.
But Luca had learned something.
Every lie had a weakness.
He looked at Naomi.
She understood immediately.
She moved toward the control panel.
Alexander noticed.
"Don't."
Naomi continued.
Alexander fired through the screen.
The bullet struck the monitor.
Luca's security team moved.
Gunfire erupted.
The warehouse became chaos.
Luca ran toward the rear exit.
Rafael followed.
Vivian and Adrian pulled Isabella behind cover.
Alexander's men poured into the building.
Luca reached the outside.
A car waited.
He jumped in.
Rafael followed.
"Where?"
"The mansion."
"Why?"
"Because that's where this started."
They drove.
At the mansion, Luca ran straight to the music room.
The piano.
He remembered Isabella's warning.
Three low notes.
Two high.
Three low.
He pressed the keys.
Nothing.
He tried again.
The piano shifted.
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside was a small recording device.
Luca pressed play.
Isabella's voice filled the room.
Weak.
But clear.
"My son."
Luca stopped breathing.
"I knew one day they would come for you."
The recording continued.
"Do not trust Alexander."
Luca nodded.
"Do not trust Rafael."
He looked at his father.
Rafael closed his eyes.
"Do not trust Matteo."
Luca froze.
"What?"
Isabella continued.
"Because all three men believe they are protecting you."
The recording stopped.
A second recording activated.
Matteo's voice.
"Luca, if you're hearing this, your mother is gone."
Then Rafael's voice.
"Don't believe him."
Then Alexander's voice.
"Don't believe either of them."
Three voices.
Three versions of the truth.
Luca stared at the device.
Naomi entered.
"What did she say?"
"That none of them can be trusted."
Naomi looked at the piano.
"Then who can?"
Luca looked at her.
"You."
She shook her head.
"I'm just the maid."
"No."
Luca smiled faintly.
"You're the only person who had nothing to gain."
Naomi looked away.
"I almost lost my job."
"You risked your life."
"I couldn't watch her hurt."
Luca nodded.
"That's why."
He took the recording.
Then his phone rang.
Alexander.
Luca answered.
"Where are you?"
"At your mother's favorite place."
"Where?"
"The lake house."
Luca froze.
His mother loved that place.
It was where Luca had spent his childhood summers.
"I'll come."
"Alone."
"Fine."
Luca hung up.
Naomi grabbed his arm.
"No."
"I have to."
"That's exactly what he wants."
"I know."
"Then why go?"
Luca looked at her.
"Because he thinks I'm still the man I was this morning."
He picked up his weapon.
"I'm not."
At the lake house, Alexander waited.
Isabella sat by the window.
Alive.
Alexander stood behind her.
Luca entered.
"Let her go."
Alexander smiled.
"You came alone."
"Yes."
"Good."
He pointed to a table.
"Put the drive down."
Luca did.
Alexander picked it up.
He inserted it into a laptop.
The screen showed the Moretti reserve.
Alexander smiled.
Then frowned.
"What is this?"
"Nothing."
"You destroyed it."
"Yes."
Alexander stared at him.
"You don't understand what you've done."
"I understand perfectly."
Luca stepped forward.
"You spent twenty-eight years building a family war."
Alexander's face hardened.
"For what?"
"Control."
"No."
Alexander shook his head.
"Revenge."
Luca frowned.
"Against whom?"
Alexander looked at Isabella.
"Your grandfather."
Luca froze.
"My grandfather?"
"He killed my wife."
Luca stared.
"Elena."
Alexander nodded.
"She was my sister."
Luca's eyes widened.
"Then why did you raise Vivian?"
"Because she was all I had left."
"And you turned her against me."
"I thought you killed Elena."
"I never knew her."
Alexander looked at him.
"That was the lie."
He slowly lowered his weapon.
"I discovered the truth too late."
Luca didn't move.
"What truth?"
"Elena wasn't killed by you."
"Then who?"
Alexander whispered:
"Your grandfather."
Luca's jaw tightened.
"The real Victor."
Alexander nodded.
"And that's why I destroyed the Moretti family."
Silence.
Then Isabella spoke.
"Alexander."
He turned.
She continued.
"He didn't do it."
Alexander stared at her.
Isabella's eyes filled with tears.
"I killed Elena."
Luca froze.
Alexander stopped breathing.
"What?"
Isabella nodded.
"It was an accident."
She explained.
Elena had confronted her.
They fought.
A gun went off.
Elena died.
Isabella had hidden the truth to protect Luca.
Alexander had spent twenty-eight years blaming the wrong man.
His entire revenge had been built on a lie.
Alexander's weapon fell.
"No."
Luca looked at his mother.
"Why?"
Isabella cried.
"Because I was afraid."
Alexander stared at her.
Then he laughed.
A broken laugh.
"All these years."
He looked at Luca.
"I destroyed everything."
Luca lowered his gun.
"Yes."
Alexander sat down.
"Then why don't you kill me?"
Luca looked at his mother.
Then Vivian.
Then Naomi.
"Because I'm done letting dead people decide what my family becomes."
Police sirens approached.
Alexander looked toward the window.
Luca had called them.
The nightmare was finally ending.
But before the officers entered, Alexander whispered:
"There's one more thing."
Luca turned.
"What?"
Alexander looked at Vivian.
"Her real name isn't Vivian Cole."
Luca frowned.
"Then what is it?"
Alexander smiled sadly.
"Vivian Moretti."
The name hung in the air.
And for the first time in twenty-eight years, the Moretti family had all its surviving blood under one roof.
But the story wasn't over.
Because Luca still had one question.
May you like
Who had killed the real Victor Moretti?
And why had someone spent twenty-eight years pretending to be him?
