Chapter 6 - The Betrayal Inside My Own Blood
The door opened.
Valentina stood there holding a gun.
She looked at Adrian and whispered:
"You were never supposed to tell him."
For the first time, my hidden brother looked afraid.
Not of me.
Of her.
I had seen thousands of men hold weapons.
Soldiers.
Assassins.
Rivals.
People who believed a gun gave them power.
They were always wrong.
A weapon only showed what someone was willing to lose.
And when I looked at Valentina standing in that doorway, I understood something.
She wasn't here to kill me.
She was here because she was terrified of what I was about to learn.
The gun in her hand was shaking.
Only slightly.
Most people would not notice.
I did.
Because I knew Valentina.
Or at least I thought I did.
For twenty years, I had watched her walk through rooms full of powerful men without fear.
She had negotiated deals with criminals.
She had stared down enemies.
She had buried emotions so deeply that even I sometimes wondered if she still had them.
But now she was afraid.
Not because of Adrian.
Not because of me.
Because of the truth.
"Put the gun down."
My voice was calm.
Valentina looked at me.
"I can't."
"You can."
"No, Rocco."
Her eyes moved toward Adrian.
"Not anymore."
Adrian stepped back.
"You finally decided to tell him?"
Valentina's face hardened.
"You had no right."
A bitter smile appeared on Adrian's face.
"No right?"
He laughed quietly.
"That is interesting coming from the woman who helped erase his children."
My eyes moved between them.
"Explain."
Neither spoke.
That was when I understood.
They were both carrying pieces of the same secret.
And both of them had spent years making sure I never found them.
"Now."
My voice echoed through the empty apartment.
Valentina lowered the gun slightly.
"I never wanted this."
I looked at her.
"Nobody ever wants this."
She swallowed.
"Nine years ago, when our son was born, your father discovered there was a plan to destroy the Moretti family."
"From who?"
She looked at Adrian.
"From inside."
I stared at my brother.
Adrian didn't deny it.
"Your father knew someone was targeting the heir."
I clenched my jaw.
"So he hid my children."
"He tried."
Valentina's voice became quieter.
"But someone found out."
The room became silent.
"Who?"
Valentina looked down.
"The person who ordered the attack was not Adrian."
I looked at him.
Then back at her.
"Then who?"
She closed her eyes.
"Your uncle."
I froze.
"My uncle died before I was born."
"No."
Valentina shook her head.
"That was another lie."
The amount of deception was almost impossible to process.
Every foundation I had built my life on was collapsing.
Names.
Deaths.
Family history.
Everything had been rewritten.
"Why?"
I asked.
"Why would my own family do this?"
Adrian answered.
"Because your bloodline had too much power."
I looked at him.
"You wanted it."
His expression changed.
For the first time, anger appeared.
"You think I wanted to steal your life?"
"Didn't you?"
He stepped closer.
"I was erased before you were even old enough to understand what a family was."
His voice became sharper.
"Your father chose you."
I said nothing.
"Every photo."
"Every document."
"Every celebration."
"You were the perfect son."
He pointed toward himself.
"I was the mistake."
For a moment, I saw something different.
Not an enemy.
A wounded man.
But pain did not erase betrayal.
"You still let my children disappear."
Adrian looked away.
"Because I couldn't stop it."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"No."
His answer surprised me.
"I expect you to hate me."
A silence followed.
Then Valentina spoke.
"Adrian saved your daughter."
I turned toward her.
"What?"
She lowered the gun.
"The night they came for the children, Adrian took Lily."
The name hit me.
Lily.
My daughter.
A name I had never been allowed to hear.
"He saved her."
Valentina continued.
"But he couldn't save your son."
My chest tightened.
The baby in my mansion.
My son.
The one I had found because a little girl refused to ignore his cries.
"Where was he?"
Adrian looked at me.
"With the people who were supposed to protect him."
I understood.
The hospital.
The records.
The fake death.
Someone had controlled every step.
"Dr. Vale."
Adrian nodded.
"He was paid to declare your son dead."
"And my daughter?"
"Hidden."
"Where?"
Nobody answered.
That was when my patience ended.
I grabbed Adrian by the collar.
"Where is my daughter?"
He didn't fight.
He looked directly into my eyes.
"Safe."
"Where?"
"With Isabella."
My grip loosened.
Isabella.
Alive.
My first love.
The mother of my daughter.
The woman everyone told me was dead.
"Take me to her."
Adrian looked toward Valentina.
"I can't."
My expression changed.
"What do you mean?"
"Because someone is watching."
I looked around the apartment.
"Who?"
Adrian's face became serious.
"The same person who found this place."
A second later, the glass window shattered.
The sound exploded through the room.
I pulled Valentina down instinctively.
Adrian moved toward the wall.
A bullet struck the table.
Someone was outside.
Sniper.
I reached for my weapon.
"How did they find us?"
Adrian looked at Valentina.
She looked away.
And that was the answer.
My anger turned cold.
"You called them."
Valentina's face changed.
"No."
"Then how?"
She didn't answer.
Another shot hit the wall.
The apartment filled with chaos.
Adrian moved toward the exit.
"We need to leave."
I grabbed him.
"You know where Lily is."
"Yes."
"And you are taking me there."
He nodded.
"But first, you need to understand something."
I looked at him.
"What?"
His expression was serious.
"The person who ordered this attack..."
He paused.
"Was not trying to kill you."
The gunfire stopped.
The silence afterward was worse.
"Then what were they trying to do?"
Adrian looked toward the hallway.
"They wanted to force someone to reveal themselves."
My phone vibrated.
A message appeared.
Unknown number.
One photo.
My blood turned cold.
It was Lily.
Older now.
Standing beside Isabella.
Alive.
But behind them was a man.
A man I recognized.
A man who should have been dead.
I looked at Adrian.
"Who is that?"
Adrian's face lost all color.
Because he knew exactly who was in the photograph.
May you like
And then he whispered the name of the man who had started the entire war.
"Your father."
