Chapter 14 - The Choice Between Revenge And Love
The man in the video was the person Adrian had spent his entire life trying to destroy.
I looked at Adrian.
Not the screen.
Not my father.
Not Marcus.
Him.
Because for the first time, I saw something I had never seen before.
Fear.
Real fear.
Not the controlled expression.
Not the calm confidence.
Not the cold eyes that made everyone in Boston step aside.
Fear.
"Who is he?"
My voice was barely audible.
Adrian didn’t answer.
The video continued playing.
My mother looked directly into the camera.
"Elena, if you are watching this, then you already know the truth is bigger than the company."
The image shook slightly.
Like whoever recorded it was in a hurry.
Like time was running out.
"My daughter, there is something I need you to understand."
My fingers tightened.
Because hearing her call me that...
My daughter.
It hurt.
It healed.
Both at the same time.
"You were never the weakness."
My eyes filled.
"You were always the reason we fought."
The video paused.
Then my mother looked away from the camera.
Toward someone standing beside her.
The same man.
The unknown man.
"Your real father knows where the truth is hidden."
The room became silent.
I looked at Richard.
My father.
The man who raised me.
The man who disappeared.
The man who had spent years protecting me with lies.
His face was broken.
Because he knew what was coming.
My mother continued.
"Richard is not your biological father."
The world stopped.
No.
I stared at the screen.
No.
The words didn’t make sense.
They couldn’t.
My father took a step forward.
"Elena..."
I looked at him.
And for the first time in my life...
I didn’t know who he was.
The man I called Dad.
The man who held me when I cried.
The man who taught me how to ride a bike.
The man who came to every school event.
Not my father?
My breathing became uneven.
"Is it true?"
Nobody answered.
That was the answer.
I looked at Richard.
"Is it true?"
Tears appeared in his eyes.
"Yes."
One word.
One word that destroyed the last piece of certainty I had.
I stepped back.
"Who am I?"
Nobody spoke.
Then Marcus smiled.
And I hated that he looked like he had been waiting for this.
"Now you understand why everyone wanted you."
I turned toward him.
"Who is my father?"
Marcus looked at the screen.
Then at Adrian.
"Ask him."
My eyes moved.
Adrian.
Again.
Always Adrian.
"Do you know?"
His silence was unbearable.
"Adrian."
He closed his eyes briefly.
Then nodded.
"Yes."
My heart broke again.
"You knew."
"I knew who he was."
"Who?"
Adrian looked at me.
And the pain in his eyes was almost worse than the truth.
"His name was Alexander Moretti."
The name meant nothing.
Until Adrian said it.
Because his last name was the same as his.
Moretti.
I froze.
"Your father?"
Adrian nodded.
"Yes."
The room became completely silent.
Marcus laughed softly.
"Now she understands."
I looked at Adrian.
"My real father was your father?"
"No."
Adrian stepped closer.
"My father was the man who tried to take everything from yours."
The difference mattered.
But I was too overwhelmed to understand.
"My mother knew?"
"Yes."
"Richard knew?"
He nodded.
"Yes."
"And you?"
His eyes lowered.
"I found out later."
I looked away.
Because every answer created another question.
Every truth opened another wound.
The countdown on the device continued.
06:42.
06:41.
Nobody was watching it anymore.
Except Adrian.
Because he knew.
Something was coming.
"What happens when it reaches zero?"
Nobody answered.
Then Richard spoke.
"It releases everything."
I looked at him.
"What everything?"
He looked at the device.
"The files."
My stomach tightened.
"Files about who?"
He looked around the room.
"Everyone."
Marcus smiled.
"Exactly."
The room shifted.
Because suddenly everyone understood.
The device wasn’t just a threat.
It was a weapon.
A weapon that could destroy powerful people.
Politicians.
Companies.
Families.
Everyone who had spent years hiding.
Marcus wanted chaos.
And Elena Brooks was the final key.
I looked at him.
"You planned all of this."
Marcus didn’t deny it.
"I needed the account."
"You needed me."
He smiled.
"Yes."
The honesty disgusted me.
At least Daniel lied.
Marcus didn’t bother.
He saw people as tools.
Nothing more.
Adrian stepped forward.
"You’re done."
Marcus laughed.
"Are you sure?"
He looked at Elena.
"Ask him what happened the night your mother disappeared."
I looked at Adrian.
Again.
Because somehow...
I already knew.
There was one more truth.
One more thing he had buried.
"Adrian."
His eyes met mine.
"Tell me."
He stayed silent.
The countdown continued.
05:55.
05:54.
"Please."
That word surprised me.
Because I wasn’t begging him to save me.
I was begging him to stop hiding.
Adrian looked at Richard.
Then at the device.
Then back at me.
"I didn’t shoot your mother."
I closed my eyes.
"I didn’t ask that."
His face changed.
"I know."
A pause.
"But I was the reason she was there."
My heart sank.
"What does that mean?"
He swallowed.
"Your mother trusted me."
The room went still.
"She believed I could help her expose your grandfather’s network."
He looked at the ground.
"But I made a choice."
"What choice?"
His voice became quieter.
"I chose revenge."
Nobody moved.
"I wanted Alexander Moretti destroyed."
My breathing stopped.
"And because of that..."
He looked at me.
"Your mother became a target."
The confession hurt.
Not because he betrayed me.
Because he admitted he had betrayed himself.
I looked at him.
"You could have saved her."
He nodded.
"Yes."
The honesty broke me.
"You failed."
His eyes filled with regret.
"Yes."
Nobody spoke.
Not even Marcus.
Because for the first time...
Adrian Moretti wasn’t a powerful man.
He was just someone living with what he had done.
The countdown reached:
03:00.
Richard suddenly looked at the device.
His expression changed.
"Wait."
Everyone turned.
"What?"
He stepped closer.
"No."
His voice became frightened.
"That’s not the release timer."
Marcus smiled.
"What did you think it was?"
Richard stared at the screen.
The numbers changed.
02:59.
02:58.
Then another line appeared.
Not on the device.
On the laptop.
A hidden file opened automatically.
A name appeared.
One name.
Richard whispered:
"No..."
I looked at the screen.
And saw the title.
"Elena Brooks: The Final Inheritance."
Then beneath it...
A video began loading.
A video recorded five years ago.
A video my mother had never sent.
A video addressed to one person.
Not me.
Not Richard.
Not Adrian.
May you like
The screen displayed the name of the person who was supposed to receive it.
And everyone in the room went pale when they saw it.
