Chapter 7 - The Brother Beneath The House
The man stood at the bottom of the basement stairs.
I couldn't move.
Not because I was afraid.
Because I recognized something about him.
Not his face.
Not his voice.
Something else.
The way he stood.
The way he looked at me.
Like he had spent years waiting for this exact moment.
The basement was silent.
Behind me, I could hear Aldo and Elena at the top of the stairs.
Neither of them came down.
Maybe they knew.
Maybe they were afraid.
The stranger held the photograph in his hand.
The same photograph.
My father.
My brother.
The truth I had spent my entire life not knowing.
"Who are you?"
My voice echoed through the basement.
The man looked at me.
Then at the picture.
"My name is Matteo."
Everything stopped.
The name.
The name from my father's recording.
My brother.
The person everyone told me never existed.
I stared at him.
"You expect me to believe that?"
He didn't look angry.
He looked hurt.
"I expected you to hate me."
The words confused me.
"Hate you?"
He slowly walked closer.
"I was prepared for that."
The basement light flickered.
I looked at him carefully.
He was older than me.
Maybe several years.
Dark hair.
Tired eyes.
A face that carried years of running.
But there was something familiar.
Something I couldn't explain.
A small detail.
The shape of his eyes.
The same as mine.
"You are my brother."
It wasn't a question.
Matteo stopped.
"Yes."
For years, I believed I was alone.
The only son.
The only heir.
The only person carrying my father's name.
But I had a brother.
A brother who had been hidden from me.
A brother who had disappeared.
A brother who might know why someone was trying to destroy me.
"Why?"
The question came out quieter than I expected.
Matteo looked away.
"Because your father was afraid."
"My father was afraid of what?"
"Of what he created."
I stepped closer.
"Explain."
Matteo looked toward the file on the table.
"That file contains everything."
I looked at it.
The one with my name.
"The illness?"
He nodded.
"The illness."
"Who did this to me?"
Matteo didn't answer immediately.
That told me enough.
He knew.
"You know."
His silence confirmed it.
"Tell me."
Matteo looked at the stairs.
At Aldo.
Then Elena.
Then back at me.
"Before I tell you, you need to understand something."
"What?"
"Your father wasn't protecting the empire."
I frowned.
"Then what was he protecting?"
Matteo looked at me.
"Us."
The answer made no sense.
"My father abandoned you."
"No."
His voice became sharper.
"Everyone thinks that."
He stepped closer.
"But your father spent his final years trying to keep you alive."
I remembered the letter.
The recording.
The warning.
My father's words.
I failed to protect both of my sons.
"Then why didn't he tell me?"
Matteo's expression changed.
"Because the person who destroyed our family was someone you trusted."
The same sentence.
Again.
Everyone knew something.
Nobody wanted to say the name.
I was tired of secrets.
"TELL ME."
My voice shook the room.
Matteo looked at me.
Then he finally said:
"Your mother."
The basement went silent.
I stared at him.
"No."
The word came automatically.
Not because I knew it was false.
Because I didn't want it to be true.
"My mother died believing she protected us."
Matteo's face changed.
"That's what your father wanted you to believe."
I stepped backward.
Everything I knew about my family was collapsing.
My father.
My brother.
My mother.
Everyone.
"Why would she hurt me?"
Matteo shook his head.
"She didn't start it."
"What does that mean?"
"She was part of something bigger."
The file on the table suddenly felt heavier.
I opened it.
Inside were documents.
Medical reports.
Financial transfers.
Names.
Dates.
Every page connected to the last three weeks.
My illness.
My symptoms.
My treatments.
And then I saw something.
A signature.
The approval for my medical treatment.
My personal doctor.
The same doctor who told me I was dying.
The same doctor who told me nobody knew the cause.
I looked at the signature.
Then I looked at Matteo.
"He knew."
Matteo nodded.
"He wasn't treating you."
My hands tightened.
"He was monitoring you."
The anger inside me returned.
For weeks, I had believed my body was failing.
But someone had been measuring my decline.
Watching.
Waiting.
"Why keep me alive?"
Matteo looked at the documents.
"Because they needed something from you."
"What?"
He pointed at the file.
"Your inheritance."
I laughed.
A cold laugh.
"The empire?"
"No."
Matteo shook his head.
"Something your father hid from everyone."
I looked at him.
"What?"
He pulled out another document.
An old legal paper.
The first thing I noticed was the date.
The day my father died.
The second thing I noticed was the title.
LAST WILL AND FINAL TRUST.
I read the first line.
My father's name.
Then the second.
The names of his children.
Both of them.
Dario Castellano.
Matteo Castellano.
I looked at him.
"My father left something for you."
Matteo nodded.
"And someone wanted it."
"Who?"
He looked toward the basement ceiling.
Toward the mansion above us.
Then he said:
"The person who has been pretending to protect you."
My eyes moved upstairs.
Aldo.
My right hand.
The man who stood beside me for twenty years.
"No."
Matteo looked at me.
"You still trust him."
"He saved my life."
"No."
Matteo's voice became softer.
"He saved your empire."
The difference felt important.
Before I could respond, a sound came from above.
A door opening.
Everyone looked upward.
Elena's face changed.
"What was that?"
Aldo immediately moved.
Too quickly.
He reached inside his jacket.
I noticed.
Aldo noticed that I noticed.
"What are you doing?"
He stopped.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then my phone vibrated.
Another message.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
One picture.
My bedroom.
Taken minutes ago.
Someone was standing beside my bed.
A woman.
I zoomed in.
My blood froze.
Because I recognized her.
Camilla.
But she wasn't alone.
Standing beside her was another person.
Someone I thought had been on my side.
Someone who had been protecting me.
The message below had only four words.
"Dario, Aldo knows."
I looked up.
Aldo was staring at my phone.
And for the first time in twenty years...
May you like
He looked afraid.
Then the basement door behind him slowly began to close by itself.
