Chapter 8 - The Truth Buried With The Duca Family
For the first time in my life, I saw Lorenzo Duca choose peace.
Not because he was weak.
Not because he was afraid.
But because he finally understood that revenge could destroy everything he was trying to protect.
The woman standing in front of him had spent years planning this moment.
She had waited.
She had manipulated.
She had turned a family against itself.
She had taken every wound from the past and turned it into a weapon.
And yet, when she expected Lorenzo to become the monster everyone believed he was…
He didn’t.
He stood there holding Emma’s small hand.
The same hand that had placed a cartoon bandage on his face.
The same hand that had reminded him he was still human.
The woman noticed.
Her expression changed slightly.
“You really think that child changed you?”
Her voice carried through the mansion.
Lorenzo looked at Emma.
Then back at her.
“No.”
The woman smiled.
“No?”
Lorenzo shook his head.
“She reminded me of who I was before everyone else told me who I had to become.”
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Even the guards behind her looked uncertain.
Because they had expected fear.
They had expected anger.
They had expected the old Lorenzo Duca.
But they were looking at someone different.
Someone who had lost everything and still refused to become cruel.
The woman slowly walked closer.
“You sound like Adrian.”
The name changed Lorenzo’s expression.
“Don’t say his name.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
She tilted her head.
“Because you still miss him?”
Lorenzo said nothing.
That was enough.
She smiled.
“You blamed yourself for his death.”
The words hit harder than any weapon.
I looked at Lorenzo.
His face remained controlled.
But I saw it.
The pain.
The memory.
The wound that had never healed.
“You thought you could save everyone.”
The woman continued.
“But you couldn’t save him.”
Lorenzo’s hand tightened around Emma’s.
And Emma noticed.
She looked up at him.
“Are you sad?”
The question was so simple.
So innocent.
And somehow, it stopped the entire room.
Lorenzo looked down.
“Yes.”
Emma thought for a moment.
Then she said:
“Then remember happy things too.”
Nobody moved.
Because nobody expected wisdom from a three-year-old.
But maybe children saw things adults forgot.
Pain was real.
Loss was real.
But they weren’t the only things that existed.
Lorenzo looked away.
And for the first time…
The woman looked uncomfortable.
Because she understood something.
Emma was destroying the very thing she had spent years building.
Hate.
“You don’t understand what this family did.”
The woman’s voice became colder.
“They destroyed my life.”
Lorenzo looked at her.
“Then tell me.”
She froze.
“What?”
“Tell me the truth.”
His voice was calm.
“No more games.”
A long silence followed.
Then the woman laughed softly.
“You really want the truth?”
“Yes.”
She looked around the mansion.
At the portraits.
At the walls.
At the place where the Duca family had hidden its secrets.
“Fine.”
She took a deep breath.
“My name is Elena Voss.”
I noticed Victor look down.
He knew this story.
But he had never told anyone.
“My father worked for your family.”
Lorenzo listened.
“He was loyal.”
Her voice became bitter.
“Too loyal.”
She walked toward the old family portraits.
“Your father made promises.”
“Then he broke them.”
She looked at Lorenzo.
“He used people.”
“He destroyed lives.”
“He believed money could erase everything.”
Lorenzo’s expression changed.
Because part of him knew.
His father had not been the man he wanted to believe.
“What happened to your father?” he asked.
Elena’s eyes darkened.
“He disappeared.”
A pause.
“And your family made sure nobody looked for him.”
The room became silent.
I looked at Victor.
Even he looked uncomfortable.
“So this was revenge?”
Elena nodded.
“At first.”
That answer surprised everyone.
“At first?”
She looked at Emma.
Then back at Lorenzo.
“But revenge changes people.”
Her voice became quieter.
“I started wanting justice.”
“Then I wanted punishment.”
“Then…”
She stopped.
“Then I wanted everyone who carried the Duca name to suffer.”
Nobody spoke.
Because for a moment…
She didn’t look like an enemy.
She looked like someone who had been broken.
But broken people could still hurt others.
And that was the tragedy.
“You killed Adrian.”
Lorenzo’s voice brought the room back.
Elena looked at him.
“No.”
“Then who?”
Her expression changed.
And for the first time…
She looked afraid.
“The same person who killed my father.”
A silence followed.
Everyone turned toward her.
“Who?”
Elena looked at Victor.
Then at the stairs above them.
“No.”
Her voice trembled.
“He’s already here.”
Every person in the room became alert.
Lorenzo immediately moved closer to Emma.
“Who?”
Before Elena could answer…
A slow clap echoed from the balcony.
Everyone turned.
A man stepped forward.
Older.
Elegant.
Calm.
But unlike Victor…
Unlike Elena…
This man looked completely confident.
Because he had never been afraid of being discovered.
Lorenzo stared.
And his face changed.
Because he knew him.
“Uncle Matteo.”
The man smiled.
“Hello, Lorenzo.”
My stomach tightened.
Another family member.
Another secret.
Another person hiding behind the Duca name.
“You.”
Lorenzo’s voice was filled with disbelief.
Matteo walked down the stairs slowly.
“I always wondered when you would finally understand.”
Victor stepped forward.
“You were supposed to stay away.”
Matteo laughed.
“You still think you’re part of this?”
The room became tense.
Lorenzo looked between them.
“You all worked together?”
Matteo smiled.
“No.”
He looked at Elena.
“She thought she was controlling the game.”
Then Victor.
“He thought he was protecting the truth.”
Then Lorenzo.
“And you…”
A pause.
“You thought you were the king.”
His words were cruel.
“But none of you understood.”
Matteo reached the bottom of the stairs.
“Your father was never the most powerful person in this family.”
Lorenzo stared.
“Then who was?”
Matteo smiled.
“You should ask who benefited from his death.”
The room went silent.
Then Matteo looked at Emma.
And my entire body went cold.
Because his eyes changed.
Not kindness.
Not concern.
Calculation.
“The child is interesting.”
I immediately stepped in front of her.
“Stay away from my daughter.”
Matteo looked amused.
“Your daughter?”
He looked at Lorenzo.
“Is that what you believe?”
Lorenzo’s expression changed.
“What are you talking about?”
Matteo smiled.
And that smile made the entire room colder.
“Ask the maid where she really found Emma.”
My heart stopped.
Lorenzo looked at me.
Confusion crossed his face.
“Anna?”
I opened my mouth.
But no words came out.
Because suddenly…
A secret I had buried for three years…
Was standing in front of me.
Matteo smiled.
“Everyone has secrets.”
He looked at Lorenzo.
“Even the people you think saved you.”
The room became completely silent.
Emma looked up at me.
“Mama?”
I looked down at my daughter.
The child I had protected.
The child I loved more than anything.
And I realized something terrifying.
The truth we had been chasing…
Was not just about the Duca family.
It was about me too.
Lorenzo stared at me.
Not with anger.
Not yet.
With confusion.
And fear.
Because the enemy had just revealed the final secret.
The one nobody expected.
The one that could destroy the fragile trust we had built.
Matteo’s voice echoed through the mansion.
“Tell him.”
Nobody moved.
“Tell Lorenzo who Emma really is.”
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And for the first time that night…
I was the one who had no place left to hide.
