Chapter 10 - The Mother Who Never Died
The screen went black.
But nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Because the voice was still there.
The voice of a woman who was supposed to be dead.
Luca Moretti stood in the middle of the abandoned warehouse, staring at the dark screen.
His mother.
Sofia Romano.
The woman he had spent his entire life believing was gone.
The woman whose death had never been explained.
The woman whose name nobody dared mention.
Alive.
Mia looked broken.
Matteo looked like he had seen a ghost.
And Adrian...
Adrian looked terrified.
Luca noticed.
That was the most important thing.
Adrian Vale was never afraid.
Not when he betrayed him.
Not when he attacked the mansion.
Not when he faced armed men.
But now?
Now he looked like someone who had just seen the person who could destroy him.
Luca turned slowly.
"Adrian."
The man didn't answer.
"How long did you know?"
Adrian remained silent.
Luca stepped closer.
"How long?"
Adrian finally looked at him.
"Since the beginning."
The answer was almost a whisper.
Luca's expression hardened.
"The beginning of what?"
Adrian looked around.
At Matteo.
At Mia.
At the old warehouse.
"Everything."
The word hung in the air.
Luca laughed quietly.
"Everyone has an answer."
He looked at the people around him.
"Everyone has a secret."
His eyes returned to Adrian.
"But somehow, everyone forgets to tell me."
Nobody defended themselves.
Because they couldn't.
The truth was finally too large to hide.
Matteo walked toward the screen.
"She shouldn't have contacted us."
Mia looked at him.
"Why?"
Matteo's face was serious.
"Because if she is alive..."
He stopped.
Luca noticed.
"If she is alive, what?"
Matteo looked at him.
"Then they know."
"Who?"
Matteo didn't answer.
Luca's patience broke.
"Who?"
Mia whispered:
"The people who tried to erase her."
Luca looked at the screen.
His mother's face was gone.
But her voice remained in his mind.
Your father lied.
Those words had changed everything.
His father.
The man who raised him.
The man who built the Moretti name.
The man Luca had spent years trying to understand.
Could he really have been the person behind it all?
"No."
Everyone looked at him.
Luca shook his head.
"My father wouldn't."
Mia's expression softened.
"Luca."
"No."
His voice became sharper.
"You don't know him."
Mia looked down.
"I knew him better than you did."
The sentence hurt.
Because part of Luca knew she was right.
He knew his father as a son.
Not as a businessman.
Not as a man making deals in the shadows.
Not as someone willing to sacrifice anyone for power.
Matteo spoke quietly.
"Your father didn't want you to inherit the empire."
Luca looked at him.
"What?"
"He wanted to use you as a symbol."
"A symbol of what?"
Matteo hesitated.
"The perfect combination."
Luca frowned.
"The Moretti and Romano bloodlines."
Silence.
"They believed you were the future."
Luca looked disgusted.
"I was a child."
"Yes."
"And they planned everything around me?"
"Yes."
The answer was brutal.
Simple.
Luca walked away.
For the first time in years, he felt powerless.
Not because he lacked control.
Because he realized he had been controlled.
His entire life.
Every decision.
Every relationship.
Every enemy.
Maybe someone else had been moving pieces around him.
Then Emma's voice came from behind.
"Mr. Luca?"
Everyone turned.
The little girl stood near Mia.
She had been quiet the entire time.
Watching.
Listening.
Too much for a child.
Luca immediately softened.
He walked toward her.
"Yes?"
Emma looked at him.
"Are you going to leave?"
The question surprised him.
"Why would I leave?"
She looked down.
"Because everyone leaves."
The words were small.
But they carried too much pain.
Luca knelt.
"Emma."
She looked at him.
"I'm not leaving."
"Promise?"
Luca nodded.
"Promise."
For a moment, she smiled.
Then she whispered:
"Grandma said you would say that."
The room froze.
Luca looked up.
"What?"
Emma blinked.
"Grandma."
Mia stepped closer.
"Emma..."
The little girl looked confused.
"She told me about you."
Luca's heart started beating faster.
"Who told you?"
Emma pointed at the black screen.
"Her."
Nobody spoke.
Mia looked at Matteo.
Matteo looked at Luca.
Luca slowly stood.
"Emma."
The little girl looked up.
"When did you talk to her?"
Emma thought for a moment.
"Before we came here."
Luca felt cold.
"Where?"
"At home."
Mia went pale.
"Emma..."
The child continued.
"She said I should remember your face."
Luca's breathing stopped.
"Why?"
Emma hugged her rabbit.
"Because she said if something happened..."
She paused.
"...you were the only person who could save me."
A sound came from the other side of the warehouse.
Everyone turned.
A hidden door slowly opened.
Nobody had noticed it before.
Luca immediately moved in front of Emma.
Matteo raised his weapon.
Mia grabbed Emma.
The door opened wider.
A figure stepped out.
An older woman.
Gray hair.
Tired eyes.
But alive.
Luca couldn't move.
Because he knew.
He knew before she spoke.
Before anyone confirmed it.
Before anyone explained.
"Sofia."
His voice broke.
The woman looked at him.
Tears filled her eyes.
"My son."
Three years of questions.
Three years of anger.
Three years of grief.
All disappeared in one moment.
But Luca didn't run to her.
He couldn't.
Because there was something wrong.
Something in her expression.
Something in the way Matteo and Mia looked at her.
Fear.
Not happiness.
Fear.
Luca lowered his weapon slightly.
"Why didn't you come back?"
Sofia looked down.
"Because I was protecting you."
"From my father?"
She didn't answer.
That was an answer.
Luca stepped closer.
"Tell me the truth."
Sofia looked at him.
"The night your father tried to kill me..."
A pause.
"He wasn't alone."
Luca's eyes narrowed.
"Who was with him?"
Sofia looked past him.
At Adrian.
Adrian's face changed.
Because he knew what was coming.
Sofia whispered:
"The person who helped him..."
The lights suddenly shut off.
Again.
A gunshot echoed through the warehouse.
Everyone dropped.
When the emergency lights returned, Sofia was gone.
And Adrian was lying on the floor.
Bleeding.
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With a single message carved into the wall behind him:
THE REAL TRAITOR WAS NEVER WHO YOU THOUGHT.
