Chapter 7 - The Name Written in Blood
Luca Moretti turned slowly.
The person standing behind him did not move.
The hallway was still.
The rain outside continued hitting the open front door.
For a moment, Luca only heard his own breathing.
Because the person standing there was not a stranger.
It was someone who had been inside his house.
Someone who had watched him.
Someone who had earned his trust.
Mia.
No.
Not Mia.
Isabella Romano.
The woman who had spent two years cleaning his mansion.
The woman who had protected Emma.
The woman who had hidden a past that connected to everything falling apart.
Luca stared at her.
"Did you know?"
Mia's face changed.
Not because she was caught.
Because she knew exactly what he meant.
The video.
The voice.
The accusation.
She looked at Matteo.
Then back at Luca.
"I..."
Luca raised the phone.
"Answer me."
His voice was quiet.
Dangerously quiet.
"Did you betray me?"
Emma was upstairs.
The thought was the only thing stopping him from losing control.
Mia took a step closer.
"No."
"Then why does someone think you did?"
She looked away.
Because she had no answer.
And Luca hated that.
He had spent his entire life around people who lied.
But the worst lies were never spoken.
They were the ones people refused to explain.
Matteo stepped between them.
"Luca."
"Move."
"Listen to me."
"No."
Luca looked at him.
"I listened for three years."
The words hit Matteo.
"You disappeared."
"I had to."
"You let me bury you."
Matteo's eyes lowered.
"I know."
"You let me believe I failed you."
Silence.
Matteo had no defense.
Because there wasn't one.
Luca looked at both of them.
Two people who knew pieces of the truth.
Two people who had decided he was better off in the dark.
Then his eyes returned to Mia.
"Who was the woman in the photo?"
Mia froze.
Matteo looked at her.
And Luca noticed.
They were both afraid.
Not of him.
Of the answer.
"Mia."
She closed her eyes.
"Her name was Elena."
Luca waited.
"Elena Romano."
The name meant nothing at first.
Then something clicked.
A file.
An old investigation.
A woman connected to the Romano family.
A woman rumored to have disappeared after exposing her own relatives.
"The woman in the photograph."
Mia nodded.
"She was my sister."
Luca stared.
"Your sister?"
"Yes."
"And Matteo knew her?"
Matteo answered this time.
"Yes."
Luca looked at him.
"How?"
Matteo remained silent.
That was enough.
Luca's expression hardened.
"How long have you both been lying to me?"
Matteo looked away.
"Since before everything happened."
The honesty was worse than another lie.
Luca stepped back.
He felt like the entire foundation of his life had shifted.
The people closest to him had been connected long before he knew.
His brother.
His employee.
His enemy.
His own mansion.
Everything led back to one thing.
A secret.
"Why did Elena disappear?"
Mia looked at Emma's room.
"Because she discovered the truth."
"What truth?"
Mia hesitated.
"The truth about Emma."
Luca frowned.
"What does Emma have to do with Elena?"
Mia didn't answer.
Matteo did.
"Emma isn't just my daughter."
Luca looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
Matteo took a deep breath.
"Emma is the reason Elena died."
The words stopped everything.
Mia looked at Matteo.
"Don't."
But Luca heard.
And now he needed the answer.
"What are you saying?"
Matteo looked at him.
"Three years ago, Elena found out someone wanted to use Emma."
"Use her for what?"
"Control."
Luca shook his head.
"She's a child."
"To us, she is."
Matteo's voice became darker.
"But to them, she is proof."
"Proof of what?"
Matteo looked toward the stairs.
Toward Emma.
"That the Romano bloodline survived."
Luca stared.
He understood now.
Not completely.
But enough.
This was never about money.
Never about a maid.
Never about a shirt.
A little girl washing clothes in his laundry room had exposed a war that had been hidden for years.
A war over a child.
A war over a name.
A war that had reached his home.
Suddenly, a small voice came from upstairs.
"Mr. Luca?"
Everyone froze.
Emma stood at the top of the stairs.
Holding her stuffed rabbit.
Her eyes moved between the adults.
She looked confused.
Not scared.
That worried Luca more.
Children should not be this calm around secrets.
"Emma."
He immediately walked toward her.
But before he reached the stairs, Matteo stopped him.
"Wait."
Luca turned.
"Why?"
Matteo looked at Emma.
Then whispered:
"Because she knows."
Luca frowned.
"Knows what?"
Matteo didn't answer.
Emma slowly walked down.
"Mama told me not to say anything."
Mia's face changed.
"Emma."
The little girl looked at her.
"But Mr. Luca is nice."
Nobody spoke.
Emma held the stuffed rabbit tighter.
"I don't want bad people to hurt him."
Luca knelt.
"What bad people?"
Emma looked down.
Then whispered:
"The ones who came to our house before."
Mia went pale.
"Emma..."
"When Daddy left."
The room went silent.
Luca looked at Matteo.
"When you disappeared?"
Matteo's expression changed.
Emma continued.
"They told Mommy to give me to them."
Mia covered her mouth.
Tears filled her eyes.
Luca slowly looked at her.
"You knew?"
"I tried to stop them."
Her voice broke.
"I ran."
"Where?"
"To Elena."
Luca froze.
Mia continued.
"She helped us escape."
"And then?"
Mia looked at Matteo.
"Then Matteo died."
The room became silent.
Luca looked at his brother.
"You weren't killed in a car accident."
Matteo shook his head.
"No."
"What happened?"
Matteo looked toward Emma.
"Elena saved her."
A pause.
"She saved Emma."
Luca's hands tightened.
"And you?"
Matteo's eyes filled with regret.
"I survived."
The honesty hurt.
Before Luca could speak, every phone in the room vibrated at the same time.
Luca looked down.
His screen showed a new message.
Everyone else's did too.
One image.
A live security camera feed.
From inside the mansion.
The safe room.
Luca's face changed.
Because the camera showed Emma's bedroom.
Empty.
The bed was untouched.
The window was closed.
But written on the wall in fresh black ink were three words.
SHE LEFT WITH ME.
Mia screamed.
"No."
Luca ran upstairs.
The bedroom door was open.
The room was empty.
Emma was gone.
And on the floor beside the bed was a small white dress with a note pinned to it.
Luca picked it up.
May you like
Only one sentence was written.
If you want your daughter back, come alone to the place where Matteo Moretti died.
