Chapter 6 - The Man Who Raised The Enemy
The room went silent.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Because the person on the screen was not a stranger.
He was not an enemy hiding in the shadows.
He was someone Dominic had known his entire life.
Someone who had walked beside him.
Someone who had protected him.
Someone who had taught him how to survive.
Adrian Morelli.
Dominic stared at the screen.
His hand tightened around the phone.
"No."
The word came out quietly.
Almost like he was refusing reality itself.
Behind him, nobody dared breathe.
Because everyone understood what that image meant.
The person Dominic trusted most...
was the person his mother warned him about.
Adrian.
His best friend.
His advisor.
The man who had been beside him since he was twenty years old.
The man who had helped him rebuild the Valente empire after his father's death.
The man who knew every weakness.
Every strategy.
Every secret.
Dominic slowly turned.
Adrian was standing near the archive door.
His face was empty.
But his silence said everything.
"You knew."
Adrian looked down.
Dominic laughed softly.
Not because it was funny.
Because the betrayal was too large for anger.
"You knew."
Adrian finally looked at him.
"Yes."
One word.
One confirmation.
And something inside Dominic changed.
"How long?"
Adrian didn't answer.
Dominic stepped closer.
"How long have you known?"
"Since before you became head of the family."
The answer hit harder than expected.
Dominic stared.
"Before?"
Adrian nodded.
"I was there when your father disappeared."
Lorenzo immediately looked at him.
"You promised."
Adrian looked toward him.
"I promised I would protect Dominic."
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"Protect me?"
His voice became colder.
"You lied to me for years."
Adrian said nothing.
"You watched me build an empire on a false story."
Another step.
"You watched me hate enemies that weren't real."
Another step.
"And you let me believe my family abandoned me."
Adrian's expression finally cracked.
"I was trying to keep you alive."
Dominic stopped.
Everyone had used those words.
Everyone.
Trying to keep you alive.
Trying to protect you.
Trying to save you.
But every secret had nearly destroyed him.
"Who are you really?"
Adrian looked at him.
And for a moment...
Dominic saw something he had never seen before.
Pain.
"My real name is Adrian Rossi."
The room froze.
Elena closed her eyes.
Lia held onto her hand.
Dominic looked at her.
"You knew."
Elena nodded slowly.
"Yes."
"He's your family."
"Yes."
Dominic looked back at Adrian.
"Marco."
Adrian didn't respond.
But he didn't need to.
Dominic already knew.
The hidden child.
The erased heir.
The person his family tried to remove from history.
Marco Rossi.
Alive.
Standing in front of him.
The man he trusted most.
"You were the child in the photograph."
Adrian nodded.
"My father took me away before anyone could find me."
Dominic looked at Lorenzo.
"Your father."
Lorenzo looked down.
"I had no choice."
Dominic's expression hardened.
"Everyone says that."
He walked toward the table.
The old documents were still open.
Birth records.
Letters.
Photographs.
Proof of a life that had been hidden.
"Why?"
Nobody answered.
Dominic turned around.
"Why did everyone lie?"
Adrian finally spoke.
"Because the truth would have destroyed everything."
Dominic looked at him.
"Then tell me the truth."
A long pause.
Adrian walked closer.
"When your grandfather died, there was a fight for control."
Dominic listened.
"The family council wanted me to become the heir."
"Because I was older."
"Because I was born first."
Dominic shook his head.
"But I'm the Valente."
Adrian looked at him.
"No."
The answer was quiet.
But powerful.
"You are a Valente by blood."
A pause.
"But I was the heir they created."
Dominic frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Adrian looked at Lorenzo.
"Your father chose you."
Dominic froze.
"My father?"
Adrian nodded.
"He rejected their plan."
"Why?"
"Because he realized something."
Adrian's voice lowered.
"He didn't want an heir who could be controlled."
"He wanted a son who could choose."
Dominic looked away.
For the first time, he didn't know if he should hate his father or understand him.
Both felt impossible.
Then Elena spoke.
"There is something else."
Everyone looked at her.
Dominic already knew he wouldn't like it.
"What?"
Elena looked at Lia.
Then back at him.
"The reason I left."
The room became still.
"I wasn't running from your family."
Dominic watched her.
"I was running from Marco."
Adrian's face changed.
"What?"
Elena looked at him.
"Six years ago, you came to me."
Adrian said nothing.
"You told me the truth."
Her voice shook.
"You told me Dominic was in danger."
Dominic looked between them.
"What are you saying?"
Elena looked at Adrian.
"I believed you."
A pause.
"Until I found out you weren't telling me everything."
Adrian's expression changed.
"What did you find?"
Elena didn't answer.
Instead, she reached into her pocket.
She removed a small flash drive.
Dominic stared.
"What's that?"
"The proof."
"Proof of what?"
Elena looked directly at Adrian.
"That he was never trying to protect you."
Adrian stepped forward.
"Elena."
"No."
Her voice was firm.
"I spent years believing I was helping you."
She looked at Dominic.
"But then I found the missing file."
Dominic took the flash drive.
"Where?"
"In your mother's private room."
The room became silent.
"My mother had a private room?"
Lorenzo closed his eyes.
Dominic looked at him.
"You knew."
Lorenzo didn't answer.
Dominic inserted the flash drive into the archive computer.
A single file appeared.
THE FINAL RECORD.
He opened it.
A video loaded.
His mother's face appeared.
Young.
Tired.
Afraid.
Dominic stopped breathing.
He had not seen her face in years.
"My son..."
Her voice shook.
"If you are watching this, then I failed."
Dominic stood completely still.
The woman on the screen looked directly at him.
"I need you to understand one thing."
A pause.
"Marco was not the person who destroyed our family."
Dominic looked at Adrian.
Adrian's face changed.
His mother continued.
"The person who betrayed us was the one who convinced Marco to return."
The video flickered.
Then she said the words that made Dominic's blood run cold.
"Because Marco never came back alone."
The screen went black.
Nobody spoke.
Then the computer suddenly received a new message.
A new file appeared.
No sender.
No explanation.
Only one title.
THE PERSON WHO SENT MARCO.
Dominic stared at it.
His hand moved toward the mouse.
He clicked.
The file opened.
May you like
And the first image appeared...
showing someone Dominic recognized immediately.
