Chapter 6 - The Brother Who Came Back From the Dead
"Luca."
The name echoed through the abandoned room.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Not me.
Not Carmine.
Not even the person standing outside the door.
Then the handle slowly turned.
Carmine reacted instantly.
He grabbed my hand and pulled me behind him.
The same protective movement.
The same instinct.
But this time, I saw something different in his eyes.
Not just anger.
Fear.
The door opened.
A man stood in the hallway.
Older than Carmine.
Tall.
Dark coat.
Cold expression.
A scar running near his eyebrow.
My heart stopped.
Because I knew that face.
Not from the photograph.
Not from the recordings.
From my own memory.
The man who attacked me.
The man who had followed me through the estate.
The man who thought I would never speak.
Carmine looked at him.
"Luca."
His brother smiled slightly.
"Hello, Carmine."
The silence between them felt heavier than the walls around us.
I stared at Luca Moretti.
The man who had been hiding inside this house.
The man who had been watching me.
The man who had disappeared three years ago.
"You were dead."
Carmine's voice was low.
Luca stepped into the room.
"No."
He looked around.
"I just wanted everyone to believe I was."
Carmine's hands tightened.
"Why?"
Luca looked at the recorder on the table.
Then at me.
"Because I needed to know who would find the truth."
My stomach turned.
"You used me."
Luca looked at me.
Not with guilt.
With curiosity.
"You were interesting."
I felt sick.
Carmine moved forward.
"Don't look at her."
Luca laughed quietly.
"There he is."
"What?"
"The great Carmine Moretti."
He tilted his head.
"The man who can control an entire city."
A pause.
"But one frightened maid walks into his kitchen, and suddenly he remembers he has a conscience."
The words hit.
Not because they were true.
Because Carmine reacted.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
Something painful.
Luca noticed too.
"You always were weak when it came to people who couldn't fight back."
Carmine's voice became colder.
"You don't know anything about me."
"No?"
Luca stepped closer.
"I know exactly who you are."
He looked around the room.
"I know what father taught us."
I didn't understand.
But Carmine did.
His expression changed.
"Our father was a monster."
Luca smiled.
"And you still became him."
The words hung in the air.
Carmine looked away.
For the first time, I saw something behind the powerful image.
A memory.
A wound.
Something he had buried.
"What happened to Sophia?" Carmine asked.
Luca's smile disappeared.
"Still asking about her?"
"Answer me."
"Three years later, and that's your first question?"
Carmine stepped closer.
"Where is she?"
Luca looked at the recorder.
"She was never supposed to find that."
"Find what?"
Luca looked at me.
"The truth."
I felt my chest tighten.
"What truth?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he walked toward the table.
Carmine immediately blocked him.
"You don't get near her."
Luca stopped.
Then laughed.
"You're protecting her."
A small smile appeared.
"Exactly like I knew you would."
I frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Neither brother answered.
And that frightened me more.
Because they were both hiding something.
Something connected to me.
Carmine turned toward Luca.
"What did you do?"
Luca looked at him.
"I tested you."
"By hurting her?"
"No."
His expression became serious.
"By showing you what happens when you stop looking."
The room became silent.
I looked at Carmine.
"What is he talking about?"
Carmine didn't answer.
Luca did.
"For years, Carmine believed owning this city meant he was protecting everyone under his roof."
He looked around.
"But he never noticed what happened below it."
The staff building.
The forgotten rooms.
The missing women.
The people who disappeared quietly.
My hands curled into fists.
"Sophia."
Luca looked at me.
"Yes."
"What happened to her?"
His expression changed.
Not guilt.
Something else.
Regret.
"She found something she shouldn't have."
"What?"
Luca looked at Carmine.
"Your brother's secret."
Carmine's eyes narrowed.
"You."
Luca nodded.
"Me."
A long silence.
Then Carmine asked:
"Why would Sophia expose you?"
"Because she believed you were different."
Luca looked almost amused.
"She thought the famous Carmine Moretti would choose justice over family."
"And?"
Luca looked down.
"And she was right."
I froze.
Because that wasn't what I expected.
Carmine looked confused.
"You helped her?"
Luca didn't answer.
Instead, he reached into his coat.
Carmine immediately pulled his weapon.
But Luca only removed an old envelope.
He placed it on the table.
"Sophia wrote this before she disappeared."
Carmine stared at it.
"Where did you get that?"
"I kept it."
"Why?"
Luca looked at him.
"Because I knew one day you would need to see it."
Carmine picked up the envelope.
His hands were steady.
But his eyes weren't.
Inside was a letter.
He read silently.
I watched his face change.
Anger.
Shock.
Pain.
"What does it say?"
Carmine didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
"Carmine."
He finally spoke.
"Sophia wasn't investigating Luca."
I frowned.
"Then who?"
He looked at me.
And the answer made my blood run cold.
"She was investigating me."
The room went silent.
"What?"
Carmine looked back at the letter.
"She found records."
"Of what?"
His voice became quieter.
"Of payments."
"To who?"
Carmine didn't answer.
Because someone else answered for him.
Luca.
"To the person who controlled this house before either of us."
I looked between them.
"Your father?"
Neither moved.
That was enough.
I felt the ground disappear beneath me.
"Why would Sophia think you were involved?"
Carmine looked broken.
"I don't know."
For the first time, I believed him.
Because he looked like a man discovering his own life had been built on lies.
Luca walked toward the door.
"Now you understand."
Carmine looked up.
"Where are you going?"
"Leaving."
"No."
Carmine stood.
"You don't disappear again."
Luca stopped.
Then smiled.
"You still don't understand."
"What?"
Luca looked at me.
"The person who sent those messages..."
A pause.
"Wasn't me."
My stomach dropped.
Carmine's expression changed.
"Then who?"
Luca reached the doorway.
"Someone who has been watching both of us."
The lights flickered.
Again.
Carmine looked toward the security panel.
Then his phone vibrated.
He checked the screen.
His face changed instantly.
I knew that expression.
Something was wrong.
"What happened?"
He didn't answer.
He turned the phone toward me.
A live camera feed appeared.
The image showed the main house.
The hallway outside the kitchen.
And someone standing there.
Someone who should not have been inside.
Someone wearing a maid uniform.
May you like
Carmine whispered the name.
"Sophia..."
