Chapter 4 - The Brother Who Returned From The Dead
The man on the security screen didn’t move.
He just stood there.
Watching.
Waiting.
My entire body went cold.
Because even though I had never met Matteo Moretti, I knew that face.
Not from memory.
Not from experience.
From the photograph.
The same eyes.
The same sharp features.
The same expression that looked like he knew every secret in the room.
“That’s impossible,” I whispered.
Lorenzo didn’t answer.
He was staring at the screen like he was seeing a ghost.
Maybe he was.
For twenty-three years, Matteo Moretti had been dead to him.
And now he was standing inside the estate.
Alive.
“Lorenzo,” I said quietly.
Nothing.
“Lorenzo.”
This time he reacted.
His hand moved immediately toward the security panel.
“Lock every entrance.”
The command came out cold.
The old Lorenzo returned.
The man who controlled everything.
The man who survived by never showing fear.
But I had already seen it.
Before he hid it.
I had seen fear in Lorenzo Moretti’s eyes.
And that terrified me more than Matteo standing outside.
The estate suddenly changed.
The quiet luxury disappeared.
Every hallway became a possible threat.
Every shadow became suspicious.
The guards moved quickly.
Doors locked.
Security systems activated.
The sound of footsteps echoed throughout the mansion.
I stood in the middle of my room, still holding the necklace.
The necklace my mother had hidden.
The necklace connected to a secret organization.
The necklace that somehow brought a dead man back into my life.
“I need the truth,” I said.
Lorenzo looked at me.
“Not tonight.”
I almost couldn’t believe him.
“Not tonight?”
“My brother is here.”
“Exactly.”
My voice rose.
“My entire life has been a lie. My mother disappeared. Someone pretended to be her after she died. There is a secret organization hunting me. And your dead brother just walked into your house.”
I stepped closer.
“I think tonight is exactly when I need the truth.”
Lorenzo stared at me.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he sighed.
Not like a powerful man.
Like someone who had carried something too heavy for too long.
“Matteo was my older brother.”
I stayed silent.
“He was the only person in my family who believed power didn’t have to come from fear.”
Lorenzo looked at the old photograph.
“My father built an empire by destroying anyone who stood against him. Matteo hated that. He believed our family had become something worse than the people we were fighting.”
“What were you fighting?”
Lorenzo’s eyes darkened.
“The Black Serpent.”
The name felt wrong.
Like something that should not be spoken.
“They were not a normal organization,” he continued. “They didn’t want money. They wanted control. Politicians. Companies. Families. They collected secrets and used them as weapons.”
“And my mother?”
“She found evidence against them.”
I looked down.
“My mother?”
Lorenzo nodded.
“She was working with Matteo.”
The room became silent.
I tried to process that.
My mother.
The woman who taught me how to bake cookies.
The woman who told me to always be kind.
Was involved in a war between powerful people.
“She trusted Matteo.”
“Yes.”
“And you?”
Lorenzo looked away.
“I was too late.”
Those three words carried more pain than any explanation.
“What happened?”
Lorenzo’s jaw tightened.
“Matteo and your mother disappeared on the same night.”
My heart sank.
“The same night?”
“Yes.”
“And you thought they died?”
“I thought they were taken.”
“By who?”
Lorenzo didn’t answer.
But I already knew.
“The Black Serpent.”
He nodded.
For a moment, I felt anger.
Not fear.
Anger.
Because everyone knew something except me.
Everyone had pieces of my life.
Everyone except me.
“My mother spent years protecting me from this.”
“Yes.”
“She sacrificed everything.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you hire me?”
Lorenzo looked at me.
And his answer surprised me.
“Because I didn’t know who you were.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“I hired you because you were the best candidate.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is.”
His voice softened.
“When I saw your name, I thought it was a coincidence.”
“Until?”
“Until I saw your face.”
My breathing stopped.
“What does that mean?”
“You look like her.”
I looked away.
I hated how much that affected me.
Because everyone said I looked like my mother.
But hearing it from Lorenzo felt different.
Like he was remembering someone.
Like he had lost someone.
A loud alarm suddenly interrupted us.
Lorenzo turned toward the hallway.
“What happened?”
A guard’s voice came through the speaker.
“Boss, the west entrance camera went offline.”
Lorenzo immediately grabbed his gun from the drawer near the desk.
My eyes widened.
“You carry a gun in your bedroom?”
“This is not a normal home.”
I almost smiled.
Almost.
Then another sound came.
A knock.
Three slow knocks.
The same pattern as before.
My blood went cold.
Lorenzo looked at the door.
“Stay behind me.”
I wanted to argue.
But something in his voice stopped me.
He wasn’t ordering me.
He was protecting me.
The handle didn’t move.
Nobody spoke.
Then a voice came from the other side.
“Little brother.”
Lorenzo froze.
I watched his entire body become still.
That voice.
It was calm.
Almost gentle.
But it carried something dangerous.
“Matteo,” Lorenzo whispered.
The door opened.
Slowly.
A man stepped inside.
The same man from the security camera.
The same man from the photograph.
Older.
Different.
But alive.
Matteo Moretti looked at his brother for a long moment.
Neither of them moved.
Neither of them spoke.
Then Matteo smiled slightly.
“Twenty-three years.”
Lorenzo raised his gun.
“You’re supposed to be dead.”
Matteo looked at the weapon.
Then at me.
His expression changed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
“Camila.”
I stepped back.
“How do you know my name?”
Matteo ignored Lorenzo completely.
His eyes stayed on me.
“You have your mother’s eyes.”
The words made my chest tighten.
“Who are you?”
Matteo looked at Lorenzo.
Then back at me.
“The man who tried to save your mother.”
Lorenzo’s expression hardened.
“Don’t listen to him.”
Matteo smiled sadly.
“You still tell her the same thing you told yourself all these years.”
“What?”
“That you were protecting her.”
Silence.
Matteo stepped further into the room.
“I didn’t come here to fight.”
Lorenzo kept the gun aimed.
“Then why are you here?”
Matteo looked at the necklace in my hand.
And his face changed.
Fear.
Real fear.
“Where did you get that?”
I held it tighter.
“My mother hid it.”
Matteo closed his eyes.
For a second, he looked broken.
“She wasn’t supposed to leave it for you.”
“Why?”
He opened his eyes.
“Because if you have that necklace…”
A sudden noise came from outside.
A phone ringing.
Not Lorenzo’s.
Not mine.
Everyone froze.
The sound came from inside the room.
Matteo slowly reached into his coat.
But he didn’t pull out a weapon.
He pulled out an old phone.
A phone that looked decades old.
The screen lit up.
One name appeared.
A name that made Lorenzo’s face lose all color.
May you like
Matteo looked at the screen and whispered:
“She found us.”
