Chapter 6 - The Truth About The Night My Mother Disappeared
The man on the screen was Adrien Moretti’s father.
I knew it before Adrien said anything.
I saw it in his face.
The fear.
The disbelief.
The anger he was trying desperately to hide.
The video froze on the image of the older man standing behind my mother.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
The entire mansion felt like it had stopped breathing.
"Adrien..."
One of the guards whispered his name.
But Adrien didn't answer.
He stared at the screen like he was looking at a ghost.
I looked between him and the video.
"Your father?"
The question came out quietly.
Adrien closed his eyes for a second.
Then opened them.
"Yes."
My hands tightened around the necklace.
"Your father was with my mother?"
He didn't deny it.
That scared me.
Because every time Adrien refused to answer, the truth became worse.
"Who was he?"
Adrien looked at the frozen image.
"His name was Vincent Moretti."
The name meant nothing to me.
But the reaction around the room told me everything.
The guards looked uncomfortable.
Some looked angry.
Some looked afraid.
"Everyone knows that name," I said.
Adrien remained silent.
"Except me."
A pause.
"Why?"
He looked at me.
"Because your mother spent years making sure you never heard it."
I shook my head.
"No."
The word came out automatically.
"My mother would have told me."
Adrien's expression softened slightly.
"Your mother loved you."
"Then why did she lie to me?"
He didn't answer.
And somehow, that hurt more.
I turned away.
I couldn't look at him.
My whole life suddenly felt like a story someone else had written.
My mother.
My past.
Even my own name.
Everything had a hidden meaning.
A guard walked toward Adrien.
"Boss, we need to move."
Adrien didn't react.
"Why?"
The guard looked toward the windows.
"Because if Vincent Moretti is involved..."
He stopped.
Adrien finished the sentence.
"They already know where she is."
My stomach dropped.
"Where I am?"
Nobody corrected me.
That was enough.
I looked at Adrien.
"Your father is alive?"
Silence.
Then:
"Yes."
The answer hit me harder than expected.
"Then why does everyone think he's gone?"
Adrien looked down.
"Because I made sure they believed that."
I stared at him.
"You?"
His jaw tightened.
"After my father disappeared, people came after everyone connected to him."
He looked at the photo.
"Your mother was one of those people."
"Why?"
Adrien walked toward the table.
He opened the old file again.
Inside were documents.
Photos.
Reports.
Things collected over years.
"Your mother found something."
"What?"
"A secret."
I waited.
Adrien looked at me.
"Something my father built."
The room became quiet.
"What kind of secret?"
His fingers moved across one document.
"A network."
I frowned.
"Like a criminal organization?"
"No."
His answer was immediate.
"Worse."
The word sent a chill through me.
Adrien continued.
"My father didn't just control criminals."
He looked at the guards.
"He controlled information."
I didn't understand.
But then I saw the photographs.
Judges.
Police officers.
Business owners.
Politicians.
People who looked powerful.
All connected by lines drawn in red ink.
My mother had been investigating them.
She wasn't running from danger.
She was chasing it.
"She was trying to expose him."
Adrien nodded.
"Yes."
"Then why didn't you help her?"
The question hit him.
Hard.
For the first time, Adrien looked away.
"I did."
"Then what happened?"
His silence lasted too long.
"Adrien."
He finally spoke.
"The night your mother disappeared..."
I waited.
"She called me."
My heart stopped.
"She called you?"
"Yes."
"What did she say?"
Adrien looked toward the window.
"She said she found proof."
"What proof?"
He swallowed.
"The proof that my father was still alive."
I felt cold.
"But everyone thought he was dead."
"That was the plan."
"Whose plan?"
Adrien didn't answer.
I already knew.
"Your father."
He nodded.
"Vincent Moretti wanted the world to believe he was gone."
"Why?"
"Because a dead man can move freely."
The answer made sense.
And that terrified me.
My mother had discovered a ghost.
A powerful man hiding in plain sight.
"Where did she go?"
Adrien looked at the floor.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"I found her car."
He paused.
"Empty."
The room went silent.
"I searched everywhere."
His voice became lower.
"I thought she was dead."
I looked at him.
"But she wasn't."
"No."
He looked at the screen.
"She was hiding."
"From your father."
"Yes."
A strange feeling moved through me.
Adrien Moretti wasn't the monster everyone believed he was.
He was a man who had spent years chasing the truth too.
But there was still something missing.
Something he wasn't telling me.
"Why did my mother tell me not to trust you?"
Adrien froze.
The question landed differently.
Because he knew the answer.
"I don't know."
"You do."
He looked at me.
"No."
"You're lying."
Nobody in the room moved.
I didn't care anymore.
I was tired of fear.
Tired of secrets.
Tired of everyone deciding what I could handle.
"My mother trusted you enough to leave messages for me."
I stepped closer.
"But she also warned me about you."
Adrien looked at the necklace.
Then at me.
"Your mother was trying to protect you."
"From who?"
A long silence.
Then he said:
"Maybe from me."
The honesty surprised me.
I didn't expect that.
Before I could respond, the security system suddenly beeped.
One of the guards checked his device.
His face changed.
"Boss."
Adrien turned.
"What?"
"We found the person who entered the property."
Everyone became alert.
"Where?"
The guard looked at me.
"Inside the mansion."
My heart started racing.
"That's impossible."
The guard shook his head.
"No."
He looked at Adrien.
"They've been inside for hours."
Adrien immediately reached for his weapon.
"Where are they?"
The guard hesitated.
Then showed the screen.
A security camera image appeared.
A hallway.
An empty hallway.
Except for one person standing at the end.
A woman.
Older.
Wearing a dark coat.
Her face was turned away.
But I knew something was wrong.
Because Adrien knew her.
His expression changed completely.
"No..."
I stepped closer to the screen.
"Who is she?"
Adrien didn't answer.
The woman slowly turned toward the camera.
The image became clearer.
And my entire world stopped.
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Because the woman standing inside Adrien Moretti's mansion...
was my mother.
