Chapter 10 - The Man Who Was Buried Alive
For twenty-five years, Victor Moretti had lived with one certainty.
His brother was dead.
Marco Moretti was gone.
A memory.
A regret.
A wound that never healed.
But now…
Standing in the doorway of the mansion…
Was the man Victor had buried in his heart decades ago.
Alive.
Older.
Changed.
But unmistakably Marco.
Nobody moved.
Even Isabella Rossi looked surprised.
And that was the first time Victor realized something.
She hadn’t expected this either.
“Marco…”
Victor barely recognized his own voice.
His brother stared back at him.
For a moment, neither man moved.
Then Victor walked forward.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Almost afraid the person in front of him would disappear.
“You’re alive.”
Marco’s expression was filled with pain.
“Yes.”
Victor stopped a few feet away.
“Why?”
The question carried twenty-five years of anger.
Twenty-five years of grief.
Twenty-five years of wondering why he wasn’t enough to save his own brother.
Marco looked down.
“Because I wasn’t allowed to come home.”
The room became silent.
Hannah watched the two brothers.
She had spent her entire life believing she had no father.
Now, suddenly, the man she had never known was standing in front of her.
She didn’t know whether to hate him.
Or cry.
Marco looked at her.
And immediately, his expression changed.
A father seeing his daughter for the first time.
“Hannah.”
Her heart stopped.
He knew her name.
Of course he did.
But hearing it from him felt different.
“You know who I am.”
Marco nodded.
“I have always known.”
Anger flashed in Hannah’s eyes.
“Then where were you?”
Marco closed his eyes.
The question hurt.
Because he knew there was no answer that could erase it.
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
Hannah laughed bitterly.
“Everyone says that.”
A pause.
“Everyone leaves and says they were protecting me.”
Marco looked broken.
“I know.”
Victor turned toward Elena.
“You knew?”
Elena looked at him.
“I knew Marco survived.”
Victor’s face hardened.
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I wanted to.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
Elena’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because Marco made me promise.”
Victor looked at his brother.
“Why?”
Marco stepped forward.
“Because Thomas wasn’t the only person watching.”
Everyone became silent.
Marco looked around the room.
“At the time, I thought the danger came from Isabella.”
He looked at Elena.
“She thought so too.”
“But we were wrong.”
Victor frowned.
“Who else?”
Marco looked toward the ceiling.
Toward the cameras.
Toward the mansion.
“Someone who had access to everything.”
Hannah immediately understood.
“The traitor.”
Marco nodded.
“Yes.”
The countdown continued.
06:42
The mansion screens flashed.
Isabella watched calmly.
“You always were dramatic, Marco.”
Everyone turned.
She smiled.
“Coming back from the dead.”
Marco looked at her.
“You should have known I would.”
“No.”
Isabella shook her head.
“I knew you were alive.”
The room froze.
Victor stared.
“What?”
Isabella smiled.
“I never believed you died.”
Marco’s expression changed.
“Then why?”
“Because a dead man is easier to control.”
The words shocked everyone.
Isabella continued:
“You were useful.”
Marco looked disgusted.
“You used me.”
“Yes.”
“And you used Thomas.”
“Yes.”
“And Adrian.”
“Yes.”
A cold smile appeared on her face.
“Everyone thinks they are the main player.”
A pause.
“But everyone is just a piece.”
Victor looked at Isabella.
“You planned all of this.”
“For years.”
“Why Lily?”
Isabella looked at the baby.
“Because she carries both bloodlines.”
Hannah held Lily tighter.
“What does that mean?”
Marco answered.
“Lily is the only person connected to both families.”
The room became quiet.
“The Rossi evidence.”
“The Moretti records.”
“The truth about everyone involved.”
Marco looked at the silver locket.
“Everything was designed to survive through her.”
Victor stared.
“So the locket…”
“Was never the secret.”
Marco nodded.
“It was only the key.”
A sudden sound interrupted them.
A phone rang.
Everyone looked.
The phone belonged to the security commander.
The commander hesitated.
Then answered.
A few seconds later…
His face changed.
Victor noticed.
“What?”
The commander slowly lowered the phone.
“Sir…”
“Who was it?”
The man swallowed.
“The police.”
Victor frowned.
“Why?”
“They received evidence.”
“What evidence?”
The commander looked terrified.
“Evidence claiming you ordered the attack tonight.”
Silence.
Isabella smiled.
The final piece of her plan.
She had created a situation where Victor looked guilty.
The public saw the weapons.
The mansion.
The dead security officers.
The child.
Everything.
And now…
She had planted evidence.
Hannah looked at Victor.
“They’re trying to make you the villain.”
Victor nodded.
“Yes.”
Marco looked at him.
“Exactly what they did twenty-five years ago.”
Victor finally understood.
The entire night.
The attack.
The threats.
The media.
The evidence.
It was never just about Lily.
It was about rewriting history.
Destroying Victor’s name.
Making him carry blame for crimes he never committed.
Just like before.
But this time…
He wasn’t alone.
Marco stepped toward the old fireplace.
“There is one thing Isabella doesn’t know.”
Everyone looked at him.
“What?”
Marco reached inside his coat.
He removed a small device.
An old recording unit.
“I never lost the original evidence.”
Victor stared.
“You had it?”
Marco nodded.
“I hid it before they captured me.”
Elena looked shocked.
“Where?”
Marco looked at Lily.
“Where Elena always planned.”
Hannah touched the locket.
“The locket?”
Marco smiled slightly.
“No.”
He looked toward Victor.
“The house.”
Victor understood.
The old Rossi-Moretti estate.
The place where everything began.
The place where the truth waited.
Isabella stepped forward.
“You think you can leave?”
Victor looked at her.
“Yes.”
She laughed.
“You’re surrounded.”
Victor looked around.
Then smiled.
A small smile.
The first one Hannah had seen.
Because for the first time…
Victor Moretti wasn’t fighting alone.
Marco stood beside him.
Elena stood beside him.
Hannah stood behind him.
And Lily was protected.
Not by power.
By family.
Isabella’s expression changed.
“You still don’t understand.”
Victor looked at her.
“No.”
A pause.
“You don’t understand.”
He walked toward the exit.
“We’re not running.”
Isabella frowned.
“Then what are you doing?”
Victor looked back.
“We’re ending this.”
The escape from the mansion was chaos.
Outside, cameras waited.
Police surrounded the property.
Reporters shouted questions.
But Victor didn’t hide.
He walked through the gates carrying Lily’s stroller.
Hannah beside him.
Elena and Marco behind them.
The world watched.
And for the first time…
They saw the truth.
Not a feared crime boss.
Not a monster.
A man protecting a child.
A family standing together.
The cameras captured everything.
Including Isabella.
Including Thomas.
Including the evidence that would finally expose them.
But the real battle was not finished.
Because beneath the old Rossi-Moretti estate…
The final proof was waiting.
The proof that would destroy Isabella’s entire empire.
And as they drove through the snow toward the abandoned family home…
Marco looked at Victor.
“There’s something else you need to know.”
Victor frowned.
“What?”
Marco looked toward Hannah.
Then Lily.
“Lily wasn’t the only child Elena protected.”
Everyone became silent.
Hannah looked confused.
“What do you mean?”
Marco looked out at the dark road.
“Before Elena disappeared…”
A pause.
“She discovered another secret.”
Victor stared.
“What secret?”
Marco whispered:
“Someone else survived.”
The car moved through the snow.
Toward the place where the truth had been buried.
May you like
And somewhere in the darkness…
Someone was waiting for them.
