Chapter 10 - A Name Buried in the Russo Archives
The stranger introduced himself as Adrian.
Adrian Mercer Russo.
Son of Isabella Russo and Charles Mercer.
Dominic stared at his mother’s hidden child.
Adrian explained the rest.
Before Isabella disappeared, Charles had manipulated her during a separation from Salvatore.
Adrian was born secretly.
Charles took him.
Raised him.
Taught him that the Russos had stolen everything.
“And now?” Dominic asked.
“Now I know he lied.”
Adrian had been the one sending some of the warnings.
Not the threat against Clara’s baby.
The warnings.
He had tried to force them toward Archive 17.
“Why not simply tell us?”
“Because Charles monitors everything.”
“Where is he?”
Adrian looked at Clara.
“Preparing to leave the country.”
“With what?”
“Enough evidence to destroy both families.”
Clara shook her head.
“Let him.”
Dominic looked at her.
She meant it.
No empire mattered more than ending the cycle.
Adrian gave them the location.
An abandoned private airfield.
They contacted federal investigators using the financial evidence.
Charles Mercer was arrested before his plane left the ground.
Bradley Sr. emerged from a hangar injured but alive.
Victoria was found locked inside an office.
For a moment, it seemed finished.
Then Charles saw Clara.
“My daughter.”
Clara looked at him through the police line.
“No.”
His expression hardened.
“You carry my blood.”
“I carry my mother's courage and Daniel Higgins's name.”
Charles smiled.
“And Russo’s child.”
Dominic stepped forward.
Clara stopped him.
She faced Charles herself.
“You don't get that child either.”
Federal agents took Charles away.
Anthony’s testimony, the Mercer ledger, Archive 17, and Bradley’s evidence created a case that could not be buried.
Clara should have felt relief.
Instead, she felt exhausted.
Dominic took her home.
Not the Russo estate.
Her small apartment.
He carried her suitcase upstairs and placed it inside.
Then he stopped at the door.
“You're leaving?”
“If you want me to.”
Clara studied him.
The old Dominic would have decided what was safest.
This one waited.
“Yes.”
Pain crossed his face.
But he nodded.
“All right.”
She almost called him back.
Almost.
Then she remembered the study door.
Healing could not be rushed simply because danger had passed.
Dominic left.
The next morning, Clara attended her first ultrasound.
Elaine moved the wand gently.
Then smiled.
“There.”
A heartbeat filled the room.
Clara cried.
She wished Dominic were there.
That angered her.
Then Elaine frowned.
“What?”
“Nothing. Let me adjust.”
“What is it?”
Elaine stared at the monitor.
Then laughed.
“Clara.”
“What?”
“There are two.”
Clara stopped breathing.
“Two what?”
Elaine turned the monitor.
“Babies.”
Twins.
Clara laughed and cried at once.
Then the clinic door opened.
Dominic stood there holding flowers.
He looked from Clara to the monitor.
Elaine smiled.
“Congratulations.”
Dominic stared at the screen.
Clara watched comprehension hit him.
One heartbeat.
Then another.
The flowers slipped from his hand.
But before either could speak, Elaine's computer chimed.
A new medical record had appeared under Clara’s name.
It had been uploaded minutes earlier.
May you like
The document was dated twenty-six years ago.
And the signature at the bottom belonged to Isabella Russo.
