Chapter 6 - The Locked Room Beneath Vincent's Childhood HomeThe Moretti family house had been empty for years.
Vincent hated returning.
Memories lived in every hallway.
His father's voice.
His mother's silence.
The locked basement.
The smell of cigar smoke.
Charlotte walked beside him holding the old recorder.
“Did you live here?”
“Yes.”
“Were you happy?”
Vincent thought about it.
“Sometimes.”
“Was your father nice?”
“No.”
Charlotte nodded.
“Neither was mine.”
The lock on the basement had never been changed.
Vincent opened it.
Inside was the room he'd avoided for twenty-five years.
Files covered the walls.
Photographs.
Names.
Dates.
And a symbol.
Orpheus.
Charlotte's eyes widened.
“This is it.”
Vincent found a folder.
Evelyn Vale.
Another.
Christopher Vale.
Another.
Dominic Romano.
And finally:
Charlotte Hayes.
He opened it.
The first page had a photograph of a newborn.
The second had a DNA report.
The third had an order signed by Vincent's father.
Child to be terminated if archive access is confirmed.
Vincent's hands shook.
“My father ordered your death.”
Charlotte stared at him.
“But Dominic saved me.”
Vincent nodded.
Then they heard a sound.
A gun cocking.
Vincent turned.
Arthur Bell stood in the doorway.
He had Evelyn beside him.
She was alive.
Bell smiled.
“Hello, Vincent.”
Vincent raised his gun.
Bell shook his head.
“You know you can't shoot me.”
“Watch me.”
“You still don't understand.”
Bell pointed at Charlotte.
“Your father was trying to kill her because she could expose Orpheus.”
“Why did Dominic trust you?”
“He didn't.”
Bell smiled.
“That was the point.”
Vincent frowned.
“What?”
“I told Dominic I wanted to help him dismantle Orpheus.”
“Then you betrayed him.”
“No.”
Bell's voice softened.
“Dominic betrayed me first.”
The truth emerged slowly.
Bell had once been part of Orpheus.
But he wanted power.
Dominic wanted freedom.
Christopher wanted justice.
Vincent's father wanted control.
Evelyn wanted survival.
Everyone had a different goal.
The result was twelve years of lies.
Bell admitted one thing.
Dominic's death was staged.
His body had been switched.
The funeral was a performance.
Vincent stared.
“Then where is Dominic?”
Bell smiled.
“You really still think he's dead?”
Charlotte's heart stopped.
“Daddy?”
Bell looked at her.
“Not your father.”
“But Dominic?”
Bell nodded.
“He's alive.”
Vincent lowered his gun.
“Where?”
Bell held up a phone.
A live video appeared.
Dominic sat in a chair.
Older.
Bruised.
Alive.
Charlotte screamed.
“DAD!”
Dominic looked toward the camera.
His eyes filled with tears.
“Charlie.”
Vincent froze.
He heard Dominic use the nickname only once.
Years earlier.
When they thought the baby had died.
Charlotte pressed her hands against the screen.
“Why did you leave me?”
Dominic's voice broke.
“To keep you alive.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Bell would have found you.”
Bell smiled.
“Very touching.”
Dominic looked at him.
“You lost.”
Bell's face hardened.
“You don't know that.”
Dominic looked at Vincent.
“Take Charlotte.”
Vincent moved.
Bell raised his gun.
Before he could fire, Evelyn attacked him.
Marcus and Vincent's guards stormed the room.
Bell was taken down.
Vincent grabbed the phone.
“Where is he?”
Dominic gave him an address.
“Old Roman Harbor.”
Vincent froze.
Nobody used that place anymore.
“Go.”
The call ended.
Vincent raced there.
They found Dominic chained inside an abandoned warehouse.
Charlotte ran first.
Dominic caught her.
She cried into his chest.
“Dad.”
He held her.
“I've wanted to hear that for twelve years.”
Vincent stood back.
He had seen Dominic fight.
He had seen Dominic bleed.
He had seen Dominic kill.
But he had never seen him cry.
Now he did.
Dominic kissed Charlotte's hair.
“I’m sorry.”
She shook her head.
“Mom said you love me.”
“I do.”
“Then don't leave again.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
“I won't.”
Then Vincent noticed the wound in Dominic's side.
“Bell did that?”
Dominic shook his head.
“No.”
“Who?”
Dominic looked at him.
“My own people.”
Vincent's expression changed.
“Who?”
Dominic whispered one name.
“Anthony Mercer.”
The lawyer.
The man everyone had trusted.
The man who had disappeared from the funeral.
But then Dominic added:
“Mercer isn't the head.”
Vincent frowned.
“Who is?”
Dominic looked at Charlotte.
May you like
Then at Vincent.
“Your mother.”
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