Chapter 6 - The Man Beside Octavio Was the Traitor—And He Had Been Watching Me for Years
The room changed after my mother's warning.
Octavio didn't ask another question.
He simply looked at Matteo.
Matteo looked back.
No fear.
No surprise.
That was what frightened me.
“You think it's me?” Matteo asked.
Octavio's voice was calm.
“I think someone is compromised.”
“Boss—”
“I didn't say you.”
“You looked at me.”
“I look at everyone.”
Matteo slowly removed his weapon and placed it on the table.
“If you want to search me, search me.”
Octavio nodded.
They did.
Nothing.
No hidden phone.
No secret documents.
Nothing.
Matteo remained still.
Then my mother whispered:
“It isn't him.”
Everyone stopped.
“Then who?”
She looked toward Rosa.
The housekeeper.
Rosa's face drained of color.
My stomach dropped.
“No.”
Octavio moved toward her.
“Rosa?”
She began crying.
“I had no choice.”
Octavio stared.
“How long?”
“Twenty years.”
“Who threatened you?”
“Your father.”
Silence.
“He knew Isabella was alive?”
“Yes.”
“And Nomi?”
“Yes.”
My mother closed her eyes.
Rosa continued.
“He ordered me to report every time Nomi visited the mansion.”
I looked at her.
“For 3 years?”
She nodded.
“Why?”
“Because your grandfather believed you might carry Victor's claim to the empire.”
I almost laughed.
“My claim?”
“You were the legal heir.”
Octavio froze.
“To what?”
“The entire Ki organization.”
Silence.
My brain refused to process it.
My mother explained.
“Victor was the firstborn. When he died, everything should have passed to his child.”
Octavio looked at me.
“That would be you.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
He stepped toward me.
“Nomi.”
“No.”
“I don't want it.”
“You don't have to.”
“But if it's mine—”
“It doesn't matter.”
He took my hands.
“I don't care about an empire.”
“Then why are you still here?”
His eyes held mine.
“Because you're here.”
Something inside me softened.
Rosa gave us the remaining truth.
Rafael Moretti had orchestrated the attacks.
But he had one objective.
The family vault.
He wanted the evidence erased.
And he needed me to open it.
Because only a descendant of Victor could unlock the final chamber.
I stared at the old key.
“Then use it.”
Octavio frowned.
“You don't have to.”
“I do.”
“Why?”
“Because if my father died for this secret, I want to know why.”
We returned to the mansion that night.
The vault was beneath the oldest wing.
Hidden behind a painting.
The key fit.
The door opened.
Inside were boxes.
Ledgers.
Photographs.
Hard drives.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
One folder was labeled:
VICTOR KI.
My hands shook.
Inside was a photograph of my father.
Young.
Alive.
Smiling.
He looked like Octavio.
Like me.
I sat down.
For the first time, I saw the man who had been stolen from my life.
“He knew you existed,” my mother whispered.
“What?”
She handed me a letter.
Written years ago.
For me.
My father had known my mother was pregnant.
He had planned to escape with us.
But he never made it.
The final line read:
If my daughter ever finds this, tell her I loved her before I ever knew her face.
I cried.
Octavio sat beside me.
He didn't speak.
He just held me.
Then the alarm screamed.
Matteo ran in.
“Boss!”
“What?”
“There's a convoy approaching.”
“How many?”
“Too many.”
Octavio stood.
“Moretti.”
The power went out.
The vault lights died.
Gunfire erupted above us.
Octavio pulled me behind him.
He spoke into his phone.
“Seal the east wing.”
A voice answered.
Nothing.
He tried again.
No response.
His face changed.
“Someone disabled the internal network.”
Matteo looked at him.
“There's another breach.”
“No.”
A voice came over the mansion's speaker.
Rafael.
“You finally found the vault.”
Octavio raised his weapon toward the ceiling.
“You're not taking her.”
Rafael laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
“What?”
“The empire doesn't belong to you.”
A pause.
“It belongs to her.”
The entire room went silent.
Rafael continued.
“And tonight, I'm coming to collect my queen.”
I looked at Octavio.
“Queen?”
He pulled me closer.
“You're not his.”
“No.”
His voice became steel.
“She never will be.”
Then someone fired through the vault door.
The metal exploded inward.
Octavio shoved me behind a pillar.
May you like
And the last thing I heard before darkness swallowed the room was his voice:
“Nomi, run.”
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