Chapter 4 - The Father Everyone Thought Was Dead Came Back With A Shocking Truth
We reached the old church before dawn.
Dominic ordered his men to surround the building.
I walked inside beside him.
The church was empty.
Broken windows.
Dusty pews.
An old altar.
Then a voice came from the darkness.
"Lydia."
I stopped.
My heart shattered.
"Dad?"
A man stepped into the light.
Older.
Thinner.
A scar across his cheek.
But it was him.
My father.
I ran to him.
He caught me.
For one moment, everything else disappeared.
Then I punched his chest.
"You left me."
He closed his eyes.
"I know."
"You let them threaten me."
"I was trying to keep you alive."
"You made me pay a debt that didn't exist."
"I had no choice."
I stepped away.
"You always had a choice."
Dominic watched quietly.
My father looked at him.
"You're Dominic Russo."
"Yes."
My father laughed softly.
"Your father would hate that you're standing beside my daughter."
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"Then he and I have something in common."
My father looked between us.
"He used to say family was the one thing that could destroy a man."
Dominic answered:
"He was right."
My father shook his head.
"No. He was wrong."
He looked at me.
"Family is the one thing that can make a man change."
I started crying.
"Why did you disappear?"
"Because I discovered the Moretti plan."
He explained everything.
Years earlier, three families had secretly worked together.
The Russo family controlled legitimate businesses.
The Castellanos controlled street operations.
The Morettis controlled information.
But the Morettis wanted everything.
They manipulated disputes.
Created fake debts.
Leaked false information.
Turned allies against each other.
My father found evidence.
When he tried to expose them, they threatened me.
So he disappeared.
He had been hiding in different cities for six months.
Watching.
Waiting.
Trying to find enough proof to destroy the network permanently.
"The poison was supposed to be blamed on the Castellanos," he said.
"Why Dominic?"
"Because you're about to inherit everything."
Dominic looked at him.
"What does that have to do with Lydia?"
My father pulled a photograph from his coat.
It showed Dominic's father, Salvatore Russo.
Beside him stood my father.
And between them was a little girl.
Me.
Dominic stared.
"She knew your family before you did."
My father nodded.
"Salvatore protected Lydia after her mother died."
I looked at him.
"My mother?"
"Your mother was Moretti."
I couldn't breathe.
Leo stepped forward.
"My mother?"
My father looked at him.
"No."
Then he showed us another photograph.
A woman beside my father.
Her name was Elena Bellamy.
She was my mother.
She had been a Moretti informant.
Leo's expression changed.
"So Lydia is not—"
"No."
My father shook his head.
"She is not your sister."
Leo exhaled.
He closed his eyes.
Everything became clear.
The Morettis had spread a false rumor years earlier that my mother had been related to their family.
It had been another piece of manipulation.
My father had spent years protecting me from it.
But he had made one mistake.
He never told me enough.
The Morettis eventually discovered he had hidden the master ledger.
They threatened me with the fake debt.
They knew I would work endlessly to repay it.
And they knew I would eventually walk into the Onyx Room.
Because the Onyx Room belonged to a company secretly controlled by them.
The poisoned drink wasn't random.
It was a test.
They wanted to know whether Dominic trusted his instincts.
They didn't expect me to interfere.
My father looked at him.
"She saved you."
Dominic looked at me.
"I know."
"Now they will kill her."
Dominic's jaw tightened.
"No."
My father frowned.
"No?"
"No one touches her."
Something in his voice changed.
My father smiled sadly.
"That's what I was afraid of."
Dominic looked confused.
"Why?"
"Because once a Russo loves someone, the family becomes vulnerable."
I stared at Dominic.
He said nothing.
Then he looked at me.
"You should stay away from me."
My chest tightened.
"What?"
"They'll use you against me."
"I've already been used."
"Exactly."
He stepped closer.
"I can't lose you."
My heart stopped.
"You don't know me."
"I know enough."
"Dominic—"
He touched my cheek.
Then stopped.
"That's the problem."
Gunfire erupted outside.
Leo shouted:
"They found us!"
We ran.
The church doors exploded inward.
Men stormed the sanctuary.
Dominic pulled me behind a stone pillar.
My father reached for a weapon.
Leo fired toward the doorway.
The fight lasted less than two minutes.
When it ended, my father was wounded.
Dominic carried him outside.
The convoy sped toward a private hospital.
But as the doors closed behind us, my father grabbed my wrist.
"There's something else."
"What?"
"The person who ordered the poison isn't who you think."
"Who?"
He looked at Dominic.
May you like
Then whispered:
"Someone inside his family."
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