Chapter 5 - Raffaele Revealed That My Blindness Had Been Part of His Plan From the Beginning, and He Was More Terrifying Than Anyone I Had Ever FoughtRaffaele's footsteps were slow.
Measured.
He didn't carry a weapon.
He didn't need one.
He reached the bottom of the stairs.
“Alessandro.”
His voice sounded calm.
Almost kind.
I hated it.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because death is useful.”
My father laughed weakly.
“You always loved theater.”
Raffaele ignored him.
He addressed me.
“You've inherited your father's stubbornness.”
I stood.
“And you inherited his cruelty.”
He smiled.
“You don't know what cruelty is.”
“Then tell me.”
He stepped closer.
“Your father wanted to dismantle the empire.”
“Yes.”
“He believed law would save you.”
“And?”
“It failed.”
“Because you corrupted it.”
“Yes.”
“So you tried to control me.”
“Yes.”
“My blindness.”
“Yes.”
I froze.
“You arranged the bombing?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I allowed it.”
The difference was insignificant.
He had known.
He had let it happen.
“Why?”
“To prove you were weak.”
I laughed.
“You failed.”
“Did I?”
He looked toward my face.
“You stopped trusting your eyes.”
“You began listening.”
“You became more dangerous.”
I said nothing.
He smiled.
“You became exactly what I feared.”
“Then why continue?”
“Because you have the key.”
I touched my pocket.
He knew.
“I'll never give it to you.”
“You will.”
“Why?”
He said:
“Because I have your daughter.”
My chest tightened.
I forced myself not to react.
“Where?”
“Alive.”
“How long?”
“As long as you cooperate.”
My father whispered:
“Don't.”
Raffaele turned toward him.
“You have failed enough.”
He raised a hand.
A gunshot.
My father collapsed.
“Dad!”
I reached for him.
He was alive.
Barely.
Raffaele smiled.
“Now you understand.”
I wanted to kill him.
But I remembered Annie.
I stayed calm.
“What do you want?”
“The red key.”
“And Helix?”
“The archive.”
“What happens after?”
“I erase the evidence.”
“Then what?”
“I rebuild.”
“Using my empire?”
“Using yours.”
I laughed.
“You think I'll give you anything.”
“You already did.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Your trust.”
He explained.
For years, he had manipulated my family.
He had controlled lawyers.
Doctors.
Security.
Even marriages.
He had engineered the succession conflict.
Julian had been his chosen heir.
Vittorio his weapon.
Bianca his political connection.
And my blindness?
A way to isolate me.
He wanted me alone.
Instead, I had Annie.
That ruined everything.
I asked:
“Why Annie?”
“Because she makes you predictable.”
I smiled.
“You misunderstand.”
“What?”
“Annie makes me dangerous.”
The lights went out.
I moved.
Raffaele's breathing shifted.
Three feet away.
I struck.
He fell.
My father shouted:
“Go!”
I grabbed him.
Clara grabbed my arm.
We escaped through a hidden passage.
Outside, rain hammered the road.
I got my father into the vehicle.
He was bleeding badly.
“Hospital.”
“No.”
“What?”
“Not hospital.”
“Why?”
“They own it.”
He was right.
Every major hospital was compromised.
We went to an old private clinic.
The doctor treated him.
Meanwhile, Clara explained something else.
Raffaele had moved Annie.
Not to a building.
To a ship.
An old cargo vessel.
The red key could open its secure storage system.
We had a location.
The harbor.
I made one decision.
“We go tonight.”
Clara stopped me.
“You'll be walking into a trap.”
“Yes.”
“You could die.”
“Yes.”
I touched my cane.
“I have already lost three years.”
“I won't lose another minute.”
She smiled.
“That sounds like Father.”
My father whispered:
“Then survive.”
May you like
I nodded.
I would.
Related Stories
