Chapter 4 - THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEADAlessandro's father was named Matteo Moretti.
He had died in a car explosion twelve years earlier.
Alessandro had identified the body.
Or believed he had.
Now one sentence had reopened a grave.
“Father?”
Sophia nodded.
“That's what Victoria called him.”
Alessandro stared at her.
“My father is dead.”
“I know.”
“Then who is he?”
“I don't know.”
Alessandro walked away.
For the first time in years, he felt something he hated.
Uncertainty.
He returned to the family archives.
Old photographs.
Old business records.
Old death certificates.
Everything was there.
But one document was missing.
The autopsy report.
Marco found it after midnight.
The report contained a strange detail.
The body had suffered severe burns.
Identification had been based primarily on dental records.
Alessandro remembered his father's teeth.
A gold crown.
But the report said the crown was missing.
That meant the body had never been definitively identified.
Someone had wanted everyone to believe Matteo was dead.
The next morning, Alessandro received a phone call.
A distorted voice spoke.
“You're asking the wrong questions.”
Alessandro remained calm.
“Who are you?”
“You already know.”
“My father?”
Silence.
Then:
“Look beneath the old chapel.”
The call ended.
Alessandro and Marco drove to the family estate.
Beneath the chapel, they found a hidden room.
Inside were photographs.
Documents.
Passports.
And one recent photograph.
A man standing in Sicily.
Older.
Gray hair.
But unmistakable.
Matteo Moretti.
Alessandro's father was alive.
And Victoria had known.
There was also a letter.
Alessandro,
If you are reading this, Victoria has failed.
She was never the mastermind.
She was afraid of me.
I built the organization you inherited.
I never wanted you to leave it.
Alessandro's hands tightened around the paper.
His father had orchestrated everything.
The poisoning.
The fake evidence.
The manipulation.
Victoria had been only an accomplice.
The ultimate goal wasn't Clara.
It was Alessandro.
Matteo wanted his son back.
He wanted the empire restored to its old form.
And Clara was the obstacle.
Then another letter appeared.
Bring Clara to Sicily.
Alessandro burned it.
“No.”
Marco looked at him.
“What now?”
Alessandro answered:
“We end this.”
But he didn't know Matteo had already made his next move.
That evening, Clara disappeared.
Her hospital room was empty.
Security cameras had been shut down for exactly four minutes.
Four minutes.
Long enough for someone to enter.
Long enough to take her.
Long enough to vanish.
Alessandro's phone rang.
His father's voice finally spoke.
“You should have listened.”
Alessandro's blood ran cold.
“Where is Clara?”
“She is safe.”
“If you hurt her—”
“You will come to Sicily.”
Alessandro clenched his fists.
“You think I'm afraid of you?”
Matteo laughed.
“You should be.”
The call ended.
Alessandro looked at Marco.
“Find Nadia.”
“Why?”
“She saw something nobody else saw.”
They found her two hours later.
Nadia was shaking.
“I know where they took her.”
Alessandro stared.
“How?”
“I saw the car.”
“What car?”
“A black Mercedes.”
She described the license plate.
Marco immediately checked the database.
The vehicle belonged to a company registered in Sicily.
Alessandro grabbed his coat.
“Book the flight.”
He had spent years believing his father was dead.
May you like
Now he was going to find him.
And this time, he wasn't going to let anyone come between him and the truth.
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