Chapter 11 - The Final Piece of the Puzzle Was Hidden Inside Claire's HandsOliver was taken to an underground medical facility outside Chicago.
Matteo had rebuilt the original research center.
We found it through old property records.
My mother knew the entrance.
Sebastian insisted on going first.
I followed.
Inside, everything looked untouched.
Old surgical rooms.
Medical charts.
Photographs.
Research equipment.
Then I saw myself.
A photograph of me at twenty-one.
Standing beside a patient.
My name was written beneath it.
LEAD NEURAL REHABILITATION SPECIALIST.
I stared.
“I was here.”
My mother nodded.
“Yes.”
“How did I forget?”
“They used experimental drugs.”
“To erase my memory?”
“Yes.”
“Why would you agree?”
“You thought it would protect Oliver.”
“I didn't have Oliver yet.”
“Exactly.”
I turned.
She continued.
“You discovered the treatment could be used on babies.”
“I reported it.”
“Yes.”
“To whom?”
“Sebastian's father.”
“What happened?”
“He promised to shut it down.”
“But he didn't.”
“No.”
“He betrayed us.”
“Yes.”
Sebastian stared at the photograph.
“And my paralysis?”
“An accident.”
“Not deliberate?”
“No.”
His father's biggest mistake had been trusting Matteo.
Matteo had ordered the bombing.
Sebastian's father had tried to stop it.
He failed.
Now we understood.
The true enemy wasn't the entire Lombardi family.
It was one man who had manipulated everyone.
Matteo.
We found Oliver in the laboratory.
He was awake.
A machine was attached to his arm.
Matteo stood beside him.
He was seventy-two.
Elegant.
Cold.
Calm.
He smiled.
“Claire.”
I stepped forward.
“Let him go.”
“Of course.”
He looked at Sebastian.
“You became everything I feared.”
Sebastian stared.
“You destroyed my family.”
“I refined it.”
“You killed my father.”
“He chose his fate.”
“You crippled me.”
“No.”
Matteo smiled.
“I made you necessary.”
Sebastian's face darkened.
“Why?”
“Because a Lombardi heir who could walk independently would never be controllable.”
I realized then what Matteo had wanted.
A permanent heir.
A permanent king.
A controlled king.
Sebastian had survived despite him.
Matteo looked at me.
“And you were the variable I never accounted for.”
“What variable?”
“Love.”
Silence.
He smiled.
“You made Sebastian care.”
I stared at Sebastian.
Matteo continued.
“That made him weak.”
Sebastian shook his head.
“No.”
He stepped forward.
“It made me human.”
Matteo laughed.
“You think humanity wins?”
Sebastian smiled.
“It already did.”
He turned to Gabriel.
“Now.”
The lights exploded.
Gunfire erupted.
Gabriel's men stormed the laboratory.
My mother freed Oliver.
I ripped the machine from his arm.
Sebastian reached Matteo.
The two men fought.
Matteo was older.
Sebastian was stronger.
But Matteo had spent decades preparing.
He pulled a knife.
Sebastian blocked it.
The blade sliced his arm.
I screamed.
Sebastian pushed Matteo backward.
The older man stumbled.
I saw the control panel.
It contained the archived research.
Everything.
Every experiment.
Every death.
Every payment.
I activated the data transfer.
Matteo saw it.
“No!”
“You lost.”
He lunged.
Sebastian grabbed him.
Police sirens sounded outside.
Matteo looked at Sebastian.
“You think prison ends this?”
Sebastian answered:
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Truth ends it.”
The files uploaded.
The world would know.
The Lombardi dynasty was over.
But before Matteo was taken away, he smiled.
“Claire.”
I turned.
“The treatment isn't finished.”
“What?”
He glanced at Sebastian.
“His recovery is temporary.”
Then they dragged him away.
I looked at Sebastian.
His legs trembled.
He smiled.
“I've got one more fight in me.”
I shook my head.
“You don't have to fight anymore.”
He took my hand.
“Maybe not.”
May you like
Then he looked at Oliver.
“But I have something worth living for.”
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