Chapter 5 - The Night Arthur Stopped Trusting EveryoneArthur dismissed every member of his security team.
Except Clara.
Except Rocco, a young guard who had once worked for Thomas.
They moved the children to a safe house.
Sophia.
Arthur's young niece.
And Clara's mother.
Everyone connected to the truth was placed under protection.
Enzo disappeared.
Matteo disappeared.
Bianca disappeared.
For two days Arthur waited.
Nothing.
Too quiet.
Then a message arrived.
A photograph.
Clara tied to a chair.
Arthur's heart stopped.
The message:
MIDNIGHT. WAREHOUSE 19. COME ALONE.
He didn't tell anyone.
Clara was actually in the safe house.
Arthur knew the photograph was staged.
But he had to see who showed up.
He went.
At midnight, Matteo entered.
“You really came.”
Arthur aimed his gun.
“You killed Thomas.”
“I gave the order.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew.”
“Knew what?”
“Who your father was.”
Arthur's face hardened.
“My father.”
Matteo laughed.
“He never died.”
“Why hide him?”
“Because he wanted you to become useful.”
Arthur stared.
“You used me.”
“We all did.”
Matteo stepped closer.
“You inherited the family because you were obedient.”
Arthur said nothing.
“Then you started questioning.”
“And Thomas?”
“He encouraged you.”
“So you killed him.”
“Yes.”
“What about my daughter?”
“Your father wanted her controlled.”
“And Sophia?”
“An insurance policy.”
Arthur's eyes narrowed.
“You destroyed my life.”
Matteo shook his head.
“No.”
He smiled.
“Your father did.”
A voice came from the shadows.
“Enough.”
Arthur turned.
His father stepped into the light.
Older.
Gray.
Alive.
Arthur could not speak.
The man smiled.
“You've become stronger than I expected.”
Arthur stared.
“Why?”
“Because you were always meant to inherit.”
“To inherit what?”
“Everything.”
The empire.
The money.
The political network.
The criminal organization.
Arthur shook his head.
“I don't want it.”
His father laughed.
“You don't get to choose.”
Arthur raised his gun.
“I just did.”
His father smiled.
“Then shoot.”
Arthur couldn't.
That was the difference between them.
His father knew it.
Then Clara appeared behind Arthur.
She had escaped the safe house.
Her presence changed everything.
Arthur's father looked at her.
“You.”
Clara raised a gun.
“You killed my brother.”
Arthur's father smiled.
“No.”
He pointed at Matteo.
“He did.”
Matteo froze.
“What?”
The older man turned.
“You were always expendable.”
A gunshot.
Matteo fell.
Arthur's father walked toward the exit.
Arthur shouted:
“Why?”
The man stopped.
“Because Thomas found out the truth.”
“What truth?”
“That you weren't my son.”
Arthur froze.
Clara stared.
The man smiled.
“You are Thomas Bennett's son.”
Silence.
Arthur's entire world shattered.
Clara looked at him.
The same blood.
The same father.
They were siblings.
Arthur was not a Moretti.
He was Thomas's half-brother.
Their father had hidden it to control the empire.
Clara whispered:
“My brother's brother.”
Arthur stared at her.
“I'm sorry.”
She cried.
“For what?”
“For believing your brother was a traitor.”
Clara shook her head.
“You didn't know.”
Arthur's father disappeared into the darkness.
Rocco arrived with federal agents.
The warehouse was surrounded.
But the old man escaped.
Arthur stood beside Clara.
The empire had fallen apart.
Their family had been rewritten.
And yet there was one thing Arthur knew.
May you like
He had a sister.
For the first time in his life, he wasn't alone.
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