Chapter 3 - Vivian Revealed the One Secret That Could Destroy the Moretti Bloodline
Nobody spoke after Vivian's confession.
The room seemed to shrink around us.
Alessandro stared at her as if he had forgotten how to breathe.
“My father was the Black Falcon?”
Vivian nodded.
“No one knew the entire truth.”
“My father founded this organization.”
“Yes.”
“Then why call him a traitor?”
“Because he betrayed his own people.”
Alessandro's voice became deadly.
“How?”
Vivian looked at me.
“Daniel discovered it.”
My husband.
The quiet man who had once burned pancakes and complained about grocery prices.
The man who sang badly while bathing Emma.
The man I had believed was an ordinary accountant.
He had known enough to threaten the most powerful people in Milan.
I couldn't make my mind accept it.
Vivian continued.
“Years ago, Lorenzo Moretti built the Black Falcon network. It wasn't originally criminal.”
Alessandro's brow furrowed.
“It was a protection organization.”
“To protect our territory.”
“To protect people who couldn't protect themselves.”
I whispered:
“And then?”
“He changed.”
Vivian explained that Lorenzo began selling information.
He betrayed allies.
He used judges.
He manipulated police.
He controlled ports through fear.
Then Daniel discovered financial records proving Lorenzo had ordered several disappearances.
One of those victims had been Matteo's father.
Another had been Don Ricci's brother.
The room's atmosphere changed again.
Ricci slowly stood.
“I always suspected.”
Alessandro looked at him.
“You knew?”
“Not enough.”
Vivian continued.
“Daniel planned to expose your father.”
“Why didn't he?”
“Because Lorenzo found out.”
“What happened?”
“Daniel was imprisoned.”
I felt my hand go cold.
“Where?”
Vivian looked down.
“An underground facility.”
I could barely speak.
“Did he escape?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He made a deal.”
“With whom?”
Vivian hesitated.
“With your mother.”
Alessandro's eyes sharpened.
“My mother died when I was nineteen.”
“No.”
Vivian shook her head.
“She disappeared.”
The revelation hit him as hard as it hit me.
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
“Who does?”
Vivian looked at me.
“Maybe Daniel.”
My heart stopped.
“Daniel is alive?”
“I believe so.”
“No.”
The word came out broken.
“If he were alive, why would he leave us?”
“He didn't leave you.”
Vivian's voice cracked.
“He was trying to keep you alive.”
Alessandro stepped back.
“Explain.”
“Someone was hunting everyone connected to the records.”
“Who?”
“Your father's old network.”
“My father's network is mine now.”
“Not all of it.”
She pointed toward the study.
“The betrayal came from inside.”
Alessandro's gaze hardened.
“The symbol.”
Vivian nodded.
“The Black Falcon mark was used by an inner circle.”
“Who were they?”
“Six people.”
She named them.
One judge.
One police commissioner.
Two bankers.
A shipping magnate.
And one member of the Moretti family.
Alessandro froze.
“Who?”
Vivian whispered:
“Your father's younger brother.”
Silence.
“Uncle Raffaele.”
Matteo swore.
Ricci sat heavily.
Raffaele Moretti had been dead for ten years.
Or so everyone believed.
Alessandro looked at me.
“Your husband knew.”
I shook my head.
“I knew nothing.”
“I believe you.”
That surprised me.
I looked at him.
“You do?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel wouldn't have given the rabbit to Emma if he didn't trust you.”
I swallowed.
“What is on the microfilm?”
Matteo placed it beneath a scanner.
Images appeared.
Bank transactions.
Shipping records.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
Then one image appeared that made Alessandro go completely still.
It was a photograph of Vivian.
Taken five years earlier.
Beside her stood a man.
My husband.
Daniel.
Alive.
Vivian's expression collapsed.
“I didn't know he was alive that long.”
I stared at the screen.
Daniel was older.
But alive.
My knees gave out.
Alessandro caught me.
“Lena.”
I pushed away from him.
“You knew.”
Vivian cried.
“I knew about the operation.”
“You knew my husband was alive.”
“I thought he died later.”
“You thought?”
“I lost contact.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“They would have killed Emma.”
My anger vanished.
Fear replaced it.
She wasn't lying about that.
A sound came from Emma.
She had awakened fully.
She stared at the photograph.
“Daddy.”
I turned.
“Yes?”
She walked toward the screen.
She pointed.
“That one.”
Everyone froze.
She recognized him.
“My God,” I whispered.
Emma touched the screen.
“Daddy was sad.”
Alessandro looked at her.
“When?”
She frowned.
“After the bad lady.”
Vivian shook.
“What's she talking about?”
Emma looked at her.
“You cried.”
Vivian's face crumpled.
“You remember?”
Emma nodded.
“You told Daddy to run.”
Vivian covered her mouth.
Alessandro looked at her.
“What did you tell him?”
Vivian whispered:
“The truth.”
“What truth?”
She looked at me.
“Daniel wasn't protecting you from the Moretti family.”
She took a breath.
“He was protecting you from your own sister.”
I stared.
“My sister?”
“I don't have a sister.”
Vivian's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes, you do.”
She looked at Emma.
“The woman Daniel called his greatest secret.”
Alessandro's phone suddenly rang.
He answered.
His expression changed after three seconds.
“What?”
He listened.
Then:
“Repeat that.”
His face hardened.
He hung up.
“What happened?”
“Someone breached the villa security.”
“Who?”
He looked toward the hall.
“Everyone's phone is being tracked.”
Matteo checked his device.
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“The breach came from inside the house.”
Alessandro looked at the twelve bosses.
Then at Vivian.
Then at me.
May you like
Someone had been listening.
And suddenly all the doors locked.
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