Chapter 6 - The Lie Inside the Lie
Sophia couldn't breathe.
Luca said nothing.
Marco left.
The room was silent.
"You have five minutes," Luca said.
"For what?"
"To tell me the truth."
She stared at him.
"I did."
"About everything?"
"Yes."
"Then why is there video of you?"
"I don't know."
He looked away.
"That's not good enough."
She stood.
"I understand."
She walked toward the door.
Luca stopped her.
"Where are you going?"
"Leaving."
"You can't."
"Why?"
"Because Nathan is waiting."
"Then let him."
Luca stared.
"You think I'm going to hand you over?"
"No."
She turned.
"I think you're going to let me go."
"Not happening."
She walked closer.
"Why?"
His answer was immediate.
"Because I love you."
Silence.
Sophia stopped breathing.
He looked almost angry with himself.
"I wasn't supposed to."
She whispered,
"This was fake."
"Not anymore."
She kissed him.
It was brief.
Desperate.
Real.
Then the office door opened.
Ethan.
"Sorry."
They stepped apart.
He held up a computer.
"I found something."
He showed them the footage.
It had been fabricated.
Marco had used deepfake technology.
Sophia was innocent.
Luca stared at the screen.
Then at her.
"I'm sorry."
She nodded.
"You're forgiven."
He smiled faintly.
"That easy?"
"No."
She stepped closer.
"You owe me."
"Name it."
"One real date."
He smiled.
"Done."
Ethan interrupted.
"We have another problem."
"What?"
"Marco isn't working for Nathan."
Luca frowned.
"Then who?"
Ethan showed another file.
The true mastermind.
Rafael Bellini.
Marco's father.
Luca's late father's oldest friend.
A man everyone believed had died twenty years earlier.
Sophia stared.
"He built the entire network."
Luca nodded.
"And he wants the company."
"Why?"
"Because my father took it from him."
They found Rafael's location.
A private island.
They went there with federal agents.
The confrontation was unlike anything Luca had expected.
Rafael was old.
Calm.
Almost gentle.
"You look like your father."
Luca raised his weapon.
"You killed him."
"No."
"I don't believe you."
"Your father died protecting you."
Luca froze.
Rafael explained.
His father had discovered the trafficking network.
He tried to expose it.
Rafael stopped him.
But Luca's father managed to save evidence.
He hid it inside a trust.
A trust now controlled by Luca.
The company had never been the real prize.
The evidence was.
Sophia's work had accidentally uncovered the final piece.
Rafael wanted it.
"Why did you hire Sophia?"
Rafael smiled.
"I didn't."
Luca looked at Sophia.
"Who did?"
May you like
Rafael's expression changed.
"Your father."
