Chapter 8 - The Real Mastermind Was Enzo’s Uncle, and He Had Been Using My Family to Control the Marchetti Empire From the ShadowsEnzo's uncle, Paolo.
Everyone believed he was dead.
He had disappeared twelve years earlier.
He wasn't.
He had been hiding under another name.
And he had built the entire operation.
Victor reported to him.
My mother reported to him.
Gabe had indirectly worked for him.
The pharmaceutical company.
The doctors.
The fake job advertisement.
Everything.
Paolo wanted Enzo removed.
Then me installed as trustee.
He would control both.
The perfect puppet.
We tracked him to an old monastery.
He was waiting.
“You finally understand.”
Enzo stood beside me.
“You destroyed my life.”
“I preserved your family.”
“You poisoned me.”
“I protected the business.”
“You used her.”
Paolo smiled.
“Exactly.”
I stepped forward.
“Why me?”
“Because you are the last person your mother trusted.”
I laughed.
“She never trusted me.”
“Exactly.”
He explained the genetic connection.
My mother had hidden my identity.
Paolo discovered it.
The only way to control the inheritance was to bring me into the Marchetti estate.
The job posting.
The photographs.
The manipulation.
Everything.
He had designed my life to intersect with Enzo.
Then he planned to kill us both after the vault opened.
I stared at him.
“You underestimated one thing.”
“What?”
“Children.”
Paolo frowned.
“What?”
My brother had told me everything.
The guards had recorded the confession.
The investigators were outside.
Paolo's face changed.
He tried to escape.
He failed.
The conspiracy collapsed.
But there was one final tragedy.
My mother had left a message.
She had died six months earlier.
The video showed her crying.
She had tried to stop Paolo.
She had failed.
She had helped because she believed she could protect me.
She apologized.
I watched it twice.
Then shut the screen.
Enzo touched my shoulder.
“You don't have to forgive her.”
“I know.”
“I just don't want you to become like them.”
May you like
I looked at him.
“I won't.”
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