Chapter 3 - The Brother Who Was Supposed to Be DeadDominic had spent his entire life believing he was an only child.
His father had told him that his brother, Marco, died three days after birth.
A tragic illness.
No questions.
No photograph.
No grave.
Dominic had never questioned it.
Now there was a photograph.
Marco alive.
In Rose's arms.
The date was twenty-eight years earlier.
Chloe studied the photograph.
“Why would my mother be holding your brother?”
“I don't know.”
“Then find out.”
They returned to the Moretti estate.
Dominic unlocked a room no one entered.
His father's old study.
The room had remained untouched since his death.
He found birth records.
Hospital documents.
Insurance reports.
Then he found something impossible.
Marco's death certificate had been issued six days before he was born.
Dominic stared.
“What?”
Chloe stepped closer.
“That isn't possible.”
“No.”
“Someone fabricated his death before he was even born.”
Dominic's hands tightened.
His father had known.
Someone else had too.
Then Chloe found another file.
A child-placement agreement.
The name had been erased.
But one phrase remained.
Transfer to protected family.
Dominic looked at her.
“My brother was given away.”
“Why?”
“Maybe my father was protecting him.”
“From what?”
Dominic shook his head.
Then someone spoke behind them.
“From us.”
They turned.
An elderly woman stood in the doorway.
Maria Moretti.
Dominic's aunt.
“What do you mean?”
She sighed.
“Your father wanted Marco out.”
“Why?”
“Because Marco was not his son.”
Dominic froze.
“What?”
Maria looked at Chloe.
“Rose knew the truth.”
“What truth?”
She hesitated.
Then:
“Marco was the son of another man.”
Dominic stared.
His father had taken the child because of shame.
But whose son?
Maria wouldn't say.
She only gave them an address.
A nursing home.
They found an old woman named Evelyn.
She had worked for the Morettis.
She knew everything.
“Rose was trying to save Marco,” Evelyn said.
“From whom?” Dominic asked.
“Your father.”
“Why?”
“Because Marco's biological father was a federal informant.”
Dominic froze.
A rival.
A traitor.
Someone who had infiltrated the Moretti organization.
His father wanted the bloodline erased.
Rose protected the baby.
She gave him to another family.
Then she continued working.
Why?
Because she was trying to dismantle the operation from inside.
Chloe cried.
“So my mother helped your brother escape.”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
Evelyn looked at Dominic.
“He's alive.”
Dominic's heart stopped.
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Then she smiled.
“But your mother does.”
Chloe went pale.
“My mother is dead.”
Evelyn's expression changed.
“No.”
The room went silent.
“What?”
“Rose Bennett isn't dead.”
Chloe nearly collapsed.
“You saw her?”
“Years ago.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
Dominic stood.
“Where?”
Evelyn reached into her pocket.
She pulled out a photograph.
Rose.
Older.
Alive.
Standing outside a house in Maine.
On the back:
She is waiting for Chloe.
Chloe couldn't breathe.
Her mother was alive.
The grave.
The funeral.
The hospital.
All of it.
A lie.
Dominic looked at Chloe.
“We're going.”
She nodded.
But before they could leave, Evelyn grabbed Dominic's arm.
“Don't trust your uncle.”
“Which one?”
“Daniel.”
Dominic froze.
Daniel Moretti was his father's younger brother.
He had raised Dominic after his parents died.
He had been the closest thing to a second father.
“You're saying Daniel knows?”
“He knows everything.”
Then the old woman whispered:
“He also ordered the hit at the restaurant.”
Dominic's expression went cold.
Chloe grabbed his arm.
“Dominic.”
He looked at her.
“My uncle tried to kill you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you wrote that note.”
She frowned.
“What does my note have to do with him?”
“Everything.”
He took the black notebook.
“There is one thing in here I haven't told you.”
“What?”
“Project Nightfall wasn't about my brother.”
He opened the final page.
At the bottom was a name.
CHLOE BENNETT.
Her heart stopped.
“What?”
Dominic looked at her.
“Your mother wasn't protecting my brother.”
May you like
He turned the page.
“She was protecting you.”
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