Chapter 3 - The Name of Mia’s Father Changed Everything I Thought I Knew
I had spent years believing my sister died.
Now I was learning that she had been alive.
That alone would have been enough to destroy my understanding of the past.
But there was another secret.
Mia's father.
Daniel refused to say more.
I ordered him into my private study.
He resisted.
“Luca, you need to hear this from Isabella.”
“Then call her.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because she's already inside your walls.”
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
He looked exhausted.
“She has been watching you for months.”
“Where is she?”
“Closer than you think.”
Then he walked out.
I let him.
For now.
I had learned enough to know that forcing him would produce nothing.
Instead, I searched the old files.
There was one name attached to Elijah Vance.
Adrian Kane.
Former Moretti accountant.
Missing.
Presumed dead.
Mia's birth certificate showed no father.
That was deliberate.
I confronted Elena.
She cried before I even asked.
“His name is Adrian.”
“Adrian what?”
“Kane.”
My chest tightened.
I knew that name.
Adrian Kane had been my father's financial strategist.
Brilliant.
Cold.
He had disappeared after accusing Isabella of stealing from the family.
I had believed him to be a traitor.
“Is Adrian alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Is he Mia's father?”
“Yes.”
Mia was sitting on the floor nearby.
She was playing with wooden blocks.
I kept my voice low.
“Why hide that from me?”
“Because Adrian wasn't what everyone thought.”
“What was he?”
Elena looked at me.
“A witness.”
“To what?”
“Your father's murder.”
Silence.
“My father died of a heart attack.”
“That was the story.”
“What really happened?”
“He was poisoned.”
I stared.
Elena told me my father discovered someone inside the organization had been stealing money and planning to turn the Moretti family over to federal investigators.
He confronted the person.
The next day, he was dead.
Adrian witnessed the confrontation.
Isabella helped him escape.
But before they could disappear together, someone found them.
Isabella survived.
Adrian vanished.
Elena took Mia and disappeared.
“The child became leverage,” Elena whispered.
“Against who?”
“Everyone.”
I sat down.
“Why did Vincent and Daniel come near you?”
“Because they wanted Adrian's location.”
“And the bruises?”
She lowered her head.
“They weren't trying to kill me.”
“They were intimidating you.”
“Yes.”
I stared at the table.
I had trusted those men.
I had let them stand beside me while they terrorized a woman under my roof.
Something inside me hardened.
“I'm sorry.”
Elena looked at me.
“You didn't do it.”
“But I allowed it.”
“You didn't know.”
“Now I do.”
Mia climbed into my lap.
She held up a block.
“Castle.”
I looked at her.
“Who lives in the castle?”
“Mommy.”
“And you?”
“Me.”
“And me?”
She thought.
“Kitchen.”
I laughed for the first time in two days.
Elena smiled.
Then the lights went out.
This time, the entire estate went dark.
Gunfire erupted outside.
I grabbed Mia.
“Down!”
Elena dropped beside me.
Marco's men returned fire.
We moved into the hidden safe room.
But before the steel door closed, I saw a figure standing in the hallway.
Vincent.
He was holding a gun.
His face was expressionless.
“Elena!” he shouted.
She flinched.
Mia cried.
I raised my weapon.
“Vincent.”
He looked at me.
“You should never have brought her here.”
“Who?”
“Isabella.”
My heart stopped.
“She is here?”
Vincent's gaze moved toward the wall behind us.
“She never left.”
The safe room door slammed shut.
Then the emergency monitor flickered on.
A woman's face appeared.
Isabella.
Older.
Changed.
Alive.
“Hello, little brother.”
I couldn't breathe.
Mia stared at the screen.
“Who's that?”
Isabella smiled.
“Your aunt.”
Elena covered Mia's ears.
I stepped toward the monitor.
“Why?”
“Because I spent fifteen years trying to keep you alive.”
“You could have told me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because someone inside this family was killing anyone who knew the truth.”
“Who?”
She smiled sadly.
“Vincent.”
My jaw clenched.
“He was working for you?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because he was working for the man who ordered our father's death.”
I felt the room tilt.
“Who?”
The screen went black.
A gunshot sounded outside.
Then another.
Marco shouted.
“Boss!”
I opened the safe-room door.
Vincent was gone.
And lying in the hallway was Daniel.
Bleeding.
He looked at me.
“Luca…”
I ran to him.
“Who shot you?”
He whispered one word.
May you like
“Vincent.”
Then he blacked out.
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