Chapter 1 - Did You Bury the Right Man?
Luca Moretti was raising his champagne glass to celebrate his engagement when the front doors of his mansion suddenly opened.
An elderly man wearing a black coat walked inside.
His silver hair was messy. His face was pale. One hand rested on an old wooden cane, and the other held a small leather bag.
The security guards immediately rushed toward him.
But the moment Luca saw his face, the champagne glass slipped from his fingers.
It shattered against the marble floor.
Because the man standing at the entrance was Antonio Moretti.
His father.
The man Luca had buried thirteen years earlier.
And the man whose coffin he had personally watched being lowered into the ground.
“Dad?”
The word escaped Luca's mouth before he could stop it.
The entire ballroom went silent.
Eighty guests turned toward the entrance.
Vanessa Hart, Luca's fiancée, stood beside him in a crimson evening gown. Her smile disappeared the moment she saw the stranger.
Then she screamed.
“Get him out of here!”
Two security guards grabbed the elderly man's arms.
“Stop!”
Luca's voice cut through the ballroom.
The guards immediately released him.
Luca stepped away from the broken glass.
His face had gone completely pale.
“Who are you?”
The stranger looked at him.
Then he slowly removed his black coat.
“I thought you would recognize your own father.”
Luca stared at him.
The man's face was older.
His cheeks were thinner. His eyes were surrounded by deep wrinkles.
But the scar above his left eyebrow was unmistakable.
Antonio Moretti had gotten that scar when Luca was nine years old, after a car accident outside their family estate.
Luca remembered watching his father return home with blood running down his face.
He remembered his mother crying.
He remembered Antonio telling him that a Moretti never showed fear.
And he remembered the funeral.
Thirteen years ago, Antonio had disappeared after a violent confrontation with a rival family.
Three days later, the police found a burned vehicle near Lake Michigan.
Inside was a body.
The remains were badly damaged.
But the family doctor identified the man as Antonio Moretti.
The funeral took place two weeks later.
Luca had stood beside the coffin.
He had watched his mother collapse.
And he had buried his father.
Now the dead man was standing in his engagement party.
Luca slowly approached.
“Did you bury the right man?”
Antonio asked.
Luca stopped.
The question was so quiet that only the people closest to them could hear it.
Vanessa immediately stepped forward.
“This is disgusting.”
She turned toward the guards.
“Take him outside.”
Antonio didn't look at her.
He kept his eyes on Luca.
“Did you bury the right man?”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“What happened to you?”
Antonio looked toward the ballroom.
Then he glanced at the staircase.
“Not here.”
Vanessa laughed nervously.
“Luca, this man is clearly a fraud.”
She pointed at Antonio.
“Your father died thirteen years ago. We all know that.”
Antonio slowly turned toward her.
For the first time, he spoke.
“Do we?”
Vanessa froze.
Luca noticed.
He looked at his fiancée.
“Why are you afraid of him?”
“I'm not afraid.”
“Then stop talking.”
Vanessa closed her mouth.
Luca turned back to Antonio.
“Come with me.”
He led his father toward the private office.
Two guards followed.
Emily Carter, the mansion's maid, stood beside the ballroom entrance holding a tray of untouched champagne.
She watched Antonio walk past.
Then she noticed something strange.
The old man's right hand was trembling.
Not from age.
From fear.
He kept looking over his shoulder.
As if someone had followed him.
Emily quietly placed the tray on a nearby table.
Then she followed them.
Inside Luca's office, Antonio sat in the leather chair beside the fireplace.
Luca stood across from him.
For several seconds, neither man spoke.
Finally, Luca asked:
“Where have you been?”
Antonio looked down at his hands.
“Somewhere I should never have left.”
Luca's expression hardened.
“You let us bury you.”
Antonio nodded.
“I know.”
“You let my mother believe you were dead.”
“I know.”
“You let me spend thirteen years trying to find the man who killed you.”
Antonio closed his eyes.
“I know.”
Luca slammed his hand against the desk.
“Then tell me why!”
Antonio flinched.
The room went silent.
Luca stared at him.
He had never seen his father flinch before.
Not once.
Antonio slowly opened his leather bag.
Inside was an old photograph.
He placed it on the desk.
Luca picked it up.
The picture showed Antonio standing outside a hospital.
Beside him was a young woman holding a newborn baby.
Luca looked at the photograph.
Then at his father.
“Who is she?”
Antonio didn't answer.
Luca turned the photograph over.
A date was written on the back.
October 3.
The exact date his father had supposedly died.
Beneath it was a short message.
The wrong man was buried.
Luca's fingers tightened around the photograph.
“Who wrote this?”
Antonio looked toward the office door.
Then he whispered:
“Your mother.”
Luca froze.
“My mother?”
Antonio nodded.
“She knew.”
Luca stepped closer.
“Knew what?”
Antonio looked at him.
“That the man in the coffin wasn't me.”
Luca stared at his father.
Then he slowly turned toward the door.
Vanessa was standing outside.
She had been listening.
When Luca opened the door, she immediately stepped backward.
“Luca…”
He looked at her.
“How did my mother know?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Antonio slowly rose from the chair.
He looked directly at Vanessa.
“You were there.”
Her face went white.
Luca turned.
“What?”
Antonio reached into his coat.
He removed a small gold wedding ring.
The ring had a tiny black diamond engraved into the band.
Luca recognized it immediately.
It had belonged to his father.
He had seen it in the coffin.
He had watched the funeral director place it on Antonio's finger.
He had watched the coffin close.
Now the ring was in his father's hand.
Luca took it.
His fingers trembled.
“Where did you get this?”
Antonio looked at Vanessa.
“She gave it to me.”
Vanessa immediately shook her head.
“No!”
Antonio's voice remained calm.
“You told me the funeral was over.”
Vanessa backed away.
Luca stared at her.
“What funeral?”
She couldn't answer.
Antonio slowly turned the ring over.
Inside the band was a tiny engraving.
A.M. — OCTOBER 3
Luca looked at the date.
Then at the photograph.
Then at his father.
“Why is the date the same?”
Antonio took a deep breath.
“Because that was the night I disappeared.”
Luca's eyes narrowed.
“What happened that night?”
Antonio looked toward the ballroom.
Then he whispered:
“Someone wanted your mother to believe I was dead.”
Luca stepped closer.
“Who?”
Antonio looked at Vanessa.
She began shaking her head.
“No. No, this isn't happening.”
Luca turned toward her.
“Tell me.”
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“I didn't know.”
Antonio suddenly raised his voice.
“YOU KNEW!”
The office fell silent.
Luca stared at his father.
Antonio was breathing heavily.
His hands were shaking.
Then he slowly reached into his coat again.
He removed a folded document.
It was a cemetery record.
Luca opened it.
The burial date was thirteen years earlier.
The name on the record was Antonio Moretti.
But the signature beneath it belonged to a man Luca had never heard of.
Dr. Samuel Reed.
Luca looked up.
“Who is this?”
Antonio stared at the document.
Then he whispered:
“The man who examined the body.”
Luca's expression changed.
“Where is he?”
Antonio looked toward the window.
“I don't know.”
Then he glanced at Vanessa.
“But she does.”
Vanessa suddenly dropped to her knees.
“Luca, please.”
He stared at her.
“Why?”
She began crying.
“Because your father wasn't the only man buried that night.”
Luca froze.
Antonio slowly turned toward his son.
Then he spoke.
“Open the cemetery records.”
Luca looked at him.
“Why?”
Antonio's eyes filled with tears.
“Because the man in my coffin…”
He stopped.
Then whispered:
“...was your brother.”
Luca stared at his father.
He had never known he had a brother.
Not a dead one.
Not a missing one.
Not even a name.
He looked at Vanessa.
“Who was buried with my father?”
She shook her head.
Then she whispered:
“Michael.”
Luca's blood ran cold.
Michael Moretti.
His younger brother.
The boy who had disappeared thirteen years earlier.
The boy everyone believed had run away.
The boy whose photograph still sat in his mother's bedroom.
Luca slowly turned toward Antonio.
“Is Michael dead?”
Antonio didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at the office door.
Someone was standing outside.
Emily.
She had heard everything.
Luca opened the door.
“What are you doing here?”
Emily looked terrified.
Then she held out a small envelope.
“I found this in the basement.”
Luca took it.
The envelope had his father's name written on it.
Inside was a photograph.
Antonio stood beside a grave.
And beside him was a second man.
The man's face had been scratched out.
Luca turned the photograph over.
There was a message written in black ink.
If Antonio comes home, don't let him see his wife.
Luca looked up.
Antonio was staring at the photograph.
His face had gone completely white.
Then he whispered:
“She wasn't supposed to survive.”
Luca turned toward his father.
“Who?”
Antonio slowly raised his eyes.
And looked directly at Vanessa.
“Your mother.”
Luca froze.
Vanessa began screaming.
“No!”
Antonio stepped toward her.
“Tell him what was inside the coffin.”
Luca turned.
Vanessa was trembling.
Then she looked at him.
And finally whispered:
“Luca…”
Her voice broke.
“Your father wasn't the only man buried that night.”
Luca's face hardened.
“Who else?”
Vanessa looked toward the ballroom.
Then she whispered:
“Your mother.”
Antonio closed his eyes.
And for the first time since walking into the mansion, he began to cry.
But Emily noticed something nobody else had seen.
The cemetery record listed two bodies.
The photograph showed three graves.
And the third grave…
May you like
was dated tomorrow.
To be continued...
