Chapter 9 - The Man Beneath the Chapel
Vanessa survived surgery.
Michael remained at the hospital.
Luca went alone to the old Moretti chapel.
The building had been closed since his mother's disappearance.
Its stone walls were covered in dust.
He found a small door behind the altar.
The key fit perfectly.
A narrow staircase descended beneath the building.
At the bottom was a steel door.
The number 1303 was engraved above the handle.
Luca entered.
Inside was a room filled with filing cabinets, photographs, and old medical equipment.
A single television sat on a wooden table.
It switched on automatically.
A man appeared on the screen.
Daniel Hart.
Luca recognized him from the photographs.
His biological father.
The man who had supposedly died before Luca was born.
Daniel looked older than the pictures.
But his eyes were sharp.
“Luca,” he began.
“If you're watching this, then Adrian has failed.”
Luca leaned closer.
Daniel continued.
“I know you have questions. You deserve the truth.”
He explained that he had not died.
He had been hiding for thirteen years.
The Hart family fortune had been built on land acquired through illegal agreements.
Daniel had discovered that the Moretti family was involved.
He had threatened to expose everything.
Adrian had tried to kill him.
But Isabella had helped him escape.
The price was separation from his children.
“Your mother believed that keeping you apart would keep you alive.”
Luca clenched his fists.
Daniel continued.
“Michael was taken to protect the inheritance. You were left with Antonio because Adrian believed you were the weaker heir.”
A new image appeared.
A document.
It was the original will.
Daniel had left everything to both boys.
But there was a condition.
Neither son could inherit unless they worked together.
Luca frowned.
“Why?”
The recording answered.
“Because the Moretti family has spent generations destroying itself over money. I wanted my sons to build something different.”
The screen went black.
Then another video began.
It showed Isabella standing beside a hospital bed.
Antonio was lying there.
His face was bruised.
His wrists were restrained.
Adrian stood beside him.
“Tell them,” Adrian demanded.
Antonio shook his head.
“Never.”
Adrian turned toward the camera.
“Then your sons will never know.”
The recording ended.
Luca felt sick.
His father had been imprisoned.
His mother had been forced into hiding.
And the man who had returned to the engagement party had been Adrian all along.
But there was one question Daniel hadn't answered.
Who had called Luca claiming to be his real father?
He searched the room.
Behind the filing cabinet was a hidden drawer.
Inside lay a second recording.
He pressed play.
A man's voice filled the room.
“Luca, I am your biological father.”
Daniel's face appeared.
But this time, he looked frightened.
“There is something I didn't tell you.”
He paused.
“Your mother had another child.”
Luca froze.
“What?”
“The baby wasn't Michael. It wasn't you.”
Daniel looked directly into the camera.
“Isabella gave birth to three children that night.”
Luca stepped backward.
A third child.
He searched the files.
Inside an old medical folder was a newborn photograph.
The baby had a small crescent-shaped birthmark beneath his right eye.
Luca recognized the mark.
He had seen it on Adrian's face.
But that wasn't possible.
Adrian was Antonio's twin.
Unless…
A sound came from behind him.
Someone entered the room.
Luca spun around with his gun raised.
A young man stood in the doorway.
He looked about twenty-five.
He had dark hair, gray eyes, and the same crescent-shaped birthmark.
“Who are you?”
The stranger smiled sadly.
“My name is Gabriel.”
Luca kept his gun raised.
“Why are you here?”
Gabriel looked toward the photographs.
“Because you found the wrong grave.”
“What?”
Gabriel placed a photograph on the table.
It showed three newborn babies.
One was Luca.
One was Michael.
The third was Gabriel.
On the back was a handwritten message.
The third son must never meet his brothers.
Luca stared.
“Who is your father?”
Gabriel's smile disappeared.
“That's the problem.”
He stepped closer.
“I'm not Antonio's son.”
“Then whose son are you?”
Gabriel looked directly at him.
“Adrian's.”
Luca felt his blood turn cold.
Gabriel continued.
“But Adrian isn't Antonio's twin.”
The room went silent.
“Then who is he?”
Gabriel took a deep breath.
“Your grandfather's illegitimate son.”
Luca lowered his gun slightly.
Everything he had believed about the Moretti family was collapsing.
Gabriel reached into his jacket and removed a small envelope.
“There's one more thing.”
“What?”
“Your mother is alive.”
Luca stepped forward.
“Where?”
Gabriel looked at the television.
“She's in the third grave.”
Luca stared.
“That doesn't make sense.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“The grave isn't in the cemetery.”
He pointed toward the chapel floor.
“It's beneath us.”
Suddenly, the lights went out.
A metallic door slammed shut.
Then a voice came through the darkness.
“Welcome home, little brother.”
May you like
It was Adrian.
And he wasn't alone.
