Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Raised the Wrong Son
Luca didn't lower his gun.
“Where is Emily's mother?”
Gabriel slipped the photograph into his coat.
“Somewhere your family made sure she could never speak.”
Emily stepped out of the blue room.
“That's impossible. My mother died.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Did you see her body?”
Emily's eyes filled.
“No.”
“Did anyone show you a death certificate?”
She shook her head.
“Then don't confuse a disappearance with a death.”
Luca's security team entered the corridor.
Three men surrounded Gabriel, but he didn't resist.
He simply looked at Luca.
“You have forty-eight hours. After that, the people who buried our family secrets will bury you too.”
“Who?”
Gabriel smiled sadly.
“You're still asking the wrong questions.”
He dropped his weapon.
The guards searched him.
Nothing.
No phone. No identification. No keys.
Then he leaned toward Luca.
“Ask Vanessa why she was at the hospital the night your real father died.”
Luca's expression changed.
“Take him downstairs.”
The guards escorted Gabriel away.
Emily stood frozen.
Luca turned toward her.
“Are you all right?”
“My mother might be alive.”
“We'll find her.”
Emily looked at the photograph again.
“Why would Gabriel have this?”
Before Luca could answer, his phone rang.
Vanessa.
He answered.
“Where are you?”
“Upstairs.”
“Don't leave your room.”
A pause.
Then she whispered, “Luca, your mother is here.”
Luca went still.
His mother had died when he was eleven.
He had watched her coffin lowered into the ground.
“What did you say?”
“There's a woman in the chapel. She looks exactly like the woman in your childhood photographs.”
Luca ran.
The chapel doors stood open.
A woman in a gray coat was kneeling before the altar.
Her hair had turned white.
Her face was thinner, older, but the eyes were unmistakable.
“Mother?”
The woman slowly turned.
“Luca.”
He stumbled forward.
“Is it really you?”
She touched his cheek.
“My baby.”
Luca broke.
For twelve years, he had believed she was dead. He had never spoken about the nightmares, the unanswered questions, or the empty place at the family table.
Now she was standing in front of him.
He held her tightly.
Then he remembered Gabriel's words.
“Why did you leave us?”
Her expression collapsed.
“Because one of you was going to be murdered.”
“Which one?”
She looked toward the chapel doors.
“Gabriel.”
Luca pulled away.
“Why?”
“Because your uncle wanted the entire inheritance. Your father had discovered that someone inside the family was selling information to rival organizations. Gabriel found the evidence.”
“Then why was I told he died?”
“Because your uncle needed a clean succession.”
Luca stared at her.
“Who is my uncle?”
She swallowed.
“Stefano Moretti.”
Luca knew the name.
His father's younger brother had disappeared shortly after Antonio's funeral.
Everyone believed he had been killed in a dispute with a rival family.
“Stefano is alive?”
His mother nodded.
“He has been controlling the family from the shadows.”
Luca felt the room tilt.
His mother reached into her coat and handed him a folded letter.
“Your father wrote this before he died.”
Luca opened it.
Luca, if you are reading this, Stefano has already convinced you that Gabriel is your enemy. Do not believe him. The boy you grew up calling your brother may be the only person who can save you.
Luca looked up.
“Which boy?”
His mother began crying.
“You and Gabriel were both my sons. But only one of you was born to Antonio.”
The chapel doors suddenly slammed.
A gunshot shattered the stained-glass window.
Luca threw his mother to the floor.
His guards returned fire.
When the shooting stopped, his mother was gone.
Only her gray coat remained beside the altar.
Luca rushed outside.
A black SUV was speeding away.
He fired twice, but the vehicle disappeared through the gates.
Vanessa stood behind him, trembling.
“Luca…”
He turned.
She was holding something.
A small silver key.
“I found this in the chapel,” she whispered.
“Where?”
“In your mother's coat.”
The key carried an engraved number.
17.
Emily examined it.
“That's not a room number.”
She turned it over.
A tiny inscription appeared beneath the metal.
Bellini Private Hospital.
Vanessa's face drained of color.
Luca looked at her.
“Why does your family own a hospital?”
Vanessa whispered:
“Because that's where the twins were born.”
Then she revealed the secret that made Luca's wedding ring feel like a prison.
“My father didn't just help bury your family's secrets.”
She swallowed.
May you like
“He was the doctor who switched the babies.”
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