Chapter 8 - The Brother Who Never Existed
Gabriel had disappeared.
The hospital was surrounded by police, but nobody could explain how a wounded man had escaped.
Luca knew one thing.
Someone inside the mansion had helped him.
He returned home with Vanessa, Emily, and the original hospital documents.
The wedding decorations remained untouched.
White roses still covered the ballroom.
The cake stood beneath the chandelier.
Luca looked at it for a long moment.
Then he ordered his men to remove everything.
He was finished pretending this was a celebration.
Vanessa sat in the library.
She looked exhausted.
“I know you don't trust me.”
“You lied to me.”
“I did.”
“You used my wedding to gain access to my family.”
“Yes.”
“Why should I believe anything you say now?”
She looked down.
“Because I could have let Daniel kill you.”
Luca remained silent.
Vanessa reached into her purse.
She placed a small envelope on the table.
Inside was a letter from Antonio.
Vanessa, if you ever find yourself beside Luca when the truth emerges, tell him this: The brother he fears is not the brother he should fear.
Luca read it.
“Why did Antonio write this to you?”
“Because he knew I would eventually become involved.”
“Why?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“Because he believed my father was still alive.”
Before Luca could question her, Emily entered.
“I found something in the hospital records.”
She placed a photograph on the table.
It showed two babies in hospital blankets.
A nurse stood between them.
The nurse was Emily's mother.
But the photograph contained another detail.
One baby wore a bracelet marked LUCA.
The other wore a bracelet marked GABRIEL.
On the back, a handwritten note read:
There was never a twin.
Luca frowned.
“What?”
Emily explained.
“My mother told me the hospital records were falsified. Two boys were never born in that room. There was only one.”
Vanessa stared at the photograph.
“Then who was Gabriel?”
Emily turned the paper over.
A second note had been written beneath the first.
Gabriel was the name given to the child who died.
Luca stepped backward.
His entire childhood seemed to collapse.
He remembered a second bedroom.
A second school uniform.
A birthday cake with two names.
But were those memories real?
Or had someone spent years making him believe he had a brother?
Emily continued.
“My mother believed Antonio invented Gabriel to hide the fact that the real child had been killed.”
Luca stared at her.
“Then who have we been calling Gabriel?”
The library door opened.
Margaret Bellini entered under guard.
She looked at the photograph.
Then she began laughing.
“You still don't understand.”
Luca turned.
“Explain it.”
Margaret looked at Vanessa.
“Tell him.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“Mother, please.”
Margaret's expression hardened.
“You were never supposed to marry Luca. You were supposed to identify him.”
Luca reached for his gun.
“What does that mean?”
Margaret took a breath.
“The man on the stretcher wasn't Antonio. He wasn't Daniel. He wasn't even Stefano.”
She pointed at Luca.
“He was the original Luca Moretti.”
The room went silent.
Margaret continued.
“Your father had a child with another woman before marrying your mother. That boy was raised under a different name. When the real Luca was injured in an accident, Antonio brought him into the family and gave him your identity.”
Luca stared at her.
“Who am I?”
Margaret smiled.
“You're the child who survived the switch.”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“That's not true.”
Margaret slapped her.
“Your father told me everything!”
Vanessa pulled away.
“My father died six years ago.”
Margaret's smile vanished.
Then she looked toward the library entrance.
A man stood there.
He wore a dark suit and carried a leather briefcase.
His hair was silver.
His face was familiar.
He had the scar beneath his left eye.
“Actually,” he said calmly, “I died twelve years ago.”
Luca raised his gun.
The man smiled.
“Put that away, Luca.”
He opened the briefcase.
Inside was a birth certificate.
A photograph.
And a hospital bracelet.
The bracelet carried one name.
ANTONIO MORETTI.
The man looked directly at Luca.
May you like
“Now, son, shall we finally discuss why your mother paid me to disappear?”
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