Chapter 9 - The Truth Beneath the Wedding Dress
The man called himself Antonio Moretti.
He claimed to be Luca's father.
But Luca had stopped believing names.
“Prove it.”
Antonio placed the birth certificate on the table.
“Your mother gave birth to you on April seventeenth. I was there.”
“Then why did you disappear?”
“Because your mother made a deal with Stefano.”
Margaret looked away.
Antonio continued.
“She wanted one of her sons to inherit the family business. Stefano wanted the other one dead. I agreed to disappear so neither of them could use me.”
Luca frowned.
“One of my sons?”
Antonio nodded.
“Gabriel.”
“Does he exist?”
Antonio's expression softened.
“He did.”
Luca's chest tightened.
“What happened to him?”
Antonio sat down.
“Gabriel was born with a heart condition. He died when he was four months old.”
Luca stared at him.
“Then why did I spend my childhood believing I had a brother?”
“Because your mother couldn't accept his death. She kept his room, his clothes, and his photographs. Eventually, the family began treating him as though he were still alive.”
Emily shook her head.
“That's not what the hospital records say.”
Antonio looked at her.
“Your mother altered them.”
“Why?”
“Because she helped us hide the truth.”
Luca turned toward Antonio.
“And the man we called Gabriel?”
Antonio's face hardened.
“An impostor.”
“Who?”
“Stefano's son.”
Margaret gasped.
Antonio continued.
“He was raised to look like you. He underwent surgery, learned your habits, and spent years pretending to be your twin. The goal was to make you believe there were two heirs, so the family would turn against itself.”
Luca thought about the scar.
The photographs.
The childhood memories.
The man who had appeared at the mansion.
Everything had been designed to confuse him.
But one question remained.
“Why did the impostor call himself Gabriel?”
“Because that was the name of my dead son.”
Luca looked at Vanessa.
She was trembling.
“Do you believe him?” she whispered.
Before Luca could answer, Antonio opened the briefcase again.
He removed a small voice recorder.
“This is the last recording your mother made.”
He pressed play.
A woman's voice filled the room.
“Luca, if you hear this, then the truth has finally reached you. I am sorry. I let you believe your brother was alive because I was afraid you would discover what happened to him.”
A pause.
Then the voice continued.
“Your father did not die twelve years ago. The man who was buried was Daniel Russo. But Daniel wasn't your biological father.”
Luca closed his eyes.
His mother continued.
“Your biological father was the man who raised you. Antonio Moretti. And the man who came to your wedding wearing his face was his brother Stefano.”
Luca opened his eyes.
“Then who was on the stretcher?”
Antonio stopped the recording.
He looked at Luca.
“Stefano.”
Luca stared.
“The man with my hospital bracelet?”
“Stefano stole your medical records. He wanted to make you believe he was your father.”
Vanessa suddenly stood.
“That's impossible.”
Antonio looked at her.
“Why?”
She pulled a photograph from her purse.
It showed Antonio and Stefano standing together outside Bellini Hospital.
The date was twelve years earlier.
But the man standing beside Antonio was not Stefano.
It was Vanessa's father.
Luca examined the photograph.
“Who is that?”
Vanessa's voice trembled.
“My real father.”
Antonio shook his head.
“Your father died.”
Vanessa looked at him.
“Then explain why I received a message from him this morning.”
She placed her phone on the table.
A new message appeared.
The wedding is over. Now bring me the girl.
Luca frowned.
“Which girl?”
Vanessa slowly looked at Emily.
Emily stepped backward.
“What?”
Vanessa whispered:
“Your mother wasn't just a nurse, Emily.”
She opened another photograph.
It showed Emily as a newborn baby.
Beside her stood Antonio Moretti.
On the back was a handwritten message:
The last surviving Moretti heir.
Emily's face went pale.
“No.”
Antonio stood.
“Emily, listen to me.”
She shook her head.
“No. Don't come near me.”
Luca looked from the photograph to Emily.
Then he understood why the medical worker had chosen the wedding.
Why the ring carried Vanessa's name.
Why the hospital records had been altered.
Why Emily's mother had disappeared.
The entire wedding had been arranged to bring three people into the same room.
Luca.
Vanessa.
And Emily.
His phone rang.
An unknown number.
He answered.
A familiar voice whispered:
“Now you know which daughter survived.”
Then the caller added:
“But you still don't know which one was supposed to die.”
A gunshot sounded outside.
The library window shattered.
Antonio fell to the floor.
May you like
And Emily disappeared.
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