Chapter 12 - THE CHOICE THAT BROKE ADRIAN
Nobody moved.
Victoria stood there like she owned the room.
Like she wasn’t surrounded by armed guards.
Like she wasn’t holding a knife near a baby.
Adrian’s voice was deadly.
“Put it down.”
Victoria laughed.
“You always were predictable.”
She looked at him.
“You protect everyone except yourself.”
Adrian’s expression changed.
Because she was right.
He had spent years carrying guilt.
Years trying to fix a past he couldn’t change.
But this time…
He had something to lose.
Me.
Luca.
The family he had left.
Victoria looked at me.
“Do you know what Elena told me before she died?”
I didn’t answer.
“She said you were special.”
Her smile became cruel.
“She said you had a heart that could save people.”
She laughed.
“I hated you before I even met you.”
My chest tightened.
“Why?”
“Because you were loved.”
The answer was so simple.
So painful.
Victoria’s eyes filled with anger.
“I was her daughter too.”
The room went quiet.
And for a second…
I saw something else.
Not a monster.
A wounded woman.
A child who believed she had been replaced.
But pain did not excuse cruelty.
“You hurt innocent people.”
Victoria looked at Luca.
“I did what I had to do.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“No.”
His voice was calm.
“You did what you wanted.”
Victoria’s expression changed.
“You think you’re better than me?”
“No.”
Adrian looked at her.
“I think you became exactly like the people who hurt us.”
That sentence broke something in her face.
For a moment, she looked lost.
Then the alarm sounded again.
Another threat.
A guard rushed in.
“Boss!”
Everyone turned.
“The east gate was attacked.”
Adrian looked furious.
“By who?”
The guard hesitated.
Then answered:
“Marco Viscari.”
Nobody spoke.
Because that name was supposed to belong to the dead.
Victoria smiled.
A slow, terrifying smile.
“You really thought he was gone?”
Adrian turned toward her.
“You knew.”
Victoria said nothing.
That was the answer.
Adrian grabbed her arm.
“You worked with him.”
Victoria looked at him.
“Yes.”
The room exploded with anger.
Gabriel stepped forward.
“You helped him kill Elena?”
Victoria’s face changed.
“No.”
A pause.
“I helped him survive.”
My blood ran cold.
“What does that mean?”
Victoria looked at me.
“It means your mother wasn’t killed because she discovered Marco’s plan.”
She smiled.
“She was killed because she discovered mine.”
The world stopped.
Adrian stared at her.
“What did you do?”
Victoria looked at me.
And whispered:
“I was the one who told Marco where to find Elena.”
My heart shattered.
Because the woman who wanted my life…
Was the same woman who destroyed the mother I never got to know.
Adrian stepped closer.
But before he could reach her…
The lights went out.
A gunshot echoed.
Everyone screamed.
When the emergency lights turned on…
Victoria was gone.
And on the floor beside Luca’s crib was a single note.
Adrian picked it up.
Read it.
Then his face changed.
“What does it say?” I asked.
He looked at me.
His voice was barely a whisper.
“Marco doesn’t want you dead.”
A pause.
“He wants you back.”
I froze.
“Why?”
Adrian handed me the note.
May you like
Three words were written on it.
YOU ARE THE HEIR.
