Chapter 14 - THE LAST BATTLE OF THE VISCARI FAMILY
The message haunted me.
THE WRONG CHILD SURVIVED.
Those words followed me everywhere.
Because they meant one thing.
Someone still believed I should never have existed.
Adrian increased security.
Gabriel searched every old Viscari file.
Clara disappeared.
And Luca refused to sleep unless I was nearby.
That little boy had become the only peaceful thing in my life.
One night, I sat beside his crib.
“You know something, don’t you?”
Luca looked at me.
Then grabbed my finger.
The same way he did the first night.
I smiled sadly.
“You’re the reason I found this family.”
A quiet voice answered behind me.
“Maybe Elena knew that.”
I turned.
Adrian.
He stood there without his usual cold expression.
Just Adrian.
The man.
Not the mafia boss.
“Do you ever stop working?”
I asked.
He smiled slightly.
“Do you ever stop asking dangerous questions?”
I laughed.
A real laugh.
The first one in days.
And Adrian noticed.
He looked surprised.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You smiled.”
He looked away.
“It’s rare.”
I studied him.
“You need to do it more.”
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then his expression became serious.
“Mara.”
“Yes?”
“If tomorrow goes wrong…”
I interrupted.
“No.”
He frowned.
“You don’t even know what I was going to say.”
“Yes, I do.”
I stepped closer.
“You were going to tell me to run.”
He didn’t answer.
“Adrian.”
I looked at him.
“I spent my whole life running from a truth I didn’t know.”
I touched Luca’s blanket.
“I’m not running anymore.”
Something changed in his eyes.
Respect.
Maybe something deeper.
But before either of us could say more…
The alarm sounded.
Again.
This time, louder.
A guard rushed inside.
“Boss!”
Adrian immediately turned.
“What?”
“We found Marco.”
A pause.
“He’s not alone.”
Adrian grabbed his weapon.
“Who is with him?”
The guard hesitated.
Then said:
“Victoria.”
My heart sank.
“No.”
The guard continued.
“And someone else.”
Adrian looked at him.
“Who?”
The answer was barely a whisper.
“Your mother.”
The room froze.
My mother.
Impossible.
My mother was dead.
Elena was dead.
But then the security camera appeared on the screen.
A woman standing beside Marco.
Older.
Weak.
But alive.
The same eyes.
The same face from the photographs.
My knees almost gave out.
“Elena…”
Adrian stared at the screen.
For the first time in years…
The strongest man in the city looked completely broken.
“She’s alive.”
We found them at the old family estate.
The place where everything began.
Marco stood outside.
Victoria beside him.
And behind them…
Elena.
Alive.
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t breathe.
My whole life I had imagined meeting my real mother.
But not like this.
Not after learning she left me.
Not after believing she was gone.
“Mara…”
Her voice broke.
One word.
My name.
And somehow it hurt more than anything.
I wanted to run to her.
I wanted to scream.
I wanted answers.
“Why?”
That was the only word I could say.
Elena cried.
“Because I was trying to save you.”
“By leaving me?”
“No.”
Her voice shook.
“By making sure you lived.”
Marco laughed.
“Still protecting her.”
Elena looked at him with hatred.
“You destroyed this family.”
Marco smiled.
“And she will rebuild it.”
He looked at me.
“The heir has arrived.”
Then Victoria raised her weapon.
Everyone froze.
Because the final betrayal wasn’t coming from Marco.
It was coming from the person nobody expected.
Victoria looked at me.
May you like
“I’m sorry.”
A gunshot filled the air.
