Chapter 8 - MY MOTHER’S LAST LIE
I spent my entire life believing my mother was the one person who would never betray me.
She was the woman who held my hand when my father died.
The woman who helped me rebuild the Rossi empire.
The woman who raised me to be strong.
But now I was looking at evidence that she had paid someone to harm my son.
I wanted an explanation.
I demanded one.
I found her in the library.
She was sitting calmly, drinking tea.
Like she wasn’t carrying the weight of a possible crime.
“Mom.”
She looked up.
“Lorenzo.”
I placed the file on the table.
Her eyes moved to it.
She knew.
“What is this?”
“You tell me.”
Silence.
Then she sighed.
“I was hoping you would never find out.”
My heart sank.
“Find out what?”
“That this family has been destroyed by your father’s mistakes for decades.”
I stepped closer.
“Did you pay the nurse?”
Her silence was the answer.
My chest tightened.
“Why?”
She looked away.
“Because I was protecting you.”
I almost laughed.
“Protecting me?”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then make me understand.”
She stood.
“You think Leo is just your son.”
“He is my son.”
“No.”
Her voice became serious.
“He is the future of this family.”
I stared at her.
“That’s what this is about?”
“Power?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“It’s about survival.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“You were willing to let a baby die for survival?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I was trying to prevent something worse.”
“What could possibly be worse than killing my son?”
She didn’t answer.
And that scared me more.
Finally, she whispered:
“Matteo is not the only secret your father left behind.”
The room went silent.
“What does that mean?”
She looked toward the window.
“There are people who believe Leo should never have been born.”
My blood ran cold.
“Who?”
Before she could answer, the lights went out.
The entire mansion fell into darkness.
Security alarms started screaming.
I reached for my weapon.
“Mom, stay here.”
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Someone was inside.
Impossible.
My home had the highest level of security.
No one entered without permission.
Then I heard a voice.
“Lorenzo.”
I froze.
Because I knew that voice.
Matteo.
The lights came back on.
But he wasn’t alone.
Two armed men stood beside him.
My mother gasped.
“You.”
Matteo smiled.
“Hello, Mother.”
Everything stopped.
Mother.
The word echoed through the room.
I looked at Isabella.
Then at Matteo.
The truth hit me.
My mother knew him.
She had always known him.
And she had lied to me my entire life.
Matteo stepped closer.
“You spent years believing you were the only Rossi heir.”
He smiled.
“But you were wrong.”
Then he looked toward the nursery.
“Now give me what belongs to me.”
I stepped in front of him.
“You will never touch my son.”
Matteo laughed.
“That’s exactly what your father said.”
My expression changed.
“What?”
His smile disappeared.
“Before he chose you over me.”
And then he revealed the truth.
A truth that shattered everything.
“My father didn’t abandon me.”
May you like
He looked directly at Isabella.
“She made him disappear.”
