Chapter 10 - THE DEAD MAN’S FINAL SECRET
The body was still on the floor when the room fell silent.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Because the name that man had whispered before dying was impossible.
Adrien’s father.
A man who had been dead for twenty years.
A man everyone believed had protected my mother.
A man everyone believed had been betrayed.
But now…
His own name had become the darkest secret in the room.
I looked at Adrien.
His face was unreadable.
But his eyes were different.
For the first time since I met him, he looked lost.
“Say something,” I whispered.
He didn’t answer.
“Adrien.”
His jaw tightened.
“I don’t know what to say.”
That scared me more than anger.
Because Adrien Viscari always knew what to say.
Always knew what move to make.
But now he was standing in the middle of his own home, surrounded by armed men, staring at a dead soldier who had just destroyed everything he believed about his father.
Marco walked closer.
“Adrien, we need to move.”
Adrien didn’t respond.
“Now.”
Finally, Adrien looked at him.
“Lock down the entire property.”
Marco nodded.
“Already done.”
“Find out who that man contacted before he died.”
“Yes.”
“And nobody leaves.”
Marco hesitated.
“Not even family?”
Adrien’s eyes turned cold.
“Especially family.”
I stayed in Adrien’s office while his men searched the mansion.
I wanted answers.
But every answer felt like another wound.
Adrien entered an hour later.
He looked exhausted.
“Did you find anything?”
“Yes.”
I waited.
“A hidden room.”
My heart skipped.
“Where?”
“Inside my father’s old study.”
He placed a small metal box on the desk.
“We found this behind the wall.”
I stared at it.
“Who opened it?”
Adrien looked at me.
“You.”
I frowned.
“Why me?”
“Because it belonged to your mother.”
My fingers touched the cold metal.
Slowly, I opened the box.
Inside was a necklace.
The same necklace I had worn since childhood.
My breath stopped.
“You have the other half.”
Adrien reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a small piece of metal.
My eyes widened.
The two pieces matched.
“This belonged to my father,” he said.
My hands shook.
“Why did my mother give me half?”
Adrien looked at the necklace.
“Because it was a key.”
“A key to what?”
He opened the bottom of the box.
Inside was a small memory card.
A message was written on it.
Only Lena can unlock the truth.
I stared at the words.
“How?”
Adrien handed me an old device.
“When your mother disappeared, she left instructions.”
My fingers trembled as I inserted the card.
The screen turned on.
A video appeared.
A woman’s face filled the screen.
My heart stopped.
Because I knew that face.
I had seen it in old dreams.
In forgotten memories.
“Mom…”
The woman on the screen looked directly at the camera.
And then she spoke.
“Lena, if you are watching this, it means they failed.”
Tears filled my eyes.
Her voice.
After twenty years.
I heard my mother’s voice.
“You need to know the truth.”
She looked scared.
“Your father was not the danger.”
I looked at Adrien.
My mother continued:
“The person who betrayed us was someone close enough to touch our family.”
The video glitched.
Then she said the sentence that changed everything.
“Adrien Viscari’s life was saved because of you.”
I froze.
“What?”
The video ended.
The screen went black.
Adrien looked at me.
“What did she mean?”
I didn’t know.
But before I could answer…
The phone rang.
Marco’s voice came through.
“Adrien…”
His tone was serious.
“We found Alessandro.”
A pause.
“He wasn’t hiding.”
My heart sank.
“Where was he?”
Marco answered:
“At the cemetery.”
Adrien frowned.
“Whose grave?”
Silence.
May you like
Then Marco said:
“Lena’s mother.”
