Chapter 9: The Last Door
The vault alarm screamed.
Red light flashed across the shelves.
Luca stared at Elena.
“You gave my father the third key?””
Elena nodded.
“I didn't know what it opened.””
“You were seventeen.””
“Yes.””
“Why were you working for him?””
“I wasn't.””
“Then why did you have the key?””
Elena's eyes moved toward Evelyn.
“Because your mother gave it to me.””
Luca turned.
His mother looked exhausted.
“I needed someone your father wouldn't suspect.””
“You used Elena?””
“I asked her to help me.””
“You put a seventeen-year-old girl in the middle of this.””
“I was trying to save Adrian.””
Elena whispered, “She saved me too.””
Luca looked at her.
“How?””
“My father was one of your father's drivers.””
Daniel suddenly stiffened.
“Your father was Thomas Bell?””
Elena nodded.
Daniel took a step backward.
“I remember him.””
“He disappeared,” Elena said.
Luca looked at her.
“Why?””
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
“Because he helped your mother escape.””
The alarm continued.
Smoke began curling from the ceiling.
Marcus shouted, “We have to move!””
Luca grabbed the archive case.
“Everyone out.””
Nobody argued.
They rushed into the corridor.
The vault door slammed shut behind them.
A deep mechanical sound followed.
Then the walls began to vibrate.
Luca looked back.
“What was that?””
Evelyn grabbed his arm.
“The archive is destroying itself.””
They reached the stairs.
Above them came shouting.
Marcus raised his weapon.
“Stay behind me.””
Luca moved beside him.
“No.””
“Sir?””
“If they're here for the files, they're not leaving with them.””
Marcus nodded.
They climbed.
At the top of the stairs, two men in dark suits appeared.
One raised a weapon.
Marcus fired first.
The man dropped behind the wall.
The second fled.
Luca ran after him.
“Luca!”” Marcus shouted.
Luca reached the dining room.
The beautiful engagement dinner was gone.
Tables overturned.
Candles scattered across the floor.
Crystal shattered beneath his shoes.
Several guests were gone.
Others were being held by armed men near the windows.
Luca stopped.
One man grabbed a woman by the shoulder.
“Drop the case.””
Luca held it tighter.
Victoria appeared beside him.
“Luca, don't.””
The man pointed his weapon at Elena.
“Put it down.””
Elena froze.
Luca looked at her.
Then at the case.
Then at the armed man.
Slowly, he placed the case on the floor.
“Let her go.””
The man smiled.
“Good.””
He kicked the case toward himself.
Victoria suddenly stepped forward.
“Wait.””
The man turned.
Victoria lifted her hands.
“I know where the original records are.””
Luca stared at her.
“Victoria…”
She ignored him.
“The files in that case are copies.””
The man frowned.
“Where are the originals?””
Victoria looked directly at Luca.
“Your father's study.””
The man grabbed the case.
“Take them.””
Two men moved toward the hallway.
Victoria whispered to Luca, “Trust me.””
He shook his head.
“I don't.””
“You have to.””
“Why?””
“Because the originals aren't there.””
The men disappeared.
Luca stared at her.
“What are you doing?””
“Buying time.””
A siren sounded outside.
Marcus smiled faintly.
“I called the police.””
Luca looked at him.
“Can we trust them?””
Marcus's expression changed.
“No.””
The front doors burst open.
More men entered.
But this time, they wore police uniforms.
Luca's stomach dropped.
The man in front removed his hat.
“Mr. Vale.””
Luca recognized him.
New York's deputy commissioner.
He had been sitting at Luca's engagement dinner twenty minutes earlier.
“You.””
The commissioner smiled.
“You've made this more difficult than necessary.””
Luca looked around.
“You're part of this.””
The commissioner shrugged.
“Your father built a very complicated organization.””
“Where is he?””
“Dead.””
“Then why are you still working for him?””
The commissioner looked toward the hallway.
“Because he left instructions.””
Luca's hand tightened around the case.
“What instructions?””
The commissioner smiled.
“To kill anyone who opened the vault.””
Silence.
Elena whispered, “Luca…”
The commissioner raised his weapon.
“Give me the case.””
Luca didn't move.
Victoria stepped in front of him.
“No.””
The commissioner looked surprised.
“Victoria.””
She smiled bitterly.
“You always underestimated me.””
He raised his gun.
Victoria lunged.
The shot went wide.
Luca grabbed her and pulled her behind a table.
Marcus fired toward the ceiling.
Guests screamed.
The room erupted into chaos.
Luca crawled toward the case.
A bullet struck the wooden floor beside his hand.
He grabbed it.
Then someone seized his collar.
He slammed into the wall.
The commissioner stood over him.
“Your father should have killed you when he had the chance.””
Luca stared at him.
“What did you say?””
The commissioner leaned closer.
“He didn't want a son.””
Luca's expression changed.
“What?””
“He wanted an heir.””
The commissioner raised his weapon.
“And you were the wrong one.””
A gunshot cracked.
The commissioner fell.
Luca looked up.
Evelyn stood across the room.
Holding the pistol.
Her hands were shaking.
The entire room went silent.
Luca stared at her.
“You shot him.””
She lowered the gun.
“He was going to kill you.””
Luca stood.
“You've been protecting me this whole time.””
“Yes.””
“Then why did Dad write that I shouldn't trust you?””
Evelyn looked devastated.
“Because he knew I would eventually have to choose between protecting you and telling you the truth.””
“What truth?””
She looked toward Adrian.
He was standing at the basement entrance.
Daniel beside him.
Victoria remained behind Luca.
Everyone waited.
Evelyn finally spoke.
“Your father wasn't your biological father.””
Luca stared at her.
The room seemed to disappear.
“What?””
“You were born before I married him.””
Luca's eyes moved from her to Adrian.
Then to Daniel.
“Then who is my father?””
Evelyn's lips trembled.
“Daniel.””
Luca turned.
Daniel went pale.
Adrian whispered, “No.””
Luca stared at Daniel.
“You're my father?””
Daniel couldn't speak.
Evelyn nodded.
“Your father died before you were born.””
Luca looked at Daniel.
“But you said Nathaniel was your father.””
“He was.””
“Then how?””
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I was his son.””
Luca's mind raced.
Adrian.
Daniel.
Nathaniel.
His mother.
His father's empire.
None of it made sense.
Then Victoria whispered:
“Luca…”
He turned.
She was holding a final document.
She handed it to him.
“Your father left this in the engagement contract.””
Luca opened it.
At the bottom was a signature.
His father's.
And beneath it:
*The true heir is not Luca.*
Luca's face went cold.
“What?””
Victoria pointed toward Adrian.
“It says Adrian is the heir.””
Adrian shook his head.
“No.””
Evelyn stepped forward.
“That's why your father imprisoned him.””
Luca looked at Adrian.
“Then why did he raise me?””
Adrian's face filled with grief.
“Because he needed everyone to believe you were his son.””
Luca looked down at the document.
A second line appeared beneath the first.
His father's final instruction.
*If Luca ever learns the truth, give him the third key.*
Luca slowly looked at Elena.
She reached beneath her apron.
Her fingers closed around something.
A tiny brass key.
She placed it in his palm.
This one had no number.
Only a single engraved word:
*BLOOD.*
Luca stared at it.
Behind him, the mansion doors suddenly locked.
Every window slammed shut.
The chandeliers went dark.
Then a hidden speaker crackled overhead.
His father's voice filled the dining room.
Clear.
Calm.
Alive.
“Luca, if you're hearing this, you've opened the first two doors.””
Everyone froze.
The recording continued.
“The third door will show you who betrayed me.””
Luca looked toward the dark hallway.
A panel in the floor slowly unlocked.
A narrow staircase descended beneath the mansion.
Evelyn grabbed his arm.
“No.””
Luca looked at her.
“Why?””
Her face had gone white.
“Because I know what's behind it.””
Luca looked down into the darkness.
“What?””
Evelyn whispered:
“The room where your father kept the people he couldn't trust.””
A pause.
Then the recording continued.
“And Luca…”
The voice became quieter.
“If your mother is standing beside you, don't let her reach the bottom first.””
May you like
Luca turned.
Evelyn was already running toward the stairs.
