Chapter 5 - THE TRAITOR IN THE HOUSEDominic raced back to the mansion.
He called Anna.
No answer.
He called the security room.
Nothing.
Every camera had gone dark.
His stomach tightened.
“Marco.”
“I know.”
They sped through the gates.
The mansion looked completely normal from outside.
Too normal.
Dominic jumped from the car before it stopped.
He ran inside.
“Ethan!”
No answer.
“Lily!”
Silence.
Then he heard crying.
Upstairs.
Dominic ran toward the sound.
He found Anna sitting against the hallway wall.
Her hands were tied.
Her face was wet with tears.
“Where are they?”
She pointed toward the nursery.
“Samuel.”
Dominic froze.
“What happened?”
“He came through the servants' entrance.”
“Where is he?”
“He took the children.”
Dominic's blood turned cold.
“Where?”
Anna shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Then a small voice came through the mansion speakers.
Samuel.
“Dominic.”
Dominic looked up.
“Let them go.”
Samuel laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
“Where are they?”
“Safe.”
“If you touch them—”
“You'll what?”
Samuel laughed again.
“You'll call the police?”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“You know I won't.”
“Exactly.”
Samuel appeared on the security monitor.
He stood inside the old underground garage.
Ethan was beside him.
Lily stood on the other side.
Neither child was physically injured.
But both looked terrified.
Dominic stepped closer to the screen.
“Ethan.”
His son looked up.
“Dad!”
“I'm coming.”
Samuel smiled.
“You have thirty minutes.”
“For what?”
“Bring the original trust.”
Dominic glanced at Marco.
Samuel continued.
“And bring Adrian.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“You knew he was alive.”
“I knew before you did.”
“Why?”
“Because your father told me.”
Dominic froze.
“Your father?”
Samuel smiled.
“Victor Moretti isn't dead.”
Dominic stared at the screen.
“I saw his grave.”
“Yes.”
“I attended his funeral.”
“Yes.”
“Then who was buried there?”
Samuel laughed.
“Your father has spent eight years watching you from a distance.”
Dominic felt sick.
“Why?”
“Because he knew you would eventually uncover everything.”
Dominic looked at Ethan.
“Where is he?”
Samuel leaned closer to the camera.
“Bring me the trust.”
“And then?”
“You get your children.”
The screen went black.
Adrian entered the room.
Dominic turned toward him.
“You knew.”
Adrian nodded.
“Victor is alive.”
“You could have told me.”
“You wouldn't have believed me.”
“Try me.”
Adrian sighed.
“Your father ordered the fake funeral.”
“Why?”
“Because someone was trying to kill him.”
“Who?”
“Samuel.”
Dominic stared.
“Samuel was his security chief.”
“Exactly.”
Adrian explained that Samuel had spent years manipulating the family.
He convinced Victor to disappear.
He convinced Adrian to take the blame.
He manipulated Teresa.
He used Claire.
He recruited corrupt employees.
And he created a network designed to control the Moretti fortune.
“But why Ethan?”
Adrian looked at him.
“Because Ethan is your heir.”
“Lily is your heir.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
Adrian placed the trust document on the table.
“There is a clause.”
Dominic read it.
If both brothers' descendants remained alive, the original trust would remain divided.
If one descendant died…
the surviving branch would gain control.
Dominic looked up.
“So Samuel wants one child dead.”
“Yes.”
“Which one?”
Adrian's face tightened.
“Both.”
Dominic stared.
“He could then claim the trust through the secondary beneficiary.”
“Who?”
Adrian pointed to the document.
Samuel Grant.
Dominic's anger became cold.
“He planned everything.”
“Yes.”
Dominic looked at the clock.
Twenty minutes remained.
They had to move.
Marco assembled the team.
Adrian insisted on coming.
Dominic looked at him.
“You disappear again, I'll find you.”
Adrian gave a faint smile.
“Fair.”
They entered the underground garage through a maintenance tunnel.
The children were inside a locked vehicle.
Samuel stood nearby.
Three armed men surrounded him.
Dominic stepped forward.
“Samuel.”
Samuel smiled.
“Finally.”
“Let them go.”
“Give me the trust.”
Dominic held up the folder.
“Here.”
Samuel took one step forward.
Then stopped.
“Where is Adrian?”
Dominic glanced behind him.
Adrian stepped out.
Samuel's face changed.
For the first time…
he looked afraid.
“You.”
Adrian smiled.
“You thought I was dead.”
Samuel raised his weapon.
Dominic moved instantly.
He knocked the gun from Samuel's hand.
Marco's team restrained the other men.
Samuel tried to reach the vehicle.
Adrian blocked him.
“You've lost.”
Samuel laughed.
“No.”
He pointed toward Lily.
“She still has no idea who she really is.”
Dominic looked at the child.
Lily stared back.
Samuel smiled.
“Ask her what her father told her.”
Dominic turned toward Lily.
“What did your father tell you?”
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
“He said…”
She swallowed.
“He said not to trust anyone with the Moretti name.”
Dominic looked at Adrian.
Adrian's face changed.
Samuel laughed.
“Exactly.”
Dominic stared.
“Why would he say that?”
Adrian didn't answer.
Samuel did.
“Because Adrian knows what your father did.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“What?”
Samuel smiled.
“Victor didn't fake his death to escape me.”
“He faked his death…”
“to escape his own sons.”
The room went silent.
Adrian lowered his head.
Dominic looked at him.
“What is he talking about?”
Adrian finally spoke.
“Our father ordered the first attack.”
Dominic froze.
“Against whom?”
Adrian looked at him.
“Your mother.”
Dominic's face went pale.
Samuel smiled.
“And that's only the beginning.”
Before Dominic could respond, the lights went out.
A door slammed somewhere in the darkness.
When the emergency lights came on…
Samuel was gone.
But the children were safe.
Dominic looked toward Adrian.
“What did our father do to Mom?”
Adrian didn't answer.
Instead, Lily quietly approached Dominic.
She held out a small folded piece of paper.
“I found this in Daddy's pocket.”
Dominic opened it.
It was an old handwritten note.
One sentence.
Victor did not kill your mother.
Dominic looked at Adrian.
“Then who did?”
Adrian's face turned pale.
“Someone we trusted more than anyone.”
Dominic unfolded the second half.
His eyes widened.
Because beneath the sentence was a name.
Eleanor Moretti.
His mother.
May you like
The woman Dominic had spent his entire life believing was innocent.
And suddenly the family secret became darker than anything he had imagined.
