CHAPTER SEVEN: THE FATHER WHO WASN'T DEAD
1934 Words
Valentina couldn't move.
She stared at the message on Adrian's phone.
Your father is still alive.
Those six words had turned her entire world upside down.
For ten years, she had mourned a man she had never been allowed to bury.
She had spent years believing that Matteo De Luca had died because of the same betrayal that had destroyed her family.
Now someone was telling her that he was alive.
“It's a lie,” Marcus said.
Valentina looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“We don't know who sent it.”
“That doesn't mean it's false.”
Adrian remained silent.
Valentina turned toward him.
“You believe it.”
“I believe someone wants us to believe it.”
“That's not what I asked.”
Adrian looked at the photograph again.
“The picture is real.”
“How can you tell?”
“I was there that night.”
Valentina's eyes filled with questions.
“You remember this picture?”
“Yes.”
“Who took it?”
“I don't know.”
“Then how do you know it's from that night?”
Adrian pointed toward the corner.
“Look at the clock.”
Valentina zoomed in.
The photograph had been taken at 11:47 p.m.
She remembered that time.
Her father had entered her room just minutes before midnight.
The memory was painful.
“Where did they get this?” she whispered.
“That is what we need to find out.”
Valentina placed both hands on the table.
“If my father is alive, I'm going to find him.”
Adrian nodded.
“I know.”
“No matter what it takes.”
“I know.”
“And nobody is going to stop me.”
Adrian looked at her.
“I won't.”
---
They spent the next hour examining every detail of the photograph.
Marcus enlarged the image on a computer.
There was something visible through the window behind Matteo.
A vehicle.
A black SUV.
Valentina recognized it.
“That car.”
Adrian leaned closer.
“What about it?”
“My father had one exactly like it.”
Marcus shook his head.
“Thousands of people own black SUVs.”
“Not that model.”
Valentina pointed at the rear.
“There was a silver emblem on my father's car.”
Marcus zoomed in.
A small silver mark was visible.
Adrian's expression changed.
“That's the De Luca family security emblem.”
Valentina looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
“That vehicle belonged to your father.”
“Then the photograph was taken at the estate.”
Adrian nodded.
“But there's something else.”
He pointed toward the background.
A second vehicle was parked behind Matteo's SUV.
It was dark, but the shape was familiar.
Valentina stared.
“That one…”
Adrian looked at her.
“What?”
“I've seen it before.”
“Where?”
She closed her eyes.
The memory came slowly.
A rainy night.
A man shouting.
Her father telling her to hide.
Then a black vehicle waiting outside.
“I remember that car.”
Adrian's face became serious.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Outside the house on the night I disappeared.”
Silence filled the room.
Marcus looked at Adrian.
“Then someone was watching the estate before everything happened.”
Adrian nodded.
Valentina suddenly stood.
“Who owns that vehicle?”
Marcus began searching.
After several minutes, he turned toward them.
“I found something.”
“What?”
“The vehicle was registered to a company.”
“Which company?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Moretti Holdings.”
Valentina slowly looked at Adrian.
“You?”
Adrian shook his head.
“No.”
“You said your family had nothing to do with my father's disappearance.”
“We didn't.”
“Then why was a Moretti vehicle outside my house?”
“I don't know.”
Valentina stared at him.
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it's the truth.”
She turned away.
She wanted to trust him.
But every answer seemed to create another question.
Adrian noticed the doubt in her eyes.
“You think I betrayed your father.”
“I don't know what to think.”
“That is fair.”
Valentina looked at him.
“You're not angry?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because if I were in your position, I wouldn't trust me either.”
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Adrian's phone rang.
He answered.
“Speak.”
His expression immediately changed.
“Where?”
A pause.
“Don't touch anything. I'm coming.”
He ended the call.
“What happened?” Valentina asked.
“One of my men found something.”
“Where?”
“At an abandoned Moretti warehouse.”
Valentina stood.
“We're going.”
Adrian shook his head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because it could be a trap.”
“Everything is a trap.”
“Exactly.”
“Then I need to be there.”
Adrian stared at her.
Finally, he nodded.
“Fine.”
---
The warehouse was located on the edge of the city.
It had been abandoned for years.
When they arrived, several men were standing outside.
Adrian stepped out first.
“What did you find?”
One of the men pointed inside.
“We found this.”
He handed Adrian a small metal pendant.
Valentina immediately recognized it.
Her eyes widened.
“My mother.”
Adrian looked at the pendant.
“Are you sure?”
Valentina nodded.
“My mother wore this every day.”
She took it carefully.
“How did it get here?”
The man shook his head.
“We don't know.”
Valentina looked around the warehouse.
“Search everything.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Valentina—”
“Please.”
He nodded.
Everyone began searching.
Marcus opened several old crates.
One contained files.
Another contained photographs.
Then he called out.
“Adrian.”
Adrian walked over.
Marcus held up a file.
“This has Matteo's name.”
Valentina hurried toward them.
The file was old and damaged.
Across the front were three words:
PROJECT FOURTH ROSE.
Valentina's heart raced.
“Open it.”
Marcus did.
Inside were reports about the De Luca family.
Financial transactions.
Names.
Locations.
Photographs.
Then they found something unexpected.
A photograph of Elena.
Valentina looked at it.
“She was involved.”
Adrian nodded.
“Apparently.”
A report underneath the photograph explained that Elena had been investigating suspicious financial transfers within the De Luca organization.
“She was looking for the traitor,” Valentina said.
Marcus turned another page.
“There's more.”
The report stated that Elena had discovered money being transferred from the De Luca accounts to an unknown offshore company.
The transfers had started six months before Matteo disappeared.
Valentina's eyes narrowed.
“Who authorized them?”
Marcus looked at the document.
“The signature is Lorenzo's.”
Valentina's stomach dropped.
“So Lorenzo really was involved.”
Adrian nodded.
“But that doesn't prove he planned your father's disappearance.”
Valentina looked at him.
“What would prove it?”
“This.”
He pointed to another document.
There was a list of people involved in the operation.
Lorenzo's name was there.
Beside it was another name.
Valentina read it.
Victor De Luca.
She froze.
“Victor?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Who is Victor?”
“My grandfather's younger brother.”
“Is he alive?”
Valentina shook her head.
“He died before I was born.”
Marcus looked at the file.
“According to this document, he didn't.”
Valentina stared at the page.
“What?”
“His death was never officially confirmed.”
Adrian took the document.
“This changes everything.”
Suddenly, the warehouse lights went out.
Everyone froze.
A second later, the sound of footsteps echoed through the building.
Adrian immediately pulled Valentina behind him.
“Stay close.”
Marcus drew his weapon.
A voice came from the darkness.
“Valentina.”
She froze.
She knew that voice.
It was her father's.
“Dad?”
Adrian looked around.
“It's a recording.”
The voice came again.
“Valentina, if you're hearing this, don't trust anyone.”
She stared into the darkness.
“Dad?”
The recording continued.
“The person you are looking for is not the person you think.”
Then silence.
Valentina's breathing became unsteady.
“What does that mean?”
A light suddenly came on.
A screen appeared at the far end of the warehouse.
A video began playing.
Matteo De Luca appeared on the screen.
He looked older than Valentina remembered.
Tired.
But alive.
Valentina's eyes filled with tears.
“Dad…”
Matteo looked directly into the camera.
“If my daughter ever sees this, then everything has gone wrong.”
Valentina moved closer to the screen.
“I am alive.”
She stopped breathing.
The recording continued.
“But I cannot return.”
“Why?” Valentina whispered.
“Because the people who took me are still watching.”
Matteo looked toward the camera.
“I need you to understand something.”
A pause.
“You cannot trust the De Luca family.”
Valentina's heart broke.
“My own family?”
“Especially those who claim they want to protect you.”
Adrian's expression became serious.
Matteo continued.
“There is only one person I trusted to keep you safe.”
Valentina looked at Adrian.
Her father's eyes seemed to stare directly at him through the screen.
“Adrian Moretti.”
Adrian froze.
Valentina turned toward him.
Matteo continued.
“If Adrian is with you, listen to him.”
The screen suddenly went black.
Valentina stood frozen.
Adrian didn't move.
Marcus looked between them.
Then a final message appeared on the screen.
FIND THE PLACE WHERE YOUR MOTHER WAS BURIED.
Valentina stared.
“My mother…”
She had always been told her mother died of illness.
But now everything she had been told was beginning to look like another lie.
She turned toward Adrian.
“Where is my mother's grave?”
Adrian looked at her.
“I don't know.”
Valentina's eyes narrowed.
“You knew my father.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my mother.”
“Yes.”
“Then you must know.”
“I don't.”
Valentina stepped closer.
“Adrian, if you know something—”
“I don't.”
Before she could answer, Marcus suddenly shouted.
“Everyone down!”
A loud crash came from the warehouse entrance.
Men rushed inside.
Adrian pulled Valentina behind a concrete pillar.
Marcus and the others moved quickly to protect them.
Valentina held the pendant tightly.
She looked toward Adrian.
“Who are they?”
“I don't know.”
“You really need to find another answer.”
Despite the danger, Adrian almost smiled.
Then his expression became serious again.
“We need to leave.”
They moved toward the rear exit.
As they escaped, Valentina looked back at the screen.
Her father's final message remained visible.
FIND THE PLACE WHERE YOUR MOTHER WAS BURIED.
But there was one problem.
Valentina's mother had no grave.
At least, not one that she knew about.
And for the first time, Valentina wondered if her mother had disappeared too.
Maybe the De Luca family hadn't lost one person.
Maybe they had lost everyone who knew the truth.
And now someone was making sure Valentina became the next person to disappear.
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