CHAPTER TEN: THE MAN IN THE PHOTOGRAPH
1873 Words
The room went silent.
Valentina stared at the empty space where Elena had been standing only seconds ago.
She was gone.
No door had opened.
No footsteps had been heard.
Nothing.
Adrian immediately checked the hallway.
“Marcus!”
“I’m here.”
“Find Elena.”
Marcus disappeared through the doorway.
Valentina turned toward Lorenzo.
Her uncle stood near the entrance, his face unusually pale.
“You knew she was here.”
Lorenzo didn't answer.
“You knew Elena was alive,” Valentina said.
“I suspected.”
“You suspected?”
Her voice rose.
“You have been hiding things from me since I came back.”
Lorenzo looked at her.
“So has everyone else.”
Adrian stepped between them.
“Start talking.”
Lorenzo looked at Adrian.
“You haven't changed.”
“And neither have you,” Adrian replied.
For a moment, the two men stared at each other.
There was clearly history between them.
Valentina held up the photograph.
“Victor De Luca.”
Lorenzo's expression changed.
“You heard that name.”
“Elena told me he's alive.”
Lorenzo closed his eyes briefly.
“I was afraid she would.”
“Then it's true?”
Lorenzo looked toward the window.
“Yes.”
Valentina felt a cold sensation run through her.
“Why did everyone say he was dead?”
“Because that's what Victor wanted everyone to believe.”
“Why?”
“Because a dead man can disappear.”
Valentina frowned.
Lorenzo continued.
“Victor was always dangerous. Your grandfather trusted him. Matteo did too, at first. But Victor wanted control of everything.”
“My father's empire?”
“More than that.”
Lorenzo's voice became quieter.
“He wanted control of the entire network surrounding the De Luca family.”
Valentina looked at the photograph again.
“And the Fourth Rose?”
Lorenzo hesitated.
“The Fourth Rose was Victor's private network.”
Adrian crossed his arms.
“Who was in it?”
Lorenzo shook his head.
“I don't know everyone.”
“You expect us to believe that?” Adrian asked.
“I don't expect you to believe anything.”
Lorenzo reached into his coat and removed a small envelope.
He handed it to Valentina.
“Your father gave this to me years ago.”
Valentina stared at him.
“You had this all this time?”
“I was supposed to give it to you when you returned.”
“Then why didn't you?”
“Because I wasn't sure you would survive long enough to use it.”
Valentina opened the envelope.
Inside was a small metal card.
A number was engraved on it.
17-04-09.
She looked confused.
“What does this mean?”
Lorenzo shook his head.
“Matteo never explained.”
Adrian took the card.
“Where did you get it?”
“From your father's study.”
Valentina stared at him.
“My father trusted you?”
Lorenzo looked at her.
“He trusted me once.”
“Once?”
“Before everything went wrong.”
Valentina wanted to ask more, but Marcus suddenly returned.
He was breathing heavily.
“She disappeared.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“Did you find an exit?”
Marcus nodded.
“There is a hidden staircase behind the kitchen.”
Valentina immediately understood.
“The same kind of passage we've been finding everywhere.”
Marcus nodded.
“And there's something else.”
“What?”
Marcus handed Adrian a phone.
“Someone left this behind.”
The screen showed a message.
STOP SEARCHING FOR MATTEO.
Below it was another sentence.
YOU WILL NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND.
Valentina stared at the screen.
She wasn't frightened anymore.
She was angry.
“I'm done running.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Valentina.”
“I spent ten years believing my family was dead.”
She held the photograph tightly.
“Now I know my father is alive. My mother may be alive. Victor is alive. And someone has been lying to me for years.”
She looked at Lorenzo.
“I want answers.”
Lorenzo nodded slowly.
“Then you need to see something.”
---
Twenty minutes later, Lorenzo took them to an underground room beneath the old De Luca estate.
Valentina had never seen it before.
The room was filled with old files, photographs, maps, and locked cabinets.
On the wall was a large painting of four roses.
Valentina stepped closer.
“There are four.”
Lorenzo nodded.
“Each rose represents a person.”
“Who?”
“The first was your grandfather.”
Valentina looked at the first rose.
“The second was Matteo.”
She moved to the second.
“The third?”
Lorenzo looked at Adrian.
“Your father?”
Adrian asked.
“No.”
Lorenzo shook his head.
“The third was Elena.”
Valentina's eyes widened.
“And the fourth?”
Lorenzo said nothing.
Valentina looked at the final rose.
“Victor?”
“No.”
Lorenzo's voice was barely a whisper.
“The fourth rose is the person Victor trusted most.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Who?”
Lorenzo looked directly at Valentina.
“We don't know.”
Valentina stared at him.
“How can you not know?”
“Because Victor erased the person's identity from every record.”
Adrian examined the wall.
“Then why keep the symbol?”
“Because Victor wanted everyone to know that the person existed.”
Valentina noticed something beneath the painting.
A small metal panel.
She touched it.
Nothing happened.
Adrian examined it.
“It's locked.”
Valentina remembered the key they had found in the church.
She pulled it from her pocket.
It fit perfectly.
She inserted it.
The panel opened.
Inside was a small black device.
Marcus picked it up.
“It's a recording device.”
Adrian pressed the button.
Static filled the room.
Then Matteo's voice came through.
“If you're hearing this, then the Fourth Rose has already been activated.”
Valentina's heart raced.
Matteo continued.
“Valentina, I need you to understand something. Victor was never working alone.”
Lorenzo looked away.
“Someone inside our family helped him.”
The recording paused.
Then Matteo said something that made Valentina's blood run cold.
“The person you trust most may be the person who betrayed you.”
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Valentina slowly looked around the room.
She looked at Adrian.
Then Marcus.
Then Lorenzo.
Her uncle immediately shook his head.
“Don't look at me like that.”
“I don't know who to trust anymore,” Valentina whispered.
Lorenzo sighed.
“That is exactly what Victor wanted.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Then we stop playing his game.”
“How?”
“We find Matteo.”
Marcus suddenly looked at the device.
“There may be another file.”
He pressed a second button.
A map appeared on the small screen.
Lorenzo leaned closer.
“I know that place.”
Valentina looked at him.
“Where?”
Lorenzo pointed at the map.
“The old Moretti warehouse.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“Impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because that warehouse burned down twelve years ago.”
Marcus looked at the map.
“Then why is there a location signal coming from it?”
Everyone went silent.
Valentina stared at the screen.
A small red dot blinked.
Someone was there.
Right now.
Adrian grabbed his coat.
“We're going.”
Lorenzo stopped him.
“You can't.”
Adrian turned.
“Why?”
“Because if Matteo is there, Victor will know we're coming.”
Valentina looked at Lorenzo.
“How?”
Lorenzo's face became serious.
“Because someone has been tracking every move you've made since you returned.”
Valentina's stomach tightened.
“Who?”
Lorenzo shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Adrian stepped toward him.
“You know more than you're saying.”
Lorenzo looked at him.
“Yes.”
Adrian waited.
Lorenzo finally said:
“I was the one who helped Matteo disappear.”
Valentina stared at him.
“What?”
Lorenzo continued.
“I didn't betray your father.”
He looked directly at Valentina.
“I helped him escape.”
The room seemed to spin.
“If that's true,” Valentina said, “why did you take control of the family?”
“Because Victor forced me to.”
Lorenzo's voice cracked.
“He threatened everyone I cared about.”
Valentina's anger weakened slightly.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Matteo ordered me not to.”
She froze.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
Lorenzo reached into another cabinet and removed an old letter.
He handed it to her.
Valentina opened it.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
Lorenzo,
If Valentina ever returns, protect her from Victor. Let her hate you if necessary. Hatred is safer than trust when the enemy is watching.
Valentina's eyes filled with tears.
Her father had deliberately allowed her to hate her uncle.
For her protection.
She looked at Lorenzo.
“Where is my father?”
Lorenzo shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“But you helped him escape.”
“Yes.”
“Then who took him afterward?”
Lorenzo looked toward the dark window.
“That is the question I've been trying to answer for ten years.”
Suddenly, Adrian's phone rang.
Marcus answered it.
His expression changed immediately.
“What?”
He put the call on speaker.
A distorted voice filled the room.
“Stop looking for Matteo.”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
The voice continued.
“You have already found too much.”
Valentina stepped forward.
“Who are you?”
A short laugh came through the phone.
“You'll know soon enough.”
Then the caller said:
“Ask Adrian what happened the night your father disappeared.”
Valentina turned toward Adrian.
He went completely still.
“What does that mean?” she asked.
Adrian didn't answer.
Valentina's eyes narrowed.
“Adrian?”
He finally looked at her.
“There is something I never told you.”
Before he could continue, the phone went silent.
Valentina stared at him.
“What happened that night?”
Adrian looked down.
“When I found your father…”
He paused.
“He wasn't alone.”
Valentina waited.
“Who was with him?”
Adrian's expression was filled with regret.
“Your mother.”
Valentina's heart stopped.
“That's impossible.”
“I know.”
“She's supposed to have been dead.”
“I know.”
Valentina took a step back.
Adrian continued.
“And there was someone else.”
“Who?”
Adrian looked at her.
“The man standing beside your parents in the photograph.”
Valentina's eyes widened.
“Victor?”
Adrian nodded.
“Yes.”
Silence filled the room.
Then Adrian said the words that changed everything.
“Victor didn't take your father that night.”
He looked directly at Valentina.
“Your father went with him willingly.”
Valentina couldn't speak.
For the first time, she wondered whether the person she had been searching for was actually hiding from her.
And if Matteo had willingly gone with Victor…
What had he been protecting her from?
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