Poisoned by his love

Chapter Nine — The Girl Beneath the Estate

"Don't let them wake her."

The whisper disappeared into the darkness.

Sophia froze.

Alessandro's hand tightened around hers.

"Did you hear that?"

She nodded slowly.

"A child."

Isabella raised her weapon and looked down the narrow corridor.

"Keep moving."

"Who is she?" Sophia asked.

"I don't know."

Sophia stared at her mother.

"You expect me to believe that?"

"I've never heard that voice before."

Alessandro looked around.

The underground passage was ancient.

Stone walls surrounded them, covered with strange symbols and faded family crests. Water dripped from the ceiling. Every few seconds, a distant mechanical sound echoed through the darkness.

Sophia shivered.

"How far down are we?"

"Far enough," Isabella replied.

They reached a massive iron door.

Alessandro pulled out the black key Daniel had given him.

He inserted it into the lock.

Nothing happened.

He tried again.

Still nothing.

Sophia looked at him.

"What now?"

Alessandro examined the door.

"There must be another lock."

Isabella stepped forward.

"Not another lock."

She pointed toward a small circular depression in the center of the door.

"Blood."

Alessandro stared at it.

"Of course."

He cut his palm with a small blade and pressed it against the depression.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

Then—

CLICK.

The iron door unlocked.

A deep mechanical rumble rolled through the passage.

The door slowly opened.

Beyond it was a massive underground chamber.

Sophia stepped inside.

She stopped.

Thousands of documents covered the walls.

Photographs.

Bank records.

Maps.

Names.

Dates.

Every secret the Black Circle had collected over decades appeared to be stored inside the chamber.

In the center stood a glass case.

Inside it was a single black book.

Alessandro walked toward it.

"The original ledger."

Isabella shook her head.

"No."

She pointed at the walls.

"That's only the evidence."

Sophia approached the glass case.

"What is the book?"

Her mother looked at it with fear.

"The death register."

Sophia frowned.

"What does that mean?"

"It contains the names of everyone the Black Circle has ordered killed."

Sophia stared at the book.

"And the names of everyone who gave the orders?"

"Yes."

She reached toward the case.

"Don't."

Isabella grabbed her wrist.

Sophia looked at her mother.

"Why?"

"Because opening that book activates the alarm."

Alessandro frowned.

"Then why did Daniel send us here?"

"Because he knew we had no choice."

A soft sound came from the far end of the chamber.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Sophia turned.

"Who's there?"

No answer.

Then—

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

A small figure appeared behind a metal railing.

A girl.

She couldn't have been more than ten years old.

She was barefoot and wearing a white dress.

Her long dark hair covered most of her face.

Sophia's heart stopped.

"Who are you?"

The girl slowly lifted her head.

Her eyes were strangely familiar.

"You're Sophia."

Sophia took a step forward.

"How do you know my name?"

The girl smiled.

"Because your father told me about you."

Sophia's blood ran cold.

"My father?"

The girl nodded.

"He said you would come."

Alessandro raised his weapon.

"Stay where you are."

The girl's smile disappeared.

"You shouldn't point that at me."

"Who are you?"

The girl looked at him.

"You're Alessandro."

He froze.

"How do you know me?"

The girl didn't answer.

Instead, she looked at Sophia.

"Your mother lied to you."

Isabella's face hardened.

"Enough."

The girl flinched.

"You promised you wouldn't hurt her."

Sophia turned toward her mother.

"What is she talking about?"

Isabella said nothing.

Sophia's voice became louder.

"Mom, what is she talking about?"

The girl stepped closer to the railing.

"She promised your father she would protect me."

Sophia looked at the girl.

"Protect you from what?"

The girl pointed toward the black book.

"From them."

A loud metallic clang suddenly echoed through the chamber.

Alessandro turned.

"Someone's coming."

Isabella immediately grabbed Sophia.

"We have to leave."

"No."

Sophia pulled away.

"Not until someone tells me the truth."

Footsteps echoed through the passage.

Multiple footsteps.

Then a familiar voice.

"You always were stubborn, Sophia."

Marco.

Sophia turned toward the entrance.

Marco stepped into the chamber.

Blood covered his sleeve, but he was smiling.

Behind him stood six armed men.

Alessandro raised his weapon.

Marco laughed.

"Put it down."

"No."

Marco looked at Sophia.

"Your father is dead."

Sophia's face went pale.

"No."

"I watched him take his last breath."

Sophia shook her head.

"You're lying."

Marco's smile widened.

"Perhaps."

He looked toward Isabella.

"But she knows."

Sophia turned to her mother.

"Is he dead?"

Isabella's silence was answer enough.

Sophia's eyes filled with tears.

Marco walked toward the glass case.

"You came all this way for the ledger."

He placed his hand on the glass.

"But you don't understand what you're holding."

He pointed toward the girl.

"Ask her."

Sophia looked at the child.

"Who are you?"

The girl slowly walked out from behind the railing.

"I am Elena."

"Elena what?"

The girl looked at Alessandro.

Then at Isabella.

Finally, she looked at Sophia.

"Elena Moretti."

Alessandro's face changed.

"Moretti?"

Elena nodded.

"I am your sister."

The chamber fell silent.

Sophia looked at Alessandro.

His face had gone completely white.

"I don't have a sister."

Elena smiled sadly.

"That's what they wanted you to believe."

Marco laughed.

"Now you understand."

Alessandro stepped toward the girl.

"Who is your mother?"

Elena looked at Isabella.

Sophia followed her gaze.

Isabella's eyes filled with tears.

"No."

Sophia whispered.

"Mom?"

Isabella couldn't speak.

Alessandro looked between them.

"Isabella?"

Finally, she nodded.

"Elena is my daughter."

Alessandro staggered backward.

"My sister..."

Elena nodded.

"Yes."

He looked at Sophia.

"And Sophia..."

His voice broke.

"That means..."

Sophia understood.

Her mother wasn't only Alessandro's aunt.

She had given birth to a daughter who had been hidden from the world.

But why?

Marco answered the question.

"Because Elena is the true heir to the Moretti empire."

Alessandro stared at him.

"What?"

Marco's expression became sinister.

"Your father never intended for you to inherit anything."

He pointed at Elena.

"The empire belongs to her."

Elena's eyes filled with fear.

"And that's why everyone wants me dead."

Suddenly, the chamber lights turned red.

An alarm began screaming.

Marco looked toward the ceiling.

"Too late."

Sophia turned toward the glass case.

The black book had begun glowing beneath the glass.

A hidden mechanism activated.

The case opened by itself.

The book fell onto the floor.

It opened to a single page.

Sophia walked toward it.

Names were written across the page.

Her eyes moved down the list.

Then stopped.

Her blood turned cold.

The first name was:

**DANIEL WILLIAMS.**

Beside it was a date.

Fifteen years ago.

Underneath it was a second name.

**ISABELLA MORETTI.**

And beneath hers—

**ALESSANDRO MORETTI.**

Sophia stepped backward.

"They were all marked for death."

Alessandro stared at the page.

"Why?"

Sophia turned the page.

There was one final entry.

A name that none of them expected.

**MARCO SANTORO.**

But beside Marco's name, there was something different.

Not a death date.

A title.

**THE NEXT HEAD OF THE BLACK CIRCLE.**

Marco's smile disappeared.

Sophia looked up.

"You..."

Marco raised his gun.

"Now you finally understand."

He aimed at Sophia.

"I wasn't working for the Black Circle."

He smiled.

"I am the Black Circle."

Before anyone could move, Elena screamed.

The chamber doors slammed shut.

And every light went out.