Poisoned by his love

Chapter Ten — The Black Circle

Darkness swallowed the chamber.

Sophia heard Elena scream.

Then came the sound of gunfire.

"DOWN!" Alessandro shouted.

Sophia dropped to the floor.

Bullets tore through the darkness.

Someone grabbed her arm.

She nearly screamed.

"Sophia, it's me."

Alessandro.

He pulled her behind the stone pedestal.

"Where's Elena?" Sophia whispered.

"I don't know."

"Mom?"

No answer.

Sophia's heart pounded.

"Mom!"

"I'm here!"

Isabella's voice came from somewhere across the room.

"Stay where you are!"

Another gunshot exploded.

A man cried out.

Then silence.

Emergency lights flickered on.

Sophia looked around.

Marco's men were gone.

So was Marco.

And Elena.

Sophia's blood ran cold.

"Elena!"

She stood.

Alessandro caught her wrist.

"Wait."

"She has my sister!"

"Our sister," he corrected.

Sophia stared at him.

Something in his voice had changed.

For the first time, Alessandro wasn't talking about Elena as a stranger.

He was talking about her as family.

Isabella ran toward them.

"Marco took her."

Sophia's face hardened.

"Then we get her back."

Alessandro looked at the open book on the floor.

"No."

Sophia turned toward him.

"What?"

He pointed at the death register.

"That's what Marco wanted."

Sophia frowned.

"He already knew about it."

"No."

Alessandro shook his head.

"He wanted us to open it."

Isabella's expression changed.

"Alessandro is right."

She stepped toward the book.

"The Black Circle doesn't keep information in one place."

She turned a page.

"It's a trap."

Sophia stared at her.

"What kind of trap?"

Isabella pointed to the names.

"Every person listed here has a corresponding file."

She touched the page.

"But the moment the book is opened, the system sends the location of whoever opened it."

Sophia's eyes widened.

"So Marco knew we'd come."

"Yes."

Alessandro looked toward the ceiling.

"And now he knows exactly where we are."

A loudspeaker suddenly crackled above them.

Marco's voice filled the chamber.

"Very good, Alessandro."

Sophia's stomach tightened.

Marco laughed.

"You always were the clever one."

"Where is Elena?" Alessandro demanded.

"Safe."

"You touch her and—"

"And what?"

Marco's voice became mocking.

"You'll kill me?"

A pause.

"You won't."

Alessandro's jaw tightened.

Marco continued.

"Because I know something you don't."

Sophia stepped toward the speaker.

"What?"

"You think Elena is the heir to the Moretti empire."

Silence.

"She isn't."

Sophia looked at Isabella.

Marco laughed.

"She is something far more valuable."

"What are you talking about?"

"The Black Circle doesn't want the empire."

His voice dropped.

"They want the bloodline."

Sophia frowned.

"Why?"

"Because the original founder left something behind."

"What?"

"The Black Crown."

Isabella's face went pale.

"No."

Marco laughed.

"Yes."

Sophia looked at her mother.

"What is the Black Crown?"

Isabella's voice trembled.

"A private network of accounts."

"That's all?"

"No."

She swallowed.

"Control over banks. Governments. Intelligence agencies."

Sophia stared at her.

"You're saying one organization controls all of that?"

"Not controls."

Isabella looked toward the darkness.

"Influences."

Marco interrupted.

"And the only person who can legally access it is a descendant of the original founder."

Sophia understood.

"Elena."

"Exactly."

Alessandro's face hardened.

"Where are you taking her?"

Marco answered immediately.

"To the place where it all began."

Sophia's heart raced.

"Where?"

Marco smiled.

"You know the answer."

The loudspeaker went silent.

Isabella turned toward Alessandro.

"The old Moretti cathedral."

Alessandro nodded.

"There is an underground crypt beneath it."

Sophia looked at them.

"Then let's go."

Isabella shook her head.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because Marco wants us to follow him."

Sophia's voice became cold.

"Then we'll make him regret it."

Alessandro looked at her.

"You can't come."

Sophia stared at him.

"You don't get to decide that."

"This isn't your fight."

"My sister was kidnapped."

Sophia stepped closer.

"It became my fight the moment he took her."

Alessandro stared at her.

Then slowly nodded.

"Fine."

Isabella looked at both of them.

"Then we do this together."

They hurried toward the exit.

But before they could leave, Sophia stopped.

Something was lying on the floor.

A small silver pendant.

Elena's.

Sophia picked it up.

There was a tiny piece of paper folded inside.

She opened it.

Three words were written in Elena's handwriting.

**TRUST NO ONE.**

Sophia's heart sank.

"What's wrong?" Alessandro asked.

She handed him the note.

His expression changed.

"She knew."

"Knew what?"

Alessandro looked toward Isabella.

"That someone inside this family is working with Marco."

Isabella shook her head.

"That's impossible."

Sophia looked at her.

"Is it?"

Her mother's face hardened.

"You don't trust me."

"I don't know who to trust anymore."

Sophia turned toward Alessandro.

"Not even you."

He didn't argue.

"I understand."

They climbed the staircase.

But as they reached the upper hallway, Sophia heard a faint sound.

A phone ringing.

She followed it.

The sound came from Daniel's study.

She opened the door.

The room was empty.

Except for a phone sitting on the desk.

It was ringing.

Sophia picked it up.

"Hello?"

A man's voice answered.

"Don't go to the cathedral."

Sophia froze.

"Who is this?"

"The person who saved your father."

"Where is my father?"

"He's alive."

Sophia's heart jumped.

"Where?"

"You have to listen carefully."

The voice lowered.

"Marco is taking Elena to the cathedral because he wants you to follow him."

"Why?"

"Because he needs you."

"For what?"

Silence.

Then:

"You're the final key."

Sophia's blood turned cold.

"What does that mean?"

"The Black Circle was never built around the Morettis."

The man paused.

"It was built around your family."

Sophia stopped breathing.

"That's impossible."

"No."

His voice became urgent.

"Your father discovered the truth too late."

"What truth?"

"Your family is descended from the original founder."

Sophia stared at the phone.

"Who was the founder?"

The man whispered:

"Your ancestor."

The line went dead.

Sophia slowly lowered the phone.

Behind her, Alessandro stood in the doorway.

"What happened?"

Sophia looked at him.

She wanted to tell him everything.

But then she remembered Elena's message.

**TRUST NO ONE.**

She slipped the phone into her pocket.

"Nothing."

Alessandro studied her.

He knew she was lying.

Before he could question her, Isabella appeared.

"We need to leave."

Sophia nodded.

As they walked toward the front entrance, Sophia glanced through the window.

A black car waited outside.

Its headlights were off.

A man sat behind the wheel.

Sophia couldn't see his face.

Then the driver slowly raised his hand.

And waved.

Sophia stopped.

She knew that gesture.

Her father used to do it when she was a child.

She ran toward the door.

"Sophia!" Alessandro shouted.

She stopped.

The car started moving.

It disappeared into the fog.

Sophia stood frozen.

Her mother's hand touched her shoulder.

"Who was it?"

Sophia stared at the empty road.

"My father."

Isabella's face went pale.

Then a second car exploded at the end of the driveway.

The estate shook.

Alessandro grabbed Sophia and pulled her to the ground.

Flames rose into the fog.

And from the burning wreckage came a single message written across the side of the vehicle.

**WELCOME HOME, SOPHIA WILLIAMS.**

Sophia stared at the words.

For the first time, she realized the terrifying truth.

She wasn't being hunted because of her father.

She was being hunted because of who she was.

And somewhere beneath the city, Elena was waiting for her.

But Marco wasn't the only person waiting.

Someone else had already entered the cathedral.

Someone Sophia trusted.

Someone who had been lying to her from the beginning.