Poisoned by his love

Chapter Seven — The Queen Returns

For fifteen years, Sophia had dreamed of this moment.

But never like this.

Never with shattered glass beneath her feet.

Never with blood on the marble floor.

Never with a gun in her mother's hand.

Sophia stared at the woman standing in the doorway.

"Mom?"

The word escaped her lips like a prayer.

The woman lowered her weapon.

Her eyes softened.

"Sophia."

That was all it took.

Sophia ran toward her.

Her mother opened her arms, and for the first time in fifteen years, Sophia felt the warmth of the woman she had believed was dead.

She buried her face against her mother's shoulder.

"You were alive."

"I know."

"You were alive all this time."

Her mother closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry."

Sophia pulled away.

"Sorry?"

Her voice trembled with anger.

"You let me believe you were dead!"

"I had to."

"You had to?"

Sophia pushed her away.

"I spent my entire childhood thinking my mother was burned alive. I thought my father abandoned me. I thought I had no family."

Her mother looked down.

"I know."

"Then why?"

The woman took a slow breath.

"Because if they knew you were alive, they would have used you to find me."

Sophia shook her head.

"Who are *they*?"

Her mother's eyes moved toward Alessandro.

"The same people who are hunting him."

Alessandro, still weak from the gunshot, looked at her carefully.

"Who are you?"

Sophia's mother turned toward him.

"You know exactly who I am."

Alessandro's expression hardened.

"No. I know who your husband said you were."

A bitter smile crossed her face.

"My husband lied about many things."

"Your name isn't Maria Williams, is it?"

She stared at him.

"No."

"What is your real name?"

The woman looked at Sophia.

Then she answered.

"Isabella Moretti."

Silence.

Sophia's face went pale.

Alessandro slowly stood despite the pain.

"Moretti?"

Isabella nodded.

"I was born into the Moretti family."

Alessandro's eyes narrowed.

"My father's sister."

Sophia stared between them.

"What?"

Alessandro looked at her.

"Isabella Moretti was my father's younger sister."

Sophia took a step backward.

"My mother was a Moretti?"

"Yes," Isabella said.

Sophia's voice became barely audible.

"Then why did Dad hate the Morettis?"

"He didn't hate them."

Isabella's eyes filled with pain.

"He loved me."

She looked toward the shattered windows.

"And that was the beginning of the war."

Before Sophia could ask another question, a gunshot came from outside.

Everyone ducked.

Isabella immediately pushed Sophia behind her.

"Stay down!"

More gunfire followed.

Alessandro grabbed the nearest weapon.

"Luca, how many?"

"At least ten."

"Marco?"

"Unknown."

Isabella checked her weapon.

"He's still here."

Sophia looked at her mother.

"How do you know?"

"Because Marco never leaves without what he came for."

"The ledger?"

Isabella shook her head.

"No."

She looked directly at Sophia.

"You."

Sophia's stomach tightened.

"Me?"

"Your father didn't hide the master ledger because he knew people would kill for it."

"Then why did he leave it to me?"

"He didn't."

Isabella stepped closer.

"He left you something much more dangerous."

Sophia frowned.

"What?"

Her mother reached inside her coat and pulled out a small photograph.

Sophia recognized it.

It was the same photograph Luca had given her.

But Isabella turned it over.

There was writing on the back.

**THE FIRST KEY OPENS THE DOOR.

THE SECOND KEY REVEALS THE TRUTH.**

Sophia looked at her pendant.

"The second key..."

"Is not an object," Isabella said.

"Then what is it?"

Isabella looked at Alessandro.

"Blood."

Everyone became silent.

Alessandro's face hardened.

"Whose blood?"

"Yours."

Sophia looked at him.

"What does that mean?"

Isabella walked toward Alessandro.

"Your father didn't just leave you a tattoo."

She reached for his wrist.

"He left you a genetic key."

Alessandro pulled his arm away.

"Explain."

"Daniel discovered that your father's master ledger contained more than financial records. It contained evidence of an organization that had existed long before your father became its leader."

"The organization that controls the city," Alessandro said.

Isabella nodded.

"The Black Circle."

Sophia felt a chill.

"What is the Black Circle?"

Isabella looked at her daughter.

"Politicians. Judges. Police officers. Bankers. Businessmen. People who control everything from behind closed doors."

"And my father found them?"

"He helped build their financial network."

Sophia's eyes filled with disbelief.

"But he tried to expose them."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because he discovered the Black Circle planned to eliminate anyone who knew too much."

Alessandro's jaw tightened.

"That's why your father ordered the massacre."

Isabella nodded.

"And when Daniel tried to stop him, he became a target."

Sophia looked at her mother.

"Then why did you disappear?"

Isabella's expression changed.

"Because I chose your father."

Sophia stared at her.

"You chose him over your family?"

"I chose you."

Her mother's voice cracked.

"When I discovered what my family was planning, I stole something from them."

"What?"

"The original ledger."

Sophia's eyes widened.

"The one everyone is looking for?"

"No."

Isabella shook her head.

"The master ledger everyone knows about is only a copy."

Alessandro's eyes widened.

"Then where is the original?"

Isabella looked at Sophia.

"Your father has it."

Sophia's breath caught.

"But Dad said he's dead."

"He wanted everyone to believe that."

"Where is he?"

Isabella hesitated.

Before she could answer, the lights suddenly came back on.

A phone rang.

Everyone froze.

Sophia looked down.

Her father's number was flashing on the screen.

She answered.

"Dad?"

A man's breathing came through the phone.

Then—

"Hello, Sophia."

She recognized the voice.

But something was wrong.

It wasn't her father.

It was Marco.

Sophia's face went white.

"Where is my father?"

Marco laughed.

"That's the question you should be asking yourself."

"What did you do to him?"

"Nothing."

He paused.

"Yet."

Isabella stepped closer.

"Put him on speaker."

Sophia did.

Marco continued.

"Your father made a mistake fifteen years ago."

"What mistake?"

"He trusted my family."

Sophia looked at her mother.

Marco laughed again.

"And your mother made an even bigger one."

Isabella's eyes hardened.

"What do you want?"

"You know what I want."

"The original ledger?"

"No."

Marco's voice became cold.

"I want the daughter."

Sophia froze.

Alessandro immediately stepped in front of her.

"You'll never get her."

Marco laughed.

"Oh, Alessandro."

A pause.

"You still don't understand."

"Understand what?"

"You're not protecting Sophia from me."

Marco's voice dropped to a whisper.

"You're protecting her from yourself."

The call ended.

Sophia stared at the phone.

"What does that mean?"

Alessandro said nothing.

Isabella looked at him.

"You haven't told her."

"Told me what?"

Isabella's eyes filled with fear.

Alessandro looked away.

Sophia stepped toward him.

"What haven't you told me?"

He remained silent.

"What haven't you told me, Alessandro?"

Finally, he looked into her eyes.

"My father wasn't your only enemy."

Sophia's heart stopped.

"Then who was?"

Alessandro swallowed.

"The man who ordered your family's deaths..."

He paused.

"...wasn't my father."

Sophia stared at him.

"Then who?"

Alessandro's voice was barely a whisper.

"Your father."

The room went silent.

Sophia's world shattered for the second time that night.

Her mother closed her eyes.

And somewhere outside the estate, a single gunshot echoed through the fog.

Then another.

And another.

Isabella suddenly grabbed Sophia's hand.

"We have to leave."

Sophia didn't move.

"Why?"

Her mother looked toward the doors.

"Because Marco wasn't lying."

"What did he mean?"

Isabella's face went pale.

"Your father is coming."

Sophia's heart pounded.

"He's coming here?"

"No."

Isabella looked at her daughter.

"He's already here."