STOLEN REVENGE

Chapter Eigteen: The Impossible Choice

"You have one hour."

The words kept echoing through Dante's mind long after the screen went black. Save your mother. Or save your sister.

For the first time in his life, Dante Moretti faced an enemy he could not fight with bullets, money, or power. He had spent years hunting murderers and exposing conspiracies.

He had survived betrayals, buried friends, and fought his way through Raveno City's darkest corners. But nothing had prepared him for this.

Valentina grabbed his arm. "We'll save both of them."

Dante looked at her and forced a smile. "That's not what Selene is counting on."

Luciano paced across the room, visibly shaken. "This is exactly how the Thirteen operate," he said. "They don't just kill people. They force their enemies to destroy themselves."

Gabriel studied the tactical map on one of the monitors. "Two locations. Two heavily guarded compounds. Nearly forty miles apart." "So we split up," Sofia suggested.

Gabriel shook his head. "No. That's exactly what they want. Divide our forces and eliminate us one by one."

Another explosion rocked the safe house. The building was starting to collapse around them.

"We're running out of time," Valentina said.

Dante looked down at Alessandro Moretti's letter in his hands. One line kept haunting him: The true heir of the Circle is not one child. His eyes widened slightly.

"What if we've been asking the wrong question?" he asked. Luciano frowned. "What do you mean?"

"The Covenant needs both heirs to activate or destroy the Circle." "Yes." "Then killing either one of us defeats the whole point of keeping us alive."

The room went silent. Gabriel slowly smiled. "Interesting."

Dante kept thinking out loud. "The Thirteen have protected Nyx for twenty-five years. They've hunted me my entire life. If their real goal is controlling the Circle, they can't afford to lose either heir."

"Unless," Sofia cut in, "they're bluffing." "Exactly."

Luciano stopped pacing. "They don't want us to make a choice. They want us to believe we have no other options."

Valentina smiled for the first time in minutes. "Then let's give them an option they never considered."

"What's that?" Dante asked. "We save everyone."

Before anyone could celebrate the idea, Gabriel's face darkened.

"There's one problem." "Only one?" Sofia asked sarcastically.

"The compounds belong to the Thirteen. Breaking into one would be nearly impossible."

"And two?" Valentina asked.

"Suicide."

Dante smiled slightly. "Good thing I've never been particularly reasonable."

The group quickly began planning their most dangerous mission yet. Luciano would lead a small assault team to rescue Isabella. Gabriel would infiltrate the Thirteen's communications network.

Sofia would coordinate their movements from a mobile command center. Valentina would go with Dante.

"Why me?" she asked with a smile.

"Because if I'm walking into hell, I want the most dangerous woman I know standing beside me."

She laughed softly. "Good answer."

Thirty minutes later, they left the collapsing safe house and disappeared into the tunnels beneath Raveno City.

As they prepared for battle, Dante found himself standing alone beside Luciano.

"There's something I need to ask you," Dante said quietly.

"Anything." "Why didn't you come for me?"

Luciano stayed silent for a moment before answering. "Because I was afraid."

Dante looked surprised. "Afraid of what?"

"Of becoming my father." He sighed heavily. "Power destroys everyone who touches it. I watched the Circle destroy friendships, families, and entire nations. I told myself that staying away was the greatest gift I could give you." "And was it?"

Luciano smiled sadly. "I don't know."

For the first time since meeting his birth father, Dante saw that Luciano was not the monster he had imagined. He was just another broken man trying to live with impossible choices.

Hours later, Gabriel's voice came through their encrypted radio. "I've found something."

"What is it?" Dante asked. "The Thirteen are moving both Isabella and Nyx." "Where?"

Gabriel hesitated. "To the Founders' Vault."

The name caught Luciano's attention at once. "That's impossible," he whispered.

"What is the Founders' Vault?" Valentina asked.

Luciano's face had gone pale. "It's where the Circle began." Hidden beneath Raveno City was an ancient underground chamber, built by the original founders nearly a century ago.

Legend said it held every secret, account, and document that had made the Circle one of the most powerful organizations in the world. Only the true heirs could open it.

"They're forcing both heirs into the same place," Dante realized.

"Which means they're no longer asking you to choose," Gabriel replied. "They're setting a trap."

Suddenly, every screen inside their command vehicle lit up with an incoming call. Selene Black appeared again.

"Congratulations," she said calmly. "You finally figured it out." "What do you want?" Dante demanded.

"The same thing I have always wanted." "Which is?"

She smiled behind her mask. "The truth." "What truth?"

Selene slowly took off her mask. Everyone in the vehicle froze. Luciano nearly dropped his weapon.

"Impossible."

Valentina stared at the screen, unable to believe her eyes. The woman standing before them looked almost identical to Isabella Romano. She was older and colder, but there was no mistaking the resemblance.

"Who are you?" Dante whispered.

Selene smiled. "I've worn many names over the years."

Luciano's face slowly shifted from shock to horror. "No."

"Tell him," Selene said.

Luciano's voice shook for the first time. "She can't be."

"Tell him!" Selene shouted.

Luciano looked straight at Dante. "She's your mother's younger sister."

The room fell silent.

"My aunt?" Dante asked.

Selene smiled wickedly. "No." She leaned closer to the camera before dropping the truth that changed everything. "I am the fifth founder of the Circle."

Everyone froze. "The founders didn't have four children," she went on softly. "They had five."

Tears filled Luciano's eyes as he finally understood the truth they had missed for twenty-five years.

"The woman who murdered your mother wasn't your father."

Selene smiled coldly. "It was me."

The transmission cut out.

And somewhere beneath Raveno City, the last and most dangerous founder of the Circle was waiting for the two heirs to walk willingly into her trap.