Chapter 17 - THE MOTHER WHO BUILT THE LIEThe room stopped feeling real.
Everything became distant.
The voices.
The alarms.
The guards moving around us.
All I could hear was my own heartbeat.
I stared at the black security screen.
My mother's final words echoed in my mind.
"I'm sorry, my son."
Not a denial.
Not an explanation.
An apology.
And somehow...
That hurt more.
I slowly turned toward Matteo.
"How long did you know?"
He didn't answer immediately.
That was the answer.
My jaw tightened.
"How long?"
Matteo looked down.
"Years."
A painful silence followed.
"Years?"
My voice broke.
"You watched me trust her."
"You watched me hate my father."
"You watched me destroy relationships because of lies..."
Matteo stepped forward.
"I was trying to protect you."
I laughed.
A cold, empty laugh.
"Everyone says that."
I pointed toward the screen.
"My father said it."
"My mother said it."
"Lorenzo said it."
"And now you."
I looked at the man who had been my closest friend.
"Maybe the truth is just another lie with a better excuse."
Matteo accepted the words.
Because he knew I was right.
Adrian remained silent near the doorway.
Watching.
Waiting.
Finally, he spoke.
"You want the truth?"
I looked at him.
"Yes."
His expression became darker.
"Then you need to know what happened the night your father disappeared."
The mansion became silent.
Adrian opened the old box he carried.
Inside was a small recorder.
An old one.
Damaged.
But carefully preserved.
"My father gave this to me before they took him."
My breathing stopped.
"Before they took him?"
Adrian nodded.
"He knew he was being watched."
He pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then...
My father's voice.
Older.
Tired.
But unmistakable.
"If this recording reaches my children..."
Everyone froze.
"It means I failed to protect them."
I closed my eyes.
A tear escaped before I could stop it.
"Your mother was not always my enemy."
My eyes opened.
"What?"
Adrian looked at me.
The recording continued.
"She was trying to protect this family from something bigger than all of us."
A strange feeling entered my chest.
Confusion.
Fear.
Hope.
"But power changes people."
A pause.
"And your mother made one choice that destroyed everything."
The recording ended.
Nobody moved.
I looked at Adrian.
"What choice?"
He stared at me.
"The choice to sacrifice one child..."
His eyes moved toward me.
"To save the other."
The words hit like a weapon.
"What does that mean?"
Adrian didn't answer.
Instead, he looked toward the stairs.
Because suddenly...
Someone was standing there.
Someone we thought was gone.
Lorenzo.
But he wasn't alone.
Beside him stood a woman holding a gun.
And I recognized her immediately.
My mother's former assistant.
The person who disappeared twelve years ago.
May you like
She smiled.
"The family reunion is finally complete."
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