Chapter 24 - The Man Behind the MaskNobody breathed.
Every eye in the mansion turned toward Matteo.
He didn't move.
Didn't speak.
Didn't even blink.
The silence lasted only a few seconds.
But it felt like an eternity.
Finally...
Matteo laughed.
A quiet laugh.
One that didn't belong to the loyal man I'd known my entire life.
"You've gotten better, Evelyn."
Evelyn didn't smile.
"You taught me never to underestimate liars."
Adrian slowly stepped between us.
"Tell me she's wrong."
Matteo's jaw tightened.
"I wish I could."
The room erupted.
Guards immediately raised their weapons.
Sophia grabbed Alex's arm.
Lorenzo's abandoned security team aimed their rifles at Matteo.
Only my grandfather remained perfectly calm.
As if he had expected this moment.
I stared at Matteo.
"My father..."
My voice cracked.
"Did you kill him?"
Matteo closed his eyes.
"No."
The answer came instantly.
Too instantly.
"But I watched him die."
The words struck harder than any bullet.
"What?"
"I didn't pull the trigger."
His shoulders slumped.
"But I let it happen."
Silence.
Twenty-two years of loyalty...
Destroyed by one sentence.
Matteo slowly reached into his coat.
Every weapon in the room clicked.
"Don't."
Adrian aimed his pistol.
Matteo ignored him.
Instead...
He removed an old leather notebook.
Its edges were burned.
Its pages stained with dried blood.
He placed it gently on the table.
"Your father gave me this."
I stared at it.
"What is it?"
"A journal."
He swallowed hard.
"The last thing he ever wrote."
Nobody touched it.
Matteo looked directly into my eyes.
"I was supposed to destroy it."
"You didn't?"
"I couldn't."
He took a shaky breath.
"Because everything Lorenzo told you..."
He paused.
"...was only half the truth."
The room fell silent again.
Matteo slowly opened the journal.
Inside...
A photograph slipped onto the floor.
A family picture.
My father.
My mother.
Me as a baby.
And standing beside them...
A woman none of us recognized.
Except Evelyn.
Her face drained of color.
"No..."
She whispered.
"She survived?"
Matteo nodded.
"She never died."
Adrian frowned.
"Who is she?"
May you like
Matteo answered quietly.
"The woman who ordered your father's execution."
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