Chapter 5 - THE MAN WHO WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO EXISTThe mansion was no longer a home.
It was a crime scene.
The sound of alarms echoed through the halls.
Guards searched every room.
Every hallway.
Every hidden corner.
But Matteo was gone.
A man surrounded by security.
A man who should have had nowhere to escape.
Yet somehow...
He disappeared.
I stood in front of the message on the wall.
"STOP LOOKING FOR THE DEAD."
"THEY HAVE BEEN WATCHING YOU ALL ALONG."
The words burned into my mind.
Someone wanted me to stop.
Someone wanted me afraid.
But fear was something I stopped feeling a long time ago.
After building an empire.
After losing people I loved.
After trusting the wrong people.
Fear was no longer a weakness.
It was a warning.
"Find him."
My guards immediately moved.
But I stopped them.
"No."
Everyone looked at me.
"We don't find Matteo."
A pause.
"We find who helped him disappear."
Because Matteo was right about one thing.
He was never alone.
I walked back into the hidden room.
The camera was destroyed.
The bed was empty.
But something remained.
A small notebook hidden beneath the mattress.
The pages were old.
Yellow.
Filled with Elena's handwriting.
The first page contained only one sentence.
"If you are reading this, I failed to protect my sons."
My hands tightened.
I turned the page.
The next words made my heart stop.
"The child Matteo took was not the only one."
I kept reading.
Twelve years ago...
Elena discovered that Matteo had been secretly investigating my family.
Not to destroy it.
To protect it.
Because someone else had already infiltrated our bloodline.
Someone closer than anyone imagined.
The next page had a name.
A name I had never heard before.
Adrian Vale.
Below it:
"The man who owns half the companies in Europe."
My eyes narrowed.
Adrian Vale.
A billionaire.
A rival.
A man who had spent years trying to buy my empire.
A man who always seemed to know my next move.
I turned another page.
Then froze.
A photograph fell out.
It showed my parents.
Standing beside another man.
A younger Adrian Vale.
And between them...
A baby.
But not me.
Another baby.
On the back of the photograph:
"The first heir."
My breathing became heavier.
Sophia walked closer.
"Father..."
She looked at the picture.
"Who is that baby?"
I couldn't answer.
Because I already knew.
That child wasn't missing.
He wasn't dead.
He wasn't forgotten.
He had been erased.
I looked at the final page of Elena's notebook.
Only one sentence was written.
"Matteo saved the wrong child."
My blood froze.
At that moment...
A sound came from upstairs.
A door opening.
Everyone turned.
The old west room.
The room that had been locked for twelve years.
A figure stood inside.
A man.
Older.
Wounded.
Holding a gun.
The guards raised their weapons.
But I stopped them.
Because the man looked at me...
And whispered:
"Finally."
"My son."
Nobody moved.
The stranger lowered the weapon.
His eyes filled with tears.
"I thought I would die before seeing you again."
My voice was cold.
"Who are you?"
He looked at the photograph in my hand.
Then back at me.
"I am the man you buried twelve years ago."
A silence.
May you like
Then he said:
"I am your father."
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