Chapter 8 - THE BROTHER WHO RETURNED AS AN ENEMYThe mansion doors opened slowly.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Because everyone in that room understood what was standing outside.
Not a stranger.
Not an enemy.
A ghost.
My brother.
The man who shared my blood.
The man who carried half of my identity.
Alex stepped inside.
The same eyes.
The same face.
But everything else was different.
His expression was colder.
His movements were sharper.
He looked like someone who had spent his entire life preparing for a war.
Behind him...
Adrian Vale entered.
Calm.
Confident.
Almost amused.
Like he had been waiting for this moment for twelve years.
I stared at him.
"You knew."
Adrian smiled.
"I knew many things."
My hands tightened.
"You knew who I was."
"Yes."
"You knew Alex was my brother."
"Yes."
"And you let us destroy each other."
Adrian looked around the room.
"Destroy?"
A small laugh escaped him.
"No."
"I created balance."
Nobody understood.
Except Matteo.
His face changed.
"You're still playing the same game."
Adrian looked at him.
"You're the one who lost."
The guards moved closer.
But Alex raised his hand.
"No."
Everyone stopped.
He looked at me.
"I didn't come here to fight."
A pause.
"I came here to take back what was stolen."
My voice was cold.
"What was stolen from you?"
He laughed.
Everything.
"My name."
"My childhood."
"My parents."
"My future."
His eyes became darker.
"You had everything."
"You got the family."
"The empire."
"The love."
"And I got nothing."
I looked at him.
"Because Adrian lied to you."
Alex's expression changed.
For a second...
A tiny crack appeared.
Then it disappeared.
"That's what he told you?"
"No."
I stepped closer.
"That's what the evidence says."
I showed him Elena's notebook.
His eyes moved to the handwriting.
And froze.
Because he recognized it.
"She wrote this?"
"Yes."
His fingers trembled slightly.
For the first time...
The cold mask disappeared.
"Where is she?"
Nobody answered.
Alex looked at Matteo.
Then at me.
"Where is my mother?"
Silence.
Then Lorenzo spoke.
"She's gone."
Alex stopped breathing.
"Dead?"
Nobody answered.
Lorenzo lowered his eyes.
"She sacrificed herself protecting you."
Alex looked away.
And for a moment...
He looked like a child again.
A child who had been waiting twelve years for someone to tell him his mother still loved him.
Then Adrian spoke.
"Don't let them manipulate you."
Alex turned.
Adrian continued:
"They are afraid because they know the truth."
"The empire belongs to you."
I watched my brother.
Waiting.
Hoping.
But then Alex did something unexpected.
He walked toward the table.
Picked up the old family photograph.
The one showing two babies.
He stared at it.
Then whispered:
"I remember this."
Everyone froze.
"You remember?"
Alex nodded.
"Not everything."
"Only pieces."
"A woman singing."
"A man crying."
"And someone taking me away."
His eyes lifted.
Straight toward Adrian.
"You told me my father abandoned me."
Adrian's smile faded.
Alex continued:
"You told me my brother was the reason."
The room became silent.
May you like
Because Alex finally understood.
The first crack in Adrian's lie had appeared.
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