Chapter 10 - THE WOMAN WHO STARTED EVERYTHINGNobody spoke.
The newborn cried softly.
The only sound in the room.
I stared at Matteo.
Waiting for him to take back the words.
He didn't.
"My mother?"
The question came out as a whisper.
Matteo nodded.
"No."
Lorenzo stepped forward.
"Don't listen to him."
But Matteo looked at him.
"You know I'm telling the truth."
My father froze.
That was enough.
Because silence was sometimes a confession.
I turned toward Lorenzo.
"You knew?"
His eyes filled with pain.
"I knew something."
"What does that mean?"
"It means your mother wasn't who you thought she was."
The room became colder.
My entire life...
Every memory.
Every story.
Every belief.
Was breaking apart.
"My mother died when I was young."
Lorenzo nodded.
"Because she wanted you to believe she was gone."
I felt anger rising.
"Why?"
Before he could answer...
The mansion lights flickered.
A sound came from the security system.
A video automatically appeared on the screen.
A woman appeared.
Older.
But recognizable.
My mother.
Everyone froze.
Even Lorenzo.
Her voice filled the room.
"If this recording is playing..."
She paused.
"Then they finally found the truth."
My hands trembled.
The woman I thought I lost...
Was speaking to me.
"My son."
A tear fell from her eye.
"I know you hate me."
Nobody breathed.
"But everything I did..."
"I did to protect you."
The video changed.
Images appeared.
Documents.
Photos.
Secret files.
Then one image appeared.
A meeting.
My mother.
Adrian.
Matteo.
And another person.
Someone whose face was hidden.
The voice continued:
"The person who destroyed our family..."
"Was someone inside our own bloodline."
The screen zoomed in.
The hidden person's hand.
A ring.
A family symbol.
I recognized it.
Everyone did.
Because that ring belonged to...
Lorenzo.
My father.
The room exploded into chaos.
Guards raised weapons.
Alex stepped back.
Sophia looked terrified.
I stared at Lorenzo.
The man who claimed to save us.
The man who claimed to love us.
"Father..."
My voice broke.
"Tell me this isn't true."
Lorenzo looked at the screen.
Then at me.
And for the first time...
He looked afraid.
Not because he was accused.
But because the truth had finally returned.
"I can explain."
I laughed.
A painful laugh.
"Everyone says that."
Matteo stepped forward.
"You need to know one more thing."
I looked at him.
"What?"
His expression was serious.
"The man in that video..."
"Wasn't your father."
Silence.
"What?"
Matteo pointed at Lorenzo.
"That man disappeared twelve years ago."
Everyone froze.
"Then who have you been living with?"
The lights suddenly went out.
A scream echoed upstairs.
When the lights returned...
Lorenzo was gone.
And on the floor...
A single photograph.
A picture of my real father.
Alive.
Somewhere.
With one message written behind it:
May you like
"YOUR FATHER NEVER CAME HOME."
"THE MAN YOU CALLED FATHER WAS THE IMPOSTOR."
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