Chapter 6 - [THE MATRIARCH'S REVENGE]
"What are you talking about?" I gasped as David dragged me down the dark servants' corridor.
The sounds of shouting and breaking glass echoed from the dining room behind us.
"Elena didn't come back to save Anthony," David breathed heavily, pulling me into the laundry room and locking the heavy door behind us.
The emergency generator kicked in, bathing the small room in a dim red light.
David dropped the crowbar. He looked exhausted. Terrified.
"David, look at me," I demanded, grabbing his shoulders. "What is going on? Why did you attack the guard?"
"I didn't," David said, his eyes wild. "Elena's men did. They breached the gate. I just slipped in behind them to find you."
"Elena's men?"
"Emily, listen to me." David reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, velvet box.
He opened it.
Inside was a beautiful, antique emerald necklace.
My breath hitched. "Where did you get that?"
"Vanessa's father gave it to me," David said. "When he found me three weeks ago. He told me the truth about who I am. He told me Vanessa was trying to poison Anthony."
"So you came to stop her?"
"No." David shook his head. "I came to warn Marco. But I was too late. Elena already got to him."
"Elena?" I was so confused. "Elena exposed Marco and Vanessa."
"Elena set them up," David said. "She knew Vanessa was poisoning Anthony. She let it happen. She wanted Anthony dead so Luca would take over. And she wanted Vanessa to take the fall."
"Why?"
"Because ten years ago, Anthony didn't just divorce Elena. He exiled her. He took her power, her money, her name. She swore she would come back and take the family empire. But she couldn't do it while Anthony was alive."
Someone started pounding on the laundry room door.
"Emily!" Luca's voice yelled from the other side. "Open the door!"
David grabbed my hand. "Don't. If Luca opens that door, Elena will kill him. She brought a hit squad, Emily. The blackout was her signal."
Smash.
The heavy wood of the door began to splinter.
Luca was kicking it down.
"We have to hide," David whispered, looking around the small room.
But there was nowhere to go.
The door burst open.
Luca stood there, his gun raised.
Behind him, the hallway was empty.
"Where are they?" I asked, my voice shaking.
"My men are holding the dining room," Luca said, breathing hard. He looked at David. "Put your hands on your head. Now."
David didn't move. He held up the velvet box with the emerald necklace.
"Luca," David said. "Do you recognize this?"
Luca's eyes narrowed. "That belongs to my mother. It went missing ten years ago."
"It didn't go missing," David said. "She sold it to Vanessa's father to fund her hit squad. She orchestrated this whole night."
Luca stared at the necklace.
The anger in his eyes shifted into a deep, painful realization.
"She used the Bellinis," Luca whispered.
"She used everyone," David said. "And right now, she's in the dining room with your father."
Luca turned and sprinted down the hallway.
David and I ran after him.
When we reached the dining room, the heavy oak doors were locked from the inside.
"Dad!" Luca yelled, slamming his shoulder against the wood.
From inside the room, we heard a woman's voice.
Calm. Chilling.
"He can't hear you, Luca."
Luca stepped back and aimed his gun at the lock.
He fired twice.
He kicked the doors open.
The emergency lights flickered on.
The guests were gone. They had fled through the patio doors.
Marco and Vanessa were tied to the heavy dining chairs, gagged and terrified.
But at the head of the table, Elena Moretti was standing behind Anthony's wheelchair.
She was holding a syringe against his neck.
"Hello, Luca," Elena smiled.
Luca froze. "Mother. Put it down."
"I can't do that, darling," Elena said softly. "Your father and I have unfinished business."
She looked at me standing behind Luca.
Then she smiled.
"Emily," Elena said. "Did you ever wonder why your mother left you and David in foster care?"
My blood ran cold.
"What?" I whispered.
Elena pressed the syringe closer to Anthony's skin.
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"Your mother didn't abandon you, Emily. She was murdered. And the man who ordered it... is sitting right here in this wheelchair."
TITLE: THE SINS OF THE FATHER
