Chapter 10 – THE SEVERED TIE

Six months later.

The sunlight poured into the grand foyer of the Moretti estate. The oppressive, dark atmosphere of Vanessa’s reign was entirely gone, replaced by warmth and laughter.

Abigail came running down the sweeping staircase, laughing as our new golden retriever puppy chased her heels. She was wearing the pale-blue bridesmaid dress.

It fit perfectly.

“Daddy!” she called out. “Look!”

Luca stepped out of his study, wearing a sharp black tuxedo. When he saw her, his entire face lit up.

“You look absolutely beautiful, Abby,” he said, catching her in a hug and spinning her around.

“Do you think Emily is ready?” she asked excitedly.

“Let’s go find out,” he smiled.

I stood in the master suite, staring at my reflection in the floor-to-length mirror. I wasn’t wearing a maid’s uniform anymore. I was wearing an elegant, flowing white wedding gown.

The nightmare was over.

Antonio and Vanessa were both serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. My mother had been given a plea deal for testifying, resulting in five years in a minimum-security facility. I paid for her lawyer, but I hadn’t visited her. Some betrayals couldn’t be stitched back together.

But my life here had been rebuilt. Luca had kept his promise. I was no longer an employee; I was his partner, in every sense of the word.

A gentle knock at the door broke my thoughts.

Abigail peaked her head inside. “Miss Emily? It’s time.”

She didn’t call me ‘Mom’, and I didn’t push her to. We had our own bond. I was the woman who had hidden under a bed with her, the woman who had faced down a cartel for her. That was stronger than any title.

“I’m ready, sweetheart,” I smiled, taking her hand.

The wedding was small, intimate, and held in the estate’s private gardens. There were no mafia bosses, no political elites. Just family and trusted friends.

As I walked down the aisle, Luca stood at the altar, looking at me with an intensity that made my heart race. Abigail walked right beside me, holding my bouquet, beaming with pride.

We said our vows beneath an arch of white roses. When Luca kissed me, the small crowd cheered, and Abigail threw flower petals into the air.

During the reception, the three of us sat at the head table. Abigail was eating a massive slice of chocolate cake, completely unbothered by her dress or her size.

Luca leaned over, kissing my shoulder. “You saved us,” he whispered.

“We saved each other,” I replied, resting my head against his.

It was the perfect day.

Until Marco approached the table, looking incredibly grim. He wasn’t wearing his suit jacket, and he was sweating.

“Boss,” Marco whispered, leaning in so Abigail wouldn’t hear. “We have a situation in the basement vault.”

Luca frowned, his protective instinct immediately flaring. “What is it?”

“We were clearing out Antonio’s old files,” Marco said tightly. “I found a secondary safe hidden behind the drywall. It wasn’t Antonio’s. It belonged to your father.”

Luca went very still. His father had been the previous Don, a ruthless man who had died over a decade ago.

“And?” Luca asked.

“There was a ledger inside,” Marco swallowed hard. “And a birth certificate.”

Luca stood up slowly, excusing himself from the table. I followed him, my heart beginning to pound with a familiar dread.

We walked down into the subterranean levels of the estate, into Marco’s security office.

On the metal desk lay an old, yellowing ledger and a faded birth certificate.

“Your father kept meticulous records, Boss,” Marco said, pointing to the ledger. “Payments, bribes, hits. But there’s a recurring payment here. Twenty thousand dollars a month, sent to an offshore account in Geneva, labeled ‘Silence’.”

Luca picked up the birth certificate. His eyes scanned the document.

His face drained of all color.

“Luca?” I asked, touching his arm. “What’s wrong?”

He handed me the paper.

It was a birth certificate from thirty-six years ago.

The mother’s name was listed as Maria Moretti. Luca’s mother.

The child’s name was Luca Moretti.

But there was a second name written directly beneath it.

Antonio Moretti.

“They were twins?” I asked, confused. “I thought Antonio was your older brother by two years.”

“He was,” Luca whispered, his voice trembling with a horrifying realization. “The Antonio I grew up with was born two years before me. The Antonio sitting in federal prison right now is my older brother.”

Luca stared at the birth certificate, the implications crashing down on him like a tidal wave.

“My mother had twins,” Luca said, his eyes wide. “Me, and another boy. A brother I never knew existed.”

He looked at Marco. “Where did the ‘Silence’ payments go?”

“I traced the routing number,” Marco said grimly. “It goes to a private psychiatric hospital in Switzerland. A facility for the criminally insane.”

The silence in the room was deafening.

“My father didn’t just hide a child,” Luca realized. “He locked him away.”

Suddenly, the security monitors on Marco’s desk flickered violently to static.

The estate’s alarms began to blare, a high-pitched siren that echoed through the entire house.

“Perimeter breach!” Marco yelled, reaching for his radio. “We have multiple armed hostiles breaching the front gates!”

Luca grabbed a shotgun from the weapons rack. “Who the hell is attacking us on my wedding day?”

Before Marco could answer, the radio crackled. A voice spoke over the frequency. It was a voice that sounded exactly like Luca’s, but colder, emptier, and completely devoid of humanity.

“Hello, Luca,” the voice purred. “I’ve come to take what’s mine.”

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