Chapter 8 - THE SON JULIAN NEVER KNEW EXISTED
Julian stared at the birth certificate.
He read his own name three times.
Then a fourth.
“No.”
Elena stood behind him.
Vittorio looked away.
Julian saw it.
That tiny movement was enough.
“You knew.”
Vittorio did not answer.
Julian turned.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
Julian laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because the alternative was breaking something.
“I have a child?”
Vittorio said nothing.
“A nine-year-old child?”
“Yes.”
Elena stepped back.
Julian looked at the screen.
The child’s name was Adrian Moretti.
His mother was Lucia Moretti.
Julian frowned.
“Moretti.”
Elena looked at him.
“My mother’s maiden name.”
Claudia whispered,
“That isn’t a coincidence.”
Julian turned.
“What?”
Claudia hesitated.
“Lucia was Elena’s older sister.”
Elena went completely still.
“No.”
Julian looked at her.
“You have a sister?”
“Had.”
Her voice barely came out.
“She died ten years ago.”
Claudia nodded.
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
“Lucia died in a car accident.”
“She was twenty-seven.”
“She never had a child.”
Claudia looked at her.
“She did.”
Elena grabbed the desk.
Julian stood.
“Elena.”
She stared at Claudia.
“Where is he?”
Claudia did not answer.
Elena’s voice rose.
“Where is my sister’s son?”
Vittorio said,
“Alive.”
Elena turned toward him.
“You knew too?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Vittorio looked at Julian.
“Because the boy is his.”
Julian felt sick.
“That’s impossible.”
Vittorio’s expression did not change.
Julian searched his memory.
Ten years earlier.
A summer in Lake Como.
A charity event.
He had been twenty-eight.
Drinking too much.
Angry after a breakup.
Lucia.
He remembered her.
Not well.
But enough.
A dark-haired woman laughing on a terrace.
A kiss.
A night he had spent years trying not to think about because he had barely known her.
His eyes moved to Elena.
Her face had gone blank.
“You knew I met Lucia?”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
“She never told me.”
Julian whispered,
“I didn’t know she was your sister.”
“I didn’t know you knew her.”
The cruelty of it was almost impossible to process.
Julian looked at Vittorio.
“What happened to the child?”
“Lucia gave birth privately.”
“Why?”
“She was afraid.”
“Of me?”
“Of this family.”
Julian’s chest tightened.
“Did she try to contact me?”
Vittorio stayed silent.
Julian stepped toward him.
“Did she?”
“Yes.”
Elena closed her eyes.
Julian’s voice shook.
“You stopped her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Vittorio looked exhausted now.
“Because you were about to take control of the European division.”
“A scandal involving an unknown child—”
Julian struck the wall.
Hard.
Elena flinched.
He immediately turned.
“I’m sorry.”
She shook her head.
Julian faced his father again.
“You stole nine years from me too.”
Vittorio said,
“I protected your future.”
“My future?”
Julian’s voice broke.
“You keep destroying my life and calling it protection.”
Vittorio said nothing.
Claudia looked at the screen.
“There’s more.”
Julian did not want more.
But he knew they were going to get it.
He scrolled.
There were photographs of a little boy.
Brown hair.
Gray-green eyes.
A familiar crooked smile.
Julian stopped breathing.
The resemblance was unmistakable.
Elena covered her mouth.
“Oh my God.”
The boy looked like Julian at nine.
Almost exactly.
Julian touched the screen.
“Where is he?”
Claudia looked toward Vittorio.
The older man answered.
“A boarding school in Switzerland.”
Julian turned.
“What?”
“Under another name.”
“Why?”
“After Lucia died, Isabella arranged guardianship.”
Julian stared.
“My mother knew too.”
“Yes.”
Julian laughed bitterly.
“Of course she did.”
Elena whispered,
“What happened to Lucia?”
The room changed.
Vittorio looked down.
Claudia’s hand tightened around the gun.
Elena saw it.
“What?”
Claudia said nothing.
Elena moved closer.
“Claudia.”
The woman looked at her.
“Your sister’s accident was never fully investigated.”
Elena’s face went white.
“No.”
Julian looked at Vittorio.
“You said it was an accident.”
“I believed it was.”
Claudia snapped,
“You knew the brakes had been tampered with.”
Elena swayed.
Julian caught her.
“Sit down.”
She pulled away.
“No.”
Her eyes stayed on Vittorio.
“You knew?”
Vittorio’s face hardened.
“I learned later.”
“How much later?”
“Three months.”
“And you did nothing?”
“I had no proof.”
Claudia laughed.
“You had everything.”
Vittorio looked at her.
“I had suspicion.”
Elena’s voice trembled.
“Who?”
No one spoke.
“Who killed my sister?”
Claudia looked at the screen.
Julian followed her gaze.
A file sat near the bottom.
LUCIA_FINAL.
Elena stopped breathing.
Julian clicked it.
An audio player appeared.
He pressed play.
Static.
Then a woman’s voice.
Lucia.
Elena recognized it instantly.
She covered her mouth.
Lucia sounded frightened.
“If anything happens to me, Isabella Rossi knows about the child.”
Julian’s blood turned cold.
The recording continued.
“She told me Julian could never know.”
“She said the boy would ruin Luca’s future.”
Vittorio closed his eyes.
Lucia continued.
“I don’t know what she plans.”
“But she keeps sending people to watch me.”
Elena began crying silently.
The recording ended.
No one moved.
Julian looked at his father.
“You knew this existed?”
“No.”
Julian believed him this time.
Which somehow made it worse.
Elena whispered,
“My sister died because of your family.”
Julian had no defense.
He did not try.
“Yes.”
She looked at him.
Not accusing.
Just broken.
“Yes.”
He repeated.
“My family did this.”
Elena looked away.
Claudia said,
“There’s one more file.”
Julian almost said no.
Instead he opened it.
A photograph appeared.
Adrian.
Taken recently.
Maybe two weeks ago.
He was standing outside the Swiss school.
Beside him was Luca.
Julian felt rage return.
“What is Luca doing with my son?”
Vittorio moved closer.
“That photograph is recent?”
“Yes.”
Claudia enlarged the metadata.
“Fourteen days ago.”
Julian’s heart pounded.
Luca knew Adrian existed.
And had access to him.
His phone suddenly regained signal.
Dozens of notifications flooded in.
One message came from an unknown number.
Julian opened it.
A photograph loaded.
Adrian sitting in the back seat of a car.
His face was terrified.
The message underneath contained six words.
BRING THE CARD OR LOSE HIM TOO.
Elena whispered,
“Julian…”
His hands started shaking.
Another message arrived.
MIDNIGHT.
OLD VALMONT MARINA.
COME ALONE.
Julian looked at the clock.
11:21 p.m.
May you like
Thirty-nine minutes.
His son had just become a hostage.
