Chapter 8 - THE WOMAN BEHIND EVERY WAR
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My mother entered the medical wing surrounded by armed men.
She looked exactly as I remembered.
Elegant.
Calm.
Untouched by time.
Adrian stared at her like a ghost had walked through the door.
“You're alive.”
She smiled.
“So are you.”
I couldn't move.
My entire life had been built around mourning her.
Now she stood in front of me.
“Why?”
She looked at me.
“Because your father needed you to believe I was dead.”
“Did you order the hit?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
She looked toward my father.
“He did.”
My father said nothing.
My mother continued.
“Your father wanted you to become ruthless.”
“And you?”
“I wanted you to survive.”
She told us the truth.
When I was seven, she discovered that my father intended to use me as the bridge between the families.
She tried to take me and leave.
He stopped her.
The shooting was staged.
She was taken into hiding.
Adrian was used as the scapegoat.
Years later, when Adrian tried to expose the truth, my mother helped him disappear.
She also met Dominic Bellini.
Together they built a secret network protecting the children.
Me.
Adrian.
And eventually Chloe.
My mother looked at Chloe.
“She is the last piece.”
I hated the phrase.
“She is a child.”
“Yes.”
“Then stop treating her like an asset.”
My mother stared at me.
For the first time, she smiled with sadness.
“That's exactly why I chose you.”
I didn't understand.
“Why me?”
“Because somewhere along the way, you became the only man in this family who still had a heart.”
I looked at the charcoal blanket still wrapped around my shoulders.
Chloe had tucked it beneath my chin.
I remembered her whisper.
Nobody should ever be left alone in the dark.
My mother continued.
“The empire is collapsing.”
“Good.”
“Not yet.”
She handed me a file.
Inside were documents proving that dozens of government officials were secretly tied to the family network.
“If this becomes public, Chicago will burn.”
“Maybe it should.”
She shook her head.
“People will die.”
I looked at her.
“What do you want me to do?”
“End it.”
“How?”
“Transfer the assets into the trust.”
“Destroy the syndicate?”
“Yes.”
My father laughed weakly.
“You're asking him to destroy everything I built.”
My mother looked at him.
“No.”
She looked at me.
“I'm asking him to stop the family from killing itself.”
Then the alarm started.
Red lights flooded the corridor.
Marcus shouted from the security room.
“Boss! We have movement outside!”
My mother turned.
“How many?”
“Dozens.”
She looked at me.
“It's too late.”
A gunshot cracked from the parking level.
Then another.
Then another.
The intercom came alive.
A man's voice spoke.
“Vincent Thorne.”
I knew it instantly.
Dominic Bellini.
“You have ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes for what?”
“To decide whether Chloe lives.”
My heart stopped.
The lights went black.
May you like
When they came back on—
Chloe was gone.
