Chapter 13 - The Truth That Destroyed the Conti Name
The words hung in the courtroom like smoke.
Adrian stared at Michael.
"You're lying."
Michael struggled to breathe.
"Ask him about the payments. Ask him why Victor raised you. Ask him why every person who knew your real name disappeared."
Victor tightened his grip on the gun.
"Shut up."
Elias moved a fraction closer.
"Let him speak."
"He's dying," Victor snapped. "His words mean nothing."
Michael laughed weakly.
"You always said that about the people you killed."
Maya knelt beside her brother, pressing her scarf against his wound. Her hands shook, but her voice remained steady.
"Stay with me, Michael."
He looked at her.
"You're the little girl from the garden."
Tears filled her eyes.
"You remember?"
"I remember your bracelet. Mother said it would bring us home."
Elias looked toward Victor.
"Who ordered the murders?"
Victor's face twisted.
"Your father. Antonio wanted control of every shipment, every dollar, every politician on his payroll. Isabella discovered that he was selling out his own men to eliminate competition. She threatened to expose him."
"So you killed her?"
"Antonio ordered it. I carried it out."
Elias's fingers tightened around his weapon.
"And the fake death?"
"Antonio needed to disappear. He blamed the heart attack on an old medical condition and arranged a body substitution. You were young. You believed what you were told."
Elias felt something inside him break.
Every memory of his father had been carefully arranged. Every lesson about loyalty had been a lie.
"And Adrian?"
Victor looked at the younger man.
"Antonio promised him the empire if he helped remove you and Michael. He was supposed to take the throne after the family was cleansed."
Adrian shook his head.
"You told me Father wanted me to lead."
"He did. After you killed your brothers."
The realization hit Adrian with devastating force.
He had spent his life believing he was the victim of a family that had discarded him. In truth, he had been raised as a weapon by the man who murdered their mother.
Victor shifted his gun toward Maya.
Elias raised his own.
"Don't."
"You won't shoot me," Victor said. "Not with your sister in the way."
A voice came from the courthouse entrance.
"He's right."
Everyone turned.
Antonio Conti stood in the doorway, leaning on a cane. His hair had turned almost entirely white, but his eyes were sharp and cold.
Elias stared at the man who had supposedly been dead for seven years.
"Why are you here?"
Antonio looked at Maya, then Michael.
"Because Victor has become careless."
"You're too late," Maya said. "We know what you did."
Antonio's expression hardened.
"Then you know why it had to be done."
"No," Elias said. "We know you murdered our mother."
Antonio lifted his chin.
"She betrayed me."
Elias raised his weapon.
"She protected us."
For the first time, Antonio looked afraid.
Then he smiled.
"You still don't understand, son."
He reached into his coat and pulled out a small remote.
"Your empire is already gone."
May you like
A red light began blinking on the courthouse wall.
Antonio had planted explosives beneath the building—and he had activated the countdown.
