Chapter 19 - The Bride's Real Name|
For several seconds, Caterina heard nothing but the blood rushing through her ears.
Lorenzo held the photograph as if it were a winning card. Behind him, his men spread across the loading floor, blocking the exits. Mateo struggled against his restraints, and Marco stood motionless, the pistol hanging at his side.
Tomasso kept his weapon trained on Lorenzo.
"Explain yourself."
Lorenzo smiled.
"You always were impatient."
"Start talking."
"Very well. Caterina was not born into the Moretti family."
Caterina's expression remained still, but her fingers curled into her palms.
"My mother was Elena Moretti."
"Elena raised you. She loved you. But she was not your biological mother."
Tomasso looked at Caterina.
She shook her head.
"No."
Lorenzo continued.
"Your biological mother was a woman named Lucia Moretti—the same woman who gave birth to Tomasso. She died shortly after delivery. Your father, Matteo, took you in because he believed Lucia's family had become a target."
Tomasso's face hardened.
"You're claiming Caterina and I are siblings?"
"No," Lorenzo said. "You were born to the same mother at different times? No. Don't look so shocked. The records are complicated, but the truth is simple: Caterina is Lucia's daughter. Tomasso is also Lucia's son."
Silence fell.
Tomasso lowered his gun a fraction.
Caterina stared at Lorenzo.
"Then you married us knowing that?"
"I married you to each other because the marriage was never supposed to be consummated. It was a legal alliance designed to transfer the trust's control. The moment you signed the documents, your shared rights became enforceable."
Tomasso's face turned to stone.
"You put us through this to get the inheritance."
"To keep it from being stolen by people who couldn't manage it."
Caterina's voice rose.
"You murdered my father. You poisoned my mother. You turned the city against me. You forced me into a marriage built on lies."
"And you survived."
Lorenzo's smile vanished.
"Do you know what survival costs? Your father wanted to give everything away. He believed he could walk away from the organization and live like a normal man. But men like us do not get to become normal simply because we regret our choices."
Tomasso looked at Caterina.
He could see the horror in her eyes. But beneath it was something else.
Calculation.
She had been watching the men behind Lorenzo, counting their weapons, their positions, the distance to the side exit.
She met Tomasso's gaze.
Then she slowly shook her head.
Not yet.
Tomasso understood.
He lowered his weapon.
Lorenzo laughed.
"There. That's better."
He gestured to his men.
"Take them to the cars."
As the guards approached, Caterina stepped forward.
"You've won, Uncle."
Lorenzo paused.
"What did you say?"
"You wanted the trust. You wanted the documents. You wanted control over every person who could challenge you."
She looked at the photograph in his hand.
"And you wanted me to believe that my entire life was a lie."
Lorenzo's smile returned.
"Because it was."
Caterina's eyes hardened.
"No. The lie was that you were the only person who understood the truth."
She looked toward Marco.
He gave the smallest nod.
The lights went out.
A burst of gunfire erupted from the loading floor. Tomasso grabbed Caterina and pulled her behind a concrete pillar. Mateo overturned his chair, dragging the restraints against a broken metal bracket until the cord snapped.
Marco fired toward the men blocking the exit.
Lorenzo disappeared into the darkness.
When the emergency lights came on, half the guards were gone, two lay wounded, and the office door stood open.
Caterina ran to Mateo.
"Are you hurt?"
"Only my pride."
Tomasso joined them, breathing hard.
"Where's Lorenzo?"
Marco looked toward the far loading bay.
"Escaped through the tunnel."
Tomasso's jaw tightened.
"Then we find him."
Caterina caught his arm.
"Not until we know whether he told the truth."
Tomasso looked at her.
"About our birth?"
"About everything."
She took the photograph from the floor.
The baby wore a tiny silver bracelet.
Caterina recognized it immediately.
Her mother had kept the matching bracelet in her jewelry box.
On its underside were two engraved words.
Caterina Moretti.
May you like
The name had been hers from the beginning.
But the face of the woman who had given birth to her remained a mystery.
