Chapter 9 — The Betrayal of Seventeen Years
Chapter 9 — The Betrayal of Seventeen Years
The sound of the chains echoed beneath the estate.
Once.
Twice.
Then silence.
Dominic stood over the open hatch, unable to move.
He had buried Richard Vale twelve years ago.
He had watched the coffin disappear beneath the earth.
He had listened to the priest say the final words.
He had stood beside Nathan.
He had accepted condolences from men who feared him.
He had spent twelve years believing the most dangerous man in his life was dead.
Now that man's voice had come from beneath his own home.
"Come down, son."
Dominic's hand tightened around his weapon.
Mia whispered behind him.
"Don't."
He looked back.
Her face was pale.
"Why?"
"Because that's what he wants."
Alexander nodded.
"She's right."
Dominic stared at him.
"You knew."
"I suspected."
"You knew my father was alive."
"No."
Alexander looked toward the darkness.
"I knew he might be."
Nathan stepped forward.
"I knew."
Dominic turned.
The room seemed to shrink.
"You knew."
Nathan didn't answer.
Dominic's voice became dangerously quiet.
"For seventeen years, you've lied to me."
Nathan's eyes filled with regret.
"Yes."
"You knew my mother was alive."
"Yes."
"You knew Alexander was alive."
"Yes."
"You knew Richard might be alive."
Nathan closed his eyes.
"Yes."
Dominic stared at him.
"And you still stood beside me."
"I promised."
"What did you promise?"
Nathan looked directly into his eyes.
"To keep you alive."
Dominic laughed bitterly.
"You call this alive?"
Nathan shook his head.
"I call it surviving."
Dominic descended first.
The ladder seemed endless.
Cold air surrounded him.
The deeper he went, the quieter the estate became.
Above him, Daniel ordered the guards to secure every entrance.
Mia stayed with Harper.
Alexander followed Dominic.
Nathan came last.
No one spoke.
At the bottom was a narrow stone corridor.
Old.
Ancient.
The walls were covered with black marks.
Not mold.
Symbols.
The same black bird appeared again and again.
Dominic touched one.
"What is this?"
Alexander answered.
"Moretti."
Dominic turned.
"The symbol of your mother's family."
"Yes."
"And my father built his empire over them."
"Yes."
They continued.
At the end stood a steel door.
No lock.
No handle.
Just a small circular opening.
Dominic approached.
A voice came through.
"Still carrying a gun, Dominic?"
He froze.
Richard.
His voice was older.
Weaker.
But unmistakable.
Dominic opened the door.
The room beyond was enormous.
And in the center sat an old man in a wheelchair.
His hair had turned completely white.
His face was thinner.
His body frail.
But his eyes were the same.
Cold.
Intelligent.
Calculating.
Richard Vale looked at Dominic.
Then smiled.
"My son."
Dominic raised his weapon.
"You died."
Richard laughed.
"That's what I wanted everyone to believe."
Dominic stepped closer.
"You let me bury you."
"I needed you to believe I was gone."
"Why?"
"Because you were becoming dangerous."
Dominic's jaw tightened.
"To you?"
"To everyone."
Alexander stepped into the room.
Richard's smile disappeared.
"Alexander."
"Father."
Richard stared at him.
"You shouldn't be here."
"You've said that my entire life."
Nathan entered.
Richard looked at him.
"Traitor."
Nathan didn't react.
Dominic noticed.
"Why did you call him that?"
Richard's eyes returned to Dominic.
"Because he betrayed me."
Nathan finally spoke.
"I saved him."
Richard laughed.
"You saved yourself."
Dominic turned.
"Enough."
Both men fell silent.
Dominic pointed at Richard.
"You have five minutes."
Richard smiled.
"You're giving me orders?"
"Five minutes."
"Then ask your questions."
Dominic stepped forward.
"Why did you fake your death?"
"To escape."
"From whom?"
"Your mother."
Dominic frowned.
"Margaret?"
"No."
Richard's eyes hardened.
"Isabella."
Dominic froze.
"My mother?"
"She wanted me dead."
"Why?"
"Because I betrayed her."
Dominic's expression changed.
"How?"
Richard looked at Alexander.
"Tell him."
Alexander shook his head.
"You tell him."
Richard sighed.
"Your mother was the rightful heir to the Moretti empire."
Dominic already knew.
"Yes."
"I married her."
"To take it."
"Yes."
"You stole her family."
"Yes."
"And then?"
Richard looked down.
"I stole her children."
Dominic's blood ran cold.
"Which children?"
Richard's eyes met his.
"You."
Dominic stopped breathing.
"Alexander too?"
Richard nodded.
"Yes."
Alexander's face hardened.
"You never told him."
"I never had to."
"You made us brothers."
Richard smiled.
"That was the point."
Dominic stared.
"What point?"
Richard leaned forward.
"Control."
The word echoed through the chamber.
Richard continued.
"The Moretti family had something the Vales never possessed."
"What?"
"Legitimacy."
Dominic frowned.
"Their empire was older."
"Much older."
"Then why didn't you simply take it?"
Richard laughed.
"Because power isn't inherited."
He looked at Alexander.
"It's manufactured."
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"Project 17."
Richard nodded.
"Exactly."
"What was it?"
"An experiment."
"To create heirs?"
"To create obedient heirs."
Dominic felt sick.
"You created me."
Richard didn't deny it.
"I created the person I needed."
"Using Alexander's DNA."
"Yes."
Alexander stepped forward.
"You stole it."
"I improved it."
"You destroyed my family."
Richard's expression remained cold.
"I built something greater."
Alexander's hands curled into fists.
"You murdered my mother."
Richard said nothing.
Dominic turned.
"What?"
Alexander looked at him.
"Richard killed my mother."
"Margaret?"
"No."
Alexander's voice cracked.
"My biological mother."
Dominic looked at Richard.
"You killed her?"
"She tried to stop me."
"She was your wife."
"She betrayed me."
Dominic shook his head.
"You murdered everyone who stood in your way."
Richard smiled faintly.
"And yet you became exactly like me."
Dominic stepped closer.
"No."
Richard's eyes narrowed.
"You think you're different."
"I am."
"You run an empire."
"I protect people."
"You control people."
"I protect my family."
"You call it family because you're afraid to call it ownership."
Dominic's expression hardened.
Richard smiled.
"See?"
He pointed at him.
"You've already become me."
Dominic turned away.
He couldn't breathe.
The man he had spent his life trying not to become was standing in front of him.
And every accusation hurt because some part of it was true.
He had threatened people.
Controlled people.
Destroyed enemies.
Built an empire from fear.
But there was one difference.
He loved Harper.
He loved Mia.
And that meant something.
Didn't it?
A sound came from the corridor.
Footsteps.
Dominic turned.
Mia appeared.
Harper was in her arms.
Daniel followed.
"I told you to stay upstairs," Dominic said.
Mia shook her head.
"I couldn't."
Richard looked at Harper.
His face changed.
For the first time, Dominic saw fear in his eyes.
"She survived."
Mia held Harper tighter.
"Yes."
Richard stared.
"You should have killed her."
Dominic stepped between them.
"Don't look at her."
Richard smiled.
"You're protecting her."
"Yes."
"Then you have learned nothing."
Dominic raised his gun.
Richard laughed.
"If you kill me, you'll never know."
"Know what?"
"Why Harper was created."
Dominic lowered the gun slightly.
Richard continued.
"She isn't just a genetic match."
"Then what?"
"She's a key."
"To what?"
"The original Moretti vault."
Alexander's expression changed.
"What vault?"
Richard smiled.
"The one your mother died protecting."
Dominic looked at Alexander.
"What is inside?"
Richard answered:
"Proof."
"Of what?"
"That the Vale empire never belonged to me."
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"Then who owns it?"
Richard smiled.
"Harper."
Silence.
Mia's face went white.
Dominic stared.
"She's four."
"Exactly."
Suddenly, the lights went red.
An alarm sounded.
Daniel touched his earpiece.
"Sir."
"What?"
"We have a breach."
"Where?"
"The east wing."
Dominic's face hardened.
"Who?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Claire."
Dominic looked toward the ceiling.
"What about her?"
"She's gone."
Nathan's face changed.
"No."
Dominic turned.
"What?"
Nathan stepped backward.
"That's impossible."
"What is?"
"She can't leave."
"Why?"
Nathan looked at Richard.
"Because I locked her in the secure room."
Richard smiled.
"She was never your prisoner."
Dominic understood.
"She was working for you."
Richard nodded.
"For years."
Nathan stared at him.
"No."
"Yes."
"Claire was Alexander's."
Richard laughed.
"Alexander was never the one controlling her."
Dominic's blood ran cold.
"Then who?"
Richard looked at him.
"Me."
Dominic's phone vibrated.
A message.
A photograph.
Claire stood outside the estate.
Beside her was a black SUV.
Inside the vehicle was Mia's missing medical file.
And Harper's birth records.
Below the photograph:
YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES.
Then another message arrived.
BRING HARPER.
Dominic's face changed.
"No."
Mia stepped closer.
"What happened?"
Dominic showed her.
She immediately shook her head.
"They won't take her."
"They won't."
"Dominic."
He looked at her.
"I won't let them."
Richard laughed.
"You can't protect her."
Dominic turned.
"You've been hiding under my house for twelve years."
He walked toward him.
"You've manipulated my family."
He pointed toward Nathan.
"You destroyed my childhood."
Then toward Alexander.
"You turned my brother into an enemy."
Finally, Dominic looked at Mia.
"And you tried to make me believe I was the monster."
Richard's smile disappeared.
Dominic leaned closer.
"But you made one mistake."
"What?"
"You forgot that I learned from you."
Richard's eyes narrowed.
"What does that mean?"
Dominic smiled.
"I don't negotiate with people who threaten my family."
He turned toward Daniel.
"Seal the estate."
Daniel nodded.
"Yes, sir."
"No vehicles leave."
"Understood."
"Find Claire."
"Yes."
"Find Mia's records."
"Yes."
"And locate every account connected to Project 17."
Daniel hesitated.
"All of them?"
"Every single one."
Dominic looked at Nathan.
"You."
Nathan stood.
"Yes?"
"You know the financial network."
"Yes."
"Then you're going to help me destroy it."
Nathan stared.
"Destroy?"
"Everything my father built."
Richard's face hardened.
"You wouldn't."
Dominic looked at him.
"Watch me."
But Nathan didn't move.
Dominic frowned.
"What?"
Nathan looked at Richard.
Then at Dominic.
"I need to tell you something first."
"What?"
Nathan's voice trembled.
"The reason I lied for seventeen years."
Dominic waited.
Nathan took a breath.
"Your father didn't threaten me."
"Then why?"
Nathan looked at Mia.
"I made a promise to your mother."
Dominic froze.
"Isabella?"
Nathan nodded.
"She asked me to protect you."
"From Richard?"
"From everyone."
"Why?"
Nathan swallowed.
"Because she knew what Richard had done."
"What?"
Nathan looked at Harper.
"She knew Harper would be born."
Dominic's expression changed.
"Before Mia was pregnant?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"Because Project 17 began before you were born."
Dominic stared.
"What does that mean?"
Nathan looked toward Richard.
"Richard didn't create you first."
Dominic frowned.
"He created someone else."
"Who?"
Nathan whispered:
"Your twin."
The room went silent.
Dominic stared.
"I don't have a twin."
Richard smiled.
"Not anymore."
Alexander looked shocked.
"Father."
Richard's expression was unreadable.
"Enough."
Dominic stepped forward.
"What happened to him?"
Richard didn't answer.
Dominic raised his weapon.
"Tell me."
Richard finally spoke.
"He died."
"Why?"
"Because he wasn't perfect."
Dominic's voice became cold.
"Who killed him?"
Richard looked directly at Nathan.
Nathan's face collapsed.
Dominic turned.
"Nathan."
Nathan couldn't speak.
"Tell me."
Nathan whispered:
"I did."
Dominic's world stopped.
Nathan lowered his head.
"I was seventeen."
Dominic stared at him.
"Your father ordered me."
"You killed my brother."
"I didn't know what I was doing."
"You killed him."
Nathan's voice broke.
"I thought I was saving you."
Dominic stepped backward.
For seventeen years, he had called Nathan his brother.
Trusted him.
Loved him.
Now he finally understood the cruelest betrayal of all.
Nathan hadn't merely lied to him.
Nathan had helped erase his past.
His real family.
His blood.
His identity.
And perhaps the worst part was that Nathan had done it while smiling beside him for seventeen years.
Dominic's eyes filled with fury.
"You should have told me."
"I was afraid."
"You should have told me."
"I know."
"You should have let me hate you."
Nathan looked up.
"I couldn't."
"Why?"
Nathan whispered:
"Because you were the only family I had left."
Dominic stared at him.
Then the gunshot came.
Everyone turned.
Nathan fell.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Dominic caught him before he hit the floor.
"Nathan!"
Nathan looked up.
His eyes were unfocused.
"I told you..."
Dominic pressed his hand against the wound.
"Told me what?"
Nathan smiled weakly.
"Your brother..."
He coughed.
"...isn't dead."
Dominic froze.
"What?"
Nathan's eyes closed.
"He's been watching you."
Then he went limp.
Dominic looked up.
Richard was smiling.
Alexander was staring at the doorway.
Mia was crying.
And from somewhere in the darkness came a man's voice.
A voice Dominic had never heard before.
But somehow...
it sounded exactly like his own.
"Hello, brother."
Dominic slowly turned.
A man stepped from the shadows.
Same eyes.
Same face.
Same scar.
Older by only a few years.
Alive.
Dominic stared.
The stranger smiled.
"Seventeen years ago, they told you I was dead."
He looked at Richard.
Then Nathan.
Then Dominic.
"They lied."
The man took one step forward.
"And now I'm here to take back what was stolen from me."
His eyes settled on Harper.
"And her."
Dominic moved instantly, placing himself between the stranger and the child.
His weapon rose.
The stranger smiled.
"Good."
May you like
He whispered:
"That's exactly what I wanted you to do."
