Chapter 7 - ASHES OF THE PASTThe death of the guard confirmed Alejandro’s worst fear: the conspiracy went far deeper than a single traitor. The poisoner had loyal sleeper cells embedded at every level of the mansion's security force.
Driven by a grim determination, Alejandro decided to dig into Elena’s background. If the traitors were targeting her so relentlessly, she was more than just a maid who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Leaving double the guards at the infirmary under his most trusted lieutenant, Alejandro took Emma down into the burned-out remains of the basement archives. Hours earlier, someone had set a localized fire in the storage room where employee files were kept.
Among the charred paper and melted plastic, Alejandro used his pocket knife to sift through the debris of the central filing cabinet. Deep inside the steel frame, a fireproof metal box remained intact.
Alejandro unlocked it with his master key. Inside lay a single leather-bound folder marked CLASSIFIED - 2022.
He opened the folder. Inside was a photograph from five years ago.
Alejandro froze.
The photograph showed his late father, the old patriarch of the Moretti empire, standing in the mansion’s courtyard. Standing beside him, holding a newborn baby in her arms, was Elena.
Attached to the photo was a DNA report and a handwritten letter signed by his father.
Alejandro’s breath hitched in his chest as he read the faded ink. Elena was not a random servant hired off the street. She was the secret, illegitimate daughter of the old patriarch—Alejandro’s half-sister. And the baby in the photograph was Emma—the direct blood niece of Alejandro Moretti.
"Uncle...?" Emma murmured, looking up at him innocently, picking up the unburnt corner of the photo. "Is that the old grandpas in the paintings?"
Alejandro dropped to one knee, looking at the four-year-old girl with a sudden, overwhelming realization. Emma carried the Moretti bloodline. Under his father's secret will, if Alejandro died without an heir, the entire family fortune and controlling shares of the Moretti Conglomerate would not go to his half-brother Lucas—they would revert directly to Elena and her child.
Lucas hadn't just tried to murder Alejandro to take power. He had discovered Elena’s true identity months ago and was systematically setting up a double assassination to wipe out the entire rightful bloodline in a single stroke.
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Before Alejandro could process the revelation, a heavy metallic clanging echoed from above. The basement emergency lockdown shutters began slamming down, sealing the exits one by one.
Someone was trapping them in the deep underground vaults.
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