Chapter 9 - THE SECRET NO ONE SURVIVED
The ambulance arrived at 2:17 in the morning.
Kira sat beside Ethan until his breathing slowed.
They reached the cemetery before sunrise.
Agent Miller closed the folder.
"Whatever happens next, you need to understand something."
Kira looked at her.
"What?"
"The Crown survives because people believe they have no choice."
Lorenzo nodded.
"Then we give them one."
Miller smiled.
"That's the first smart thing you've said tonight."
Lorenzo raised an eyebrow.
Kira laughed.
For a few seconds, the tension broke.
Then the lights flickered.
Everyone reached for a weapon.
Kira whispered, "I hate when that happens."
Lorenzo smiled.
"Me too."
Fog covered the graves.
Lorenzo walked slowly between the stones.
His father's grave stood at the end.
The stone had been moved.
Beneath it was a metal box.
Kira opened it.
Inside was a collection of letters.
The first was from Lorenzo's father.
My son,
I know you hate me.
You should.
I created something that should never have existed.
The Crown was meant to protect our family.
Instead, it became a prison.
Lorenzo read silently.
Kira stood beside him.
The second letter was addressed to Ethan.
My grandson,
If you are reading this, then the Crown believes you are its heir.
You are not.
You are its ending.
Ethan's eyes filled.
"What does that mean?"
Lorenzo opened the final letter.
It contained a map.
A location beneath the Chicago courthouse.
Kira looked at him.
"That's where the original records are."
Lorenzo nodded.
"Then that's where we go."
They drove into the city.
For once, Lorenzo didn't bring an army.
Only Kira, Ethan, and Agent Miller.
They entered the courthouse through a service tunnel.
The hidden archive was still intact.
Rows of files.
Old recordings.
Photographs.
Names.
The history of the Crown.
And in the center stood Daniel.
Kira froze.
"Dad."
He turned.
"I'm sorry."
She ran to him.
He hugged her.
"I thought I lost you."
"You almost did."
He cried.
"I know."
Lorenzo stepped closer.
"Tell us the truth."
Daniel nodded.
"I was never the heir."
"Then who was?"
Daniel looked toward Ethan.
"The heir was always a choice."
He opened a final folder.
Inside was a photograph.
A baby.
The name beneath it was Ethan Lawson.
Kira stared.
"What?"
Daniel whispered.
"Ethan was chosen as a decoy before he could even speak."
The room went silent.
"Why?"
"Because the real heir was me."
Kira felt the ground disappear beneath her.
"You are my brother."
He nodded.
"Even if the paperwork says otherwise."
"Even if the blood says otherwise."
He looked at her.
"You mean that?"
"Of course."
Lorenzo stood near the window.
He had barely spoken since hearing the recording.
Kira walked toward him.
"You okay?"
"No."
"Good."
He looked surprised.
She smiled sadly.
"Neither am I."
He took her hand.
"I thought I knew my family."
"You knew what they allowed you to know."
"Maybe that's worse."
She leaned against him.
Outside, Chicago moved as though nothing had happened.
Traffic.
Snow.
Lights.
People going home.
Inside, their lives had been turned upside down.
Then Ethan called.
"Kira."
She turned.
He was holding the black card.
"There is writing underneath the symbol."
Lorenzo came closer.
"What does it say?"
Ethan turned the card over.
THE HEIR WILL CHOOSE.
Kira frowned.
"Choose what?"
A knock sounded.
Everyone froze.
The door opened.
A federal agent entered.
"We need to talk."
Lorenzo's expression hardened.
"Who are you?"
"Special Agent Grace Miller."
She showed her badge.
"I've been investigating the Crown for six years."
Kira looked at her.
"Then you know what's happening."
"I know enough."
"Where is my father?"
Grace hesitated.
"He's alive."
Kira nearly collapsed.
"Where?"
"We don't know."
"Then why tell me?"
"Because he contacted us."
She placed a photograph on the table.
Daniel standing outside a train station.
Alive.
Holding a sign.
DO NOT TRUST THE HEIR.
Kira stared.
"Who is the heir?"
Grace looked at Ethan.
Then Lorenzo.
"We don't know."
Ethan's face went pale.
Lorenzo stepped forward.
"Someone knows."
Grace nodded.
"And that person is coming for you."
The lights flickered.
A car stopped outside.
Then another.
Lorenzo's security team moved.
Grace pulled her weapon.
Kira grabbed Ethan.
The front door exploded inward.
Men rushed inside.
Lorenzo pushed Kira behind the sofa.
Gunfire erupted.
Grace returned fire.
Ethan crawled toward the basement.
Kira followed.
They reached the bottom.
There was another hidden door.
Ethan found a switch.
It opened.
Inside was a small room.
On the wall were photographs.
Kira.
Ethan.
Isabella.
Lorenzo.
All taken over many years.
And in the center was a photograph of a woman Kira had never seen.
Underneath it:
THE FIRST MORETTI HEIR.
Ethan stared.
"That's Mom."
Kira shook her head.
"No."
Lorenzo entered.
He looked at the photograph.
His face changed.
"That's my grandmother."
Kira stared.
"She's alive?"
Lorenzo shook his head.
"No."
Then he noticed the date.
The photograph had been taken yesterday.
Isabella was conscious when they took her away.
She kept repeating the same sentence.
"He was supposed to be dead."
Kira sat beside her in the ambulance.
"Who?"
Isabella looked at her.
"Your uncle."
Lorenzo followed in another vehicle.
Ethan stayed beside him.
Neither spoke.
At the hospital, Isabella finally told them the truth.
Their mother's family had once been connected to the Crown.
Kira's uncle, Marcus Bell, had been the organization's accountant.
He had disappeared eleven years earlier.
Everyone assumed he died.
He hadn't.
He had changed identities.
He had spent years manipulating both sides of the Moretti family.
The photograph showing Ethan as a child proved something worse.
Marcus had been close to them.
Close enough to enter their home.
Close enough to know every weakness.
"Why did he want Ethan?" Kira asked.
Isabella looked at her.
"Because Ethan saw him."
"When?"
"When he was six."
Ethan frowned.
"I don't remember."
"You were sick."
"Mom?"
"You had a fever. Marcus came into the house."
Ethan's face tightened.
"I remember a man giving me a silver coin."
Isabella nodded.
"That was him."
Lorenzo stood.
"Where is Marcus now?"
Isabella looked at him.
"Chicago."
Kira's phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
A man's voice spoke.
"Hello, Kira."
She froze.
"Marcus?"
A laugh.
"Your mother always was clever."
"Where is my father?"
"Safe."
"Bring him back."
"You still think this is about your father?"
"What do you want?"
"You."
Lorenzo held out his hand.
Kira gave him the phone.
Marcus continued.
"Bring the girl who hugged the wrong man to the old courthouse."
Lorenzo's expression changed.
"How do you know about that?"
"I know everything."
The call ended.
Lorenzo looked at Kira.
"You are not going."
"I am."
"No."
"He wants me."
"Exactly."
"Then I'll use that."
Lorenzo stared at her.
Kira stepped closer.
"You taught me something."
"What?"
"People who think they control everything are easiest to manipulate."
A faint smile appeared.
"You're learning."
They prepared carefully.
The old courthouse was abandoned.
Marcus waited in the main courtroom.
Kira walked inside alone.
Lorenzo watched from the balcony.
Ethan stayed with Isabella outside.
Marcus appeared behind the judge's bench.
"You came."
"Where's my father?"
Marcus pointed toward a side room.
"He made a choice."
Kira opened the door.
Her father sat there, alive.
He looked at her.
"Get out."
"Not without you."
He shook his head.
"Marcus wants the key."
"I don't have it."
"You do."
Kira froze.
Her father looked at her.
"Your mother gave it to you years ago."
"I don't remember."
"She hid it in your graduation necklace."
Kira touched the small silver pendant around her neck.
The one she had worn for years.
She pulled it off.
A tiny key fell into her palm.
Marcus entered.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
Lorenzo appeared behind him.
"No."
Marcus turned.
Lorenzo raised his weapon.
"Put yours down."
Marcus smiled.
"You won't shoot me."
"Try me."
Marcus looked at Kira.
"Tell him."
Kira frowned.
"Tell him what?"
Marcus smiled.
"Ethan isn't your brother."
The world stopped.
Kira stared.
"What?"
Marcus continued.
"Your mother adopted him."
Lorenzo looked shocked.
Kira shook her head.
"No."
Marcus nodded.
"Your mother found him after the warehouse fire."
Ethan appeared in the doorway.
He had heard everything.
"That's a lie."
Marcus looked at him.
"You were born under the name Ethan Moretti."
Lorenzo's face went pale.
"My family?"
Marcus smiled.
"Your father's blood runs through him."
Kira looked at Ethan.
He was crying.
"No."
Marcus raised his gun.
"Now you understand why everyone wants him."
A shot rang out.
Marcus dropped.
Lorenzo had fired.
Police stormed the building.
Kira ran to Ethan.
He collapsed into her arms.
"I don't know who I am."
She held him tightly.
"You're my brother."
"But—"
"I don't care."
Lorenzo stood nearby.
His face was unreadable.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
A federal agent spoke.
"We found the final evidence."
"Where?"
"In the Moretti family cemetery."
Lorenzo's eyes narrowed.
"Who?"
The agent hesitated.
"Your father's grave was opened."
Lorenzo went still.
Inside the empty grave was a note.
HE WAS NEVER BURIED.
Kira looked at him.
And for the first time, she realized the mystery had never been about Marcus.
May you like
Someone else had been alive all along.
Someone far more dangerous.
