CHAPTER 6 — The Chairman's Game
The escape tunnel stretched for nearly a mile beneath the mountains.
No one spoke.
Only the sound of dripping water echoed through the darkness.
Finally, Sophia broke the silence.
"You deserve the truth."
Vincent stopped walking.
"Start talking."
She handed him an old photograph.
It showed six men standing together around a polished oak table.
Vincent immediately recognized two of them.
Salvatore Torino.
Adrian Rossi.
But the other four...
He had never seen before.
Sophia pointed to the man standing in the center.
A tall gentleman in a gray suit.
No smile.
Cold blue eyes.
A silver chess-piece pin on his lapel.
"That's him."
"The Chairman."
Vincent frowned.
"Who is he?"
"No one knows his real name."
"No fingerprints."
"No birth certificate."
"No photographs exist..."
"...except this one."
Marco examined the image.
"Why would Salvatore stand beside him?"
Adrian answered quietly.
"Because the Torino family didn't build the empire."
"The Chairman did."
Everyone froze.
"What?"
Adrian nodded.
"Forty-five years ago..."
"Five powerful families joined together."
"The Chairman united them."
"But he demanded one rule."
"No family would ever become stronger than him."
Vincent's face darkened.
"So every war..."
"Every betrayal..."
"Every assassination..."
Adrian finished the sentence.
"Was approved by him."
Emma suddenly remembered the tape.
"Salvatore said he stole a child to save the empire."
Sophia nodded.
"Because The Chairman ordered him to."
Silence filled the tunnel.
Vincent clenched his fists so tightly they began to bleed.
"My entire life..."
"My family..."
"My identity..."
"Everything was someone else's plan."
Sophia looked at him with tears in her eyes.
"It gets worse."
She plugged the flash drive into a rugged military laptop hidden inside the tunnel's safe room.
Hundreds of encrypted files appeared.
Marco opened the first folder.
His face immediately turned pale.
Every page contained Vincent's name.
Medical reports.
School records.
Military evaluations.
Psychological profiles.
Photographs taken from hidden cameras.
Every birthday.
Every vacation.
Every business meeting.
Every girlfriend.
Every enemy.
Someone had been watching Vincent...
Since the day he was born.
Emma whispered,
"They've been studying you..."
"For forty-two years."
Sophia opened the final file.
Its title read:
SUBJECT V-01
Vincent stared silently.
Inside...
The first line read:
Objective: Raise Subject V-01 to become the perfect criminal leader.
The second line was even worse.
Replacement Candidate: Luca Torino.
Marco couldn't believe his eyes.
"You weren't a son."
"You were an experiment."
Vincent felt the room spinning.
Then...
Emma noticed one final folder hidden behind dozens of encrypted files.
She clicked it open.
The title contained only two words.
PHASE TWO
Inside...
One live surveillance video appeared.
Not from the tunnel.
Not from the monastery.
From Vincent's mansion.
The camera slowly zoomed in on the main entrance.
Workers wearing black uniforms carried a large black coffin into the house.
Across the lid...
A silver plaque had already been attached.
Engraved into the metal were six chilling words.
VINCENT TORINO – IN LOVING MEMORY
The date beneath it...
Was tomorrow.
Sophia stared at the screen in horror.
"They're planning your funeral..."
Vincent slowly stood.
His eyes had changed.
For forty years, he had ruled through fear.
Now...
He had something far more dangerous.
The truth.
He quietly closed the laptop.
Then spoke the sentence that would ignite a war unlike anything the underworld had ever seen.
"They think they're burying me tomorrow..."
A cold smile spread across his face.
May you like
"So let's make sure they attend the wrong funeral."
END OF CHAPTER 6
