CHAPTER 9 — Fifty-Nine Seconds to the Truth
00:59...
The red countdown illuminated the underground laboratory.
Every second echoed like a heartbeat.
Emily stared at Marco.
"You'd destroy everything?"
Marco smiled.
"This laboratory doesn't contain evidence."
"It contains mistakes."
Vincent's finger tightened around his pistol.
"The mistake was trusting you."
Marco laughed.
"You never trusted me."
"You just never looked closely enough."
00:47...
Gunfire erupted.
The laboratory became a war zone.
Glass shattered.
DNA samples exploded across the floor.
Ancient records burned.
Dante pushed Emily behind a steel cabinet.
"Stay down!"
Vincent charged directly toward Marco.
For the first time...
The two cousins stood face-to-face.
Years of loyalty.
Years of betrayal.
All ending in one room.
Marco fired first.
Vincent dodged.
The bullet grazed his cheek.
Vincent answered with two shots.
Marco disappeared behind reinforced glass.
Still smiling.
"You still don't understand."
"I'm trying to save you."
Vincent roared,
"You murdered my family!"
Marco shouted back,
"They were never your family!"
00:31...
Isabella rushed toward the main computer.
"If I can stop the reactor..."
"It'll disable the explosives!"
Her fingers flew across the keyboard.
Access denied.
Retina required.
Voice authentication required.
Founder authorization required.
Emily looked at the screen.
A strange message flashed.
FOUNDER BLOODLINE DETECTED
Everyone froze.
The computer wasn't scanning Isabella.
It was scanning...
Emily.
The vault door slowly opened by itself.
Inside sat a small black case.
Emily lifted it carefully.
It contained one old notebook.
Leather-bound.
Covered in dust.
The handwriting inside dated back nearly seventy years.
The first page read:
To my descendants...
If you are reading this, Project Phoenix has failed.
Emily flipped through the journal.
Every page revealed the horrifying truth.
There had never been only five mafia families.
There had never been six.
There had only ever been...
One.
The powerful families had split decades earlier after a civil war.
They changed their names.
Created fake rivalries.
Built criminal empires that secretly answered to the same hidden council.
Every war...
Every assassination...
Every betrayal...
Had been carefully staged.
Marco slowly lowered his weapon.
"I told you."
"You've all been fighting ghosts."
00:08...
The countdown reached single digits.
Emily suddenly noticed something scribbled on the notebook's final page.
A handwritten emergency code.
She sprinted toward the computer.
Vincent shouted,
"Emily!"
She ignored him.
Her fingers entered the code.
The room held its breath.
00:03...
00:02...
00:01...
The countdown disappeared.
Silence.
The bombs had stopped.
Everyone stared at Emily.
Marco's smile vanished for the first time.
"You..."
May you like
"...weren't supposed to know that code."
END OF CHAPTER 9
