CHAPTER 7 — The Granddaughter of the Devil
Silence consumed the underground tunnel.
No one moved.
No one even breathed.
Elena stared at the elderly man standing beneath the flickering emergency lights.
"My... grandfather?"
Her voice was barely audible.
Giovanni Moretti smiled as though he were greeting family after a long holiday.
"Yes, Elena."
"For thirty years, you've searched for the people who destroyed your family."
"You never realized..."
"...you were looking at the wrong enemy."
Vincent slowly stepped in front of Elena.
"Don't listen to him."
Giovanni chuckled.
"Still protecting people who don't belong to you, Vincent?"
"You've always had a weakness for loyalty."
He slowly reached into his coat.
Instantly, half a dozen guns were aimed at him.
But Giovanni calmly removed only an old photograph.
He tossed it onto the floor.
Elena picked it up.
Her hands began trembling.
The picture showed her as a little girl—no older than five—sitting on the shoulders of a smiling man.
Giovanni.
Standing beside them was Elena's father, Alessandro Rossi.
They were laughing.
A real family.
"This picture was taken one week before your father disappeared," Giovanni said softly.
"I loved my son."
Elena shook her head violently.
"No."
"You murdered him."
Giovanni sighed.
"That's what someone wanted you to believe."
He nodded toward Tony.
"Open the briefcase."
Tony slowly removed an old VHS cassette and a portable player.
"It's the only copy that survived," he whispered.
The tape began to play.
The image was grainy.
Shaking.
But the voices were unmistakable.
Alessandro Rossi was arguing with Vincent inside an abandoned warehouse nearly thirty years earlier.
"I won't let Moretti use our families anymore!" Alessandro shouted.
Vincent answered angrily.
"We end this together tonight."
Elena's heart pounded.
They weren't enemies.
They were allies.
Then the warehouse doors exploded open.
Gunfire erupted.
The camera crashed onto the floor, but the audio continued.
Someone shouted—
"Protect the children!"
Another voice screamed—
"Moretti betrayed us!"
Then...
Silence.
The recording ended.
Elena felt the world collapse around her.
Everything she had believed for twenty-five years...
Every ounce of hatred...
Every plan for revenge...
Had been built on a lie.
Tears filled her eyes.
Vincent quietly stepped closer.
"I swear to you..."
"I never killed your father."
"I tried to save him."
Before Elena could answer—
Marcus suddenly pointed his gun at Giovanni.
"You lied to me too."
Giovanni slowly smiled.
"My boy..."
"I taught you that power belongs to whoever writes history."
Marcus's finger tightened on the trigger.
"You made me hate my own father."
May you like
Giovanni's smile disappeared.
"Because hate made you useful."
