flash
The number on the back of the plastic band was not a standard hospital identification code. It was a private cipher, an alphanumeric string used exclusively by the Moretti family archives for high-security asset tracking and bloodline verification. / Chapter 18 / 20

Chapter 18 - Blood and Legacy

Julian’s hand trembled, the realization crashing down on him that he had walked directly into a counter-trap engineered by both Rocco and Sophia.

"You set me up," Julian hissed, lowering his weapon an inch.

"You were predictable," Sophia replied smoothly, stepping past the barrel of his gun as if it were nothing more than a minor inconvenience. "Ambition without patience is just suicide."

From the dark end of the tunnel, heavy footsteps echoed against the ballast. Rocco Moretti stepped into the light, his graying hair catching the emergency red strobes, his eyes fixed on the young man who shared his blood.

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"You have your mother's eyes, Julian," Rocco said quietly, his voice heavy with a lifetime of sorrow and iron resolve. "And her fatal lack of vision."

Julian sneered, raising his weapon toward Rocco—but before his finger could squeeze the trigger, Mateo fired a precision round that shattered Julian’s wrist, sending his pistol clattering to the floor.

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