Chapter 17 - THE LAST RECORDING
Alejandro Moretti had survived wars.
He had survived betrayal.
He had survived bullets.
But nothing prepared him for losing a child twice.
The mansion became chaos.
Every soldier searched.
Every camera was checked.
Every exit was sealed.
But Emma was gone.
And Alejandro knew something terrifying.
The person who took her knew exactly how he thought.
Because they did not attack his money.
They did not attack his empire.
They attacked the one thing he could not replace.
Bruno entered the security room.
“We found something.”
Alejandro turned immediately.
“What?”
Bruno pointed at the monitor.
“A hidden camera.”
Daniel looked confused.
“The old system?”
Bruno nodded.
“The one that recorded the wine poisoning.”
Alejandro stepped closer.
The screen showed a file.
Recorded three years earlier.
The night Kiara disappeared.
Daniel whispered:
“This is the last recording.”
They opened it.
Static.
Darkness.
Then a young Alejandro appeared.
Younger.
Angrier.
Holding Kiara in his arms.
The audio was weak.
But they heard it.
A child crying.
Then another voice.
A woman.
Helena.
“I’m sorry.”
Alejandro on the recording looked confused.
“What did you do?”
Helena cried.
“I tried to protect her.”
Then Victor appeared.
The room went silent.
Victor said:
“Take the girl.”
Alejandro watching the recording clenched his fists.
Then something unexpected happened.
The camera moved.
It revealed another person.
Someone nobody expected.
Someone standing behind Victor.
Someone who had been invisible for three years.
Daniel.
Bruno looked at him.
“You were there?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Alejandro turned slowly.
“You knew.”
Daniel looked broken.
“I knew something.”
“You knew my daughter was alive.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I knew she might be.”
“That is not an answer.”
Daniel looked at the screen.
“I was trying to find her.”
Alejandro stepped closer.
“While I buried her?”
Daniel said nothing.
Because there was no defense.
Then the recording continued.
Victor spoke.
“The girl will disappear.”
A pause.
“But the other child…”
Everyone froze.
“The other child?”
Victor continued:
“She will be useful.”
The camera turned.
A small baby appeared.
A baby wrapped in a pink blanket.
Daniel whispered:
“No…”
Alejandro looked at him.
“What?”
Daniel stared at the screen.
“The other child…”
His voice broke.
“She was never supposed to survive.”
The recording ended.
A final message appeared.
A location.
And three words.
COME ALONE, FATHER.
Alejandro stared.
Because whoever had Emma…
Wanted him.
Not the Don.
Not the king of New York.
Just the father.
And somewhere in the darkness…
May you like
A little girl was waiting.
TO BE CONTINUED…
