Chapter 11 - THE FIRE UNDER THE CHAPEL
Smoke poured through the corridors.
Guards rushed through the estate while Daniel directed servants toward the northern exit.
Matteo grabbed Clara’s hand.
“Stay with me.”
“I am not leaving Bruno.”
The dog limped beside them.
“I meant stay behind me.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
She lifted her chin.
“Ask.”
His expression softened despite the chaos.
“Please stay beside me.”
“Better.”
They reached the chapel through the underground passage.
The door was already open.
Anton stood inside, bleeding from one shoulder. Mara Voss waited behind him with a weapon.
The floor was covered with old photographs.
One showed a young Evelyn holding a newborn baby.
Another showed Margaret carrying Clara through a snowy tunnel.
A third showed Mara beside Bruno as a puppy.
Anton smiled.
“Family history.”
Matteo raised his gun.
“Put yours down.”
“You still believe the law applies to men like us?”
“It applies to you.”
Anton looked at Clara.
“You were never supposed to survive.”
Clara stepped forward.
“Why did you want me?”
“Because your father left the Moretti fortune in your name.”
“I do not want it.”
“That is why you are dangerous.”
Mara aimed at Bruno.
“Open the trust.”
Clara looked at Matteo.
He shook his head.
Anton laughed.
“You see? He wants to own your choices just as much as I do.”
Matteo looked at Clara.
“This is your decision.”
The words surprised Anton.
Clara took out the locket.
“I will open it.”
She placed the locket against the crown-shaped plate beneath the chapel altar.
Evelyn pressed her ring against the second plate.
A hidden door opened.
Inside waited a chamber filled with documents, bank seals, and old family records.
At the center stood a small wooden cradle.
Clara walked toward it.
A silver bracelet lay beneath the blanket.
The date engraved on it was her birth date.
A recording device activated.
Evelyn’s younger voice filled the room.
“If Clara sees this, she must know she was never abandoned. She was hidden because Anton wanted to use her. Margaret protected her after losing faith in the family. Mara carried her through the tunnel. I searched for her until I believed Anton had found me.”
Clara covered her mouth.
The recording continued.
“Matteo must know that he was never responsible for Luca’s disappearance. Both children were victims.”
Matteo’s eyes filled with tears.
Anton stepped into the chamber.
“You believe that sentimental nonsense?”
He fired.
Bruno leaped between the bullet and Clara.
The bullet struck his protective vest.
The dog fell.
Clara screamed.
Matteo fired back.
Anton dropped his weapon and collapsed near the tunnel entrance.
The chapel ceiling began to burn.
Margaret appeared through the smoke.
She raised a gun toward Anton.
“You ruined every life you touched.”
Anton laughed weakly.
“You helped me.”
“I was afraid.”
“You always were.”
Margaret shot him.
Then the ceiling cracked.
Matteo grabbed Clara.
“Move!”
Clara looked toward Margaret.
“Come with us!”
Margaret smiled sadly.
“I already gave you everything I had.”
She closed the chamber door.
The tunnel collapsed between them.
May you like
Clara, Matteo, Evelyn, Luca, and Bruno escaped through the greenhouse as the chapel burned.
Margaret never came out.
