Chapter 8: The Brother Beneath The House
The screen went black.
For a few seconds, nobody understood what they had just seen.
The hidden room.
The person sitting inside.
The words.
*Hello, brother.*
Adrian remained frozen in front of the monitor.
His mind tried to reject it.
A trick.
A recording.
A psychological attack.
Anything.
Anything except the possibility that there was another person in his family.
Another brother.
Dominic looked at him.
And Adrian immediately noticed something.
Fear.
Not confusion.
Not surprise.
Fear.
“You know.””
Dominic’s face changed.
“Adrian…”
“You know who that was.””
The younger brother looked away.
That was enough.
Adrian turned slowly.
His voice was quiet.
“Everyone leaves something out.””
Nobody answered.
“Everyone protects me from something.””
His eyes moved toward Dominic.
“But somehow, the truth always finds me anyway.””
Dominic stepped forward.
“I didn’t know he was alive.””
“He?””
Dominic closed his eyes.
A mistake.
A tiny one.
But Adrian caught it.
“He.””
The word echoed.
Adrian looked at the screen.
“Who is he?””
Nobody spoke.
Then his mother whispered:
“Your brother.””
The room became silent.
Even the rain outside seemed to stop.
Adrian looked at her.
“My what?””
She looked devastated.
“Your brother.””
“No.””
His answer came immediately.
“No.””
She stepped closer.
“Adrian—”
“No.””
He shook his head.
“That’s impossible.””
His eyes moved toward Dominic.
“You’re my brother.””
Dominic’s face broke.
“Yes.””
“Then who is that?””
Nobody answered.
And that was the answer.
Adrian walked backward slowly.
His entire identity felt unstable.
Everything he knew.
Everything he remembered.
Every family story.
Every childhood memory.
Suddenly, he wondered how much of it belonged to him.
“What is his name?””
His mother looked down.
“Elias.””
Adrian repeated it quietly.
“Elias.””
The name felt unfamiliar.
But somehow, hearing it felt like remembering something forgotten.
Marcus stepped forward.
“Adrian.””
Adrian turned.
“Did you know?””
Marcus looked at him.
“Yes.””
The room exploded with silence.
Adrian stared.
“You knew.””
“I knew there was another child.””
“Another child?””
Marcus nodded.
“But I didn’t know where he was.””
Adrian laughed.
Again.
That empty laugh.
“Three years.””
Marcus lowered his eyes.
“You all knew pieces.””
“And I knew nothing.””
Nobody argued.
Because it was true.
Adrian walked toward the underground entrance.
His mother grabbed his arm.
“Wait.””
He stopped.
“Let go.””
“Adrian, you need to understand.””
“I understand enough.””
“No, you don’t.””
Her voice shook.
“You think the secret is that you have another brother.””
She looked at him.
“That’s not the secret.””
Adrian stared.
“Then what is?””
She swallowed.
“The secret is what happened to him.””
A cold feeling moved through him.
“What happened?””
His mother looked toward the floor.
“Your father had two sons.””
A pause.
“But only one was supposed to inherit the Moretti name.””
Adrian frowned.
“What does that mean?””
“Your father believed power would destroy both of you.””
She looked at him.
“So he made a choice.””
“What choice?””
Her eyes filled with regret.
“He separated you.””
The words felt impossible.
“You’re saying he abandoned him?””
“No.””
She shook her head.
“He tried to save him.””
“From what?””
Her answer came quietly.
“From you.””
Adrian stared.
The pain of that sentence was immediate.
“My own brother needed to be protected from me?””
“No.””
She stepped closer.
“From the world you were born into.””
Adrian looked away.
Because he understood.
The Moretti name was not a family.
It was a battlefield.
And every person born into it became a weapon.
“Where is Elias now?””
Nobody answered.
Then the security system activated.
A new message appeared on the monitor.
*UNDERGROUND LEVEL OPENED.*
Marcus looked shocked.
“That shouldn’t be possible.””
Adrian looked at him.
“Why?””
“Because only one person can open that door.””
“Who?””
Marcus looked at the screen.
“Your father.””
A second later, the underground door unlocked.
Slowly.
Like the house itself was inviting them in.
Adrian took his weapon.
Dominic moved beside him.
Adrian looked at him.
“You’re coming?””
Dominic nodded.
“I’m your brother.””
A pause.
“No matter what else happens.””
Adrian looked at him.
For three years, he had believed Dominic was hiding something because he was guilty.
Now he wondered if he had been hiding something because he was scared.
Not for himself.
For Adrian.
They walked downstairs.
The underground level was colder than the rest of the house.
The walls were made of reinforced steel.
Not stone.
Not decoration.
A bunker.
A place built for war.
Adrian moved carefully.
Every step echoed.
At the end of the hallway was a large metal door.
No lock.
No keypad.
Only a hand scanner.
Adrian stared.
“What is this?””
Marcus answered.
“Your father’s final room.””
Adrian placed his hand on the scanner.
The door opened.
Inside was not money.
Not weapons.
Not documents.
It was a bedroom.
A simple one.
A bed.
A desk.
A bookshelf.
And on the wall were photographs.
Hundreds of them.
Adrian walked closer.
His breath caught.
Because every photograph showed him.
As a child.
As a teenager.
As an adult.
But there were also photographs of another boy.
Elias.
Standing beside him.
Playing with him.
Growing up with him.
Memories Adrian had never lived.
His hand touched one photo.
Two boys.
Same age.
Same eyes.
Same smile.
One wore the Moretti family ring.
The other wore a different one.
A black stone ring.
The same ring from the security footage.
Adrian whispered:
“Why don’t I remember him?””
His mother entered behind him.
“Because your father made sure you wouldn’t.””
Adrian turned.
“How?””
She hesitated.
Then:
“Your memories were changed.””
The words were impossible.
But after everything else, Adrian no longer knew what impossible meant.
“What?””
“Not erased.””
She shook her head.
“Buried.””
Marcus looked uncomfortable.
“Your father worked with specialists.””
Adrian stared.
“You let him do that?””
Marcus looked away.
“I wasn’t there.””
Dominic walked toward the photographs.
“When did you find out?””
His mother answered:
“When Adrian was sixteen.””
Adrian froze.
“Sixteen?””
She nodded.
“That was when Elias came back.””
The room became silent.
“He came back?””
“Yes.””
“Where was I?””
Her eyes filled with sadness.
“You were the reason he left again.””
Adrian stepped back.
“What did I do?””
Nobody answered.
The question haunted the room.
Then a voice came from behind them.
“You don’t remember because you begged them to make you forget.””
Everyone turned.
A man stood in the doorway.
Older than Adrian.
But with the same eyes.
The same expression.
The same impossible resemblance.
Elias.
Adrian raised his weapon.
Elias didn’t move.
“I know you don’t trust me.””
His voice was calm.
“But I didn’t come here to hurt you.””
Adrian’s hand remained steady.
“Then why hide?””
Elias looked around the room.
“Because every time I came close to you…”
A pause.
“…someone tried to kill you.””
Adrian narrowed his eyes.
“Who?””
Elias looked at Dominic.
Then their mother.
Then Marcus.
Finally, Adrian.
“The person who has controlled this family from the beginning.””
Adrian stepped forward.
“Tell me.””
Elias looked at him.
“You’re not ready.””
Adrian almost smiled.
“Everyone keeps saying that.””
Elias’s expression softened.
“Because it’s true.””
“No.””
Adrian raised the weapon slightly.
“I spent three years awake because I was afraid of the truth.””
A pause.
“But a little girl taught me something.””
Elias looked confused.
“What?””
Adrian glanced at the stuffed rabbit Lily had given him.
“You can’t protect anyone if you’re too tired to get up.””
For the first time, Elias looked surprised.
Then almost smiled.
“Lily.””
Adrian froze.
“You know her?””
Elias looked away.
“Yes.””
“How?””
Silence.
Then Elias said:
“Because she’s not just Clara’s daughter.””
The room went cold.
Adrian stared.
“What are you saying?””
Elias looked directly at him.
“Lily is the last person alive who knows what happened that night.””
“What night?””
Elias’s expression turned serious.
“The night your father disappeared.””
A pause.
“And the night your real enemy took control of the Moretti family.””
Before Adrian could answer, every screen in the underground room suddenly turned on.
A live feed appeared.
The camera showed the mansion upstairs.
Lily standing alone in the hallway.
Holding her rabbit.
Then a figure stepped behind her.
Adrian’s blood turned cold.
Because the person behind Lily was someone he recognized.
Someone he had trusted.
Someone who had been protecting his family for years.
The figure leaned down.
And whispered:
“Your father was right.””
The camera zoomed closer.
The person smiled.
“Adrian was never the target.””
May you like
A pause.
“Lily was.””
