Chapter 5: The Memory Hidden Inside the Fire
Luca had spent twelve years trying to remember the night that destroyed his life.
Now, standing in the garden where the secrets had begun to surface, he realized something terrifying.
He had been looking for the wrong memory.
He had always focused on the crash.
The sound of the brakes failing.
The violent turn of the car.
The impact.
The pain.
But Matteo's words had opened a different door.
They weren't trying to kill you.
They were trying to make sure you could never remember what you saw that night.
Luca stared at his brother.
"What did I see?""
Matteo didn't answer immediately.
That bothered Luca more than anything.
Because Matteo had always been quick.
Always prepared.
He was the kind of man who could walk into a negotiation without notes and leave with everyone agreeing to his terms.
But now he was searching for words.
"I don't know exactly," Matteo finally said.
Luca's eyes narrowed.
"You don't know?""
"No.""
"Then why say it?""
"Because it's the truth.""
Antonio stepped forward.
"He's lying.""
Matteo looked at him.
"You always were impatient, Antonio.""
"And you always were a coward.""
The two men stared at each other.
A history existed between them.
A history Luca didn't know.
A history everyone seemed determined to hide.
Luca moved his wheelchair between them.
"Enough.""
His voice was quiet.
But everyone stopped.
"I am done watching people talk around me.""
He looked at Matteo.
"I want facts.""
Matteo nodded slowly.
"Fair.""
"Start with the beginning.""
Matteo looked toward the lake.
"The night before your accident, you discovered financial records showing someone had been moving money through several of your companies.""
Luca frowned.
"I remember that.""
"Do you remember who brought you those records?""
Luca tried to think.
A name.
A face.
A conversation.
Nothing.
The memory was there, but buried beneath something heavy.
"I don't know.""
Matteo looked at Antonio.
"That's the problem.""
Antonio's expression changed.
"What are you saying?""
"I'm saying Luca's memory loss wasn't only because of the accident.""
A cold feeling moved through Luca.
"What?""
Matteo continued.
"The doctors treated your physical injuries. But they never understood why certain memories disappeared.""
Luca looked at Sofia.
The former nurse's assistant lowered her eyes.
"You knew?""
Sofia swallowed.
"Some of us suspected.""
"Some of you?""
"The doctors noticed unusual activity in your brain scans.""
"Meaning?""
Sofia hesitated.
"Meaning your brain was protecting itself.""
Luca laughed once.
"Protecting itself from what?""
Nobody answered.
Until Antonio did.
"From the truth.""
The words were almost a whisper.
Luca looked at him.
"What truth?""
Antonio walked closer.
"That night, you weren't alone in the car.""
A flash.
A fragment.
Rain hitting glass.
A passenger seat.
Someone breathing.
Luca grabbed the armrests.
The memory vanished before he could reach it.
"I was alone.""
Antonio shook his head.
"No.""
"I remember driving.""
"You remember part of it.""
Luca looked at him.
"Who was in the car?""
Antonio didn't answer.
That was enough.
Luca turned toward Matteo.
"You know.""
Matteo remained silent.
"Who was in my car?""
Before Matteo could respond, a loud crash came from the mansion.
Everyone turned.
The kitchen window shattered.
Sofia grabbed Elena.
Victor immediately moved into a protective stance.
"Everyone inside.""
Another sound followed.
Not a gunshot.
A warning.
Someone had thrown something through the window.
Luca watched as Victor ran toward the house.
A few seconds later, he returned holding a small object.
A phone.
Old.
Damaged.
Victor's face had changed.
"What is it?""
Luca asked.
Victor looked at Matteo.
Then Isabella.
Then Luca.
"It's for you.""
Luca stared.
"From who?""
Victor handed him the phone.
"It started ringing the moment it landed.""
Luca looked at the cracked screen.
Unknown number.
He answered.
For several seconds, there was only static.
Then a voice.
An old recording.
His own voice.
Luca froze.
The recording played.
"If you're hearing this, it means something went wrong.""
Nobody moved.
It was his voice.
But younger.
Twelve years ago.
"I don't know who I can trust anymore.""
Luca looked at Matteo.
His brother's face had gone pale.
The recording continued.
"The person behind this isn't trying to take my company.""
A pause.
A sound of breathing.
"They're trying to erase what I found.""
Luca felt his chest tighten.
The voice continued.
"If I don't survive, Antonio knows where the evidence is.""
Antonio closed his eyes.
Luca turned toward him.
"You knew about this recording?""
Antonio looked away.
"Yes.""
"You had it for twelve years?""
"Yes.""
"Why didn't you give it to me?""
Antonio's silence hurt more than an answer.
"Why?""
Antonio finally looked at him.
"Because you weren't ready.""
Luca's anger exploded.
"Not ready?""
His voice echoed across the garden.
"I spent twelve years trapped in this chair!""
Nobody spoke.
"I spent twelve years wondering if my life was over!""
His hands shook.
"And you decided I wasn't ready?""
Antonio looked devastated.
"I was trying to protect you.""
"Everyone says that.""
Luca pointed around him.
"Everyone says they protected me.""
His eyes moved to Isabella.
"You.""
Then Victor.
"You.""
Then Matteo.
"You.""
His voice lowered.
"But all of you took something from me.""
The silence afterward was unbearable.
The recording continued.
The phone had not stopped.
The younger Luca's voice returned.
"There is one person I trust.""
Everyone listened.
"But if they are the reason this happened...""
A pause.
"Then I was wrong about everything.""
The recording ended.
Luca stared at the phone.
"Who was he talking about?""
Nobody answered.
Then the phone buzzed.
A new message appeared.
One sentence.
*Look under the place where your brother buried your childhood.*
Everyone looked at Matteo.
He stepped back.
"What?""
Luca stared at him.
"Where is it?""
Matteo's expression hardened.
"I don't know.""
"You expect me to believe that?""
"I swear.""
Victor looked toward the old baseball field.
Slowly.
Everyone followed his gaze.
The abandoned field.
The place Elena had been dancing.
The place Luca hadn't visited in years.
Antonio whispered:
"The baseball diamond.""
Luca looked at him.
"What?""
"Your father built it for you and Matteo when you were children.""
A memory surfaced.
Two boys running across the grass.
A father laughing.
A wooden bat.
A promise.
"No matter what happens, this place belongs to you both.""
Luca closed his eyes.
He remembered.
The first time Matteo had betrayed him.
It wasn't twelve years ago.
It was much earlier.
A small moment.
A childhood secret.
A hidden box under the old home plate.
Something they had buried together.
Something only two brothers knew about.
Luca looked at Matteo.
"You know what's there.""
Matteo's face changed.
"I haven't been there in years.""
"But you know.""
Silence.
Then Matteo whispered:
"Luca, don't open it.""
The entire garden went still.
Because Matteo had just answered the question without answering.
Luca turned his chair toward the field.
Victor stepped forward.
"Sir, we should wait.""
"No.""
"It's not safe.""
Luca looked at him.
"Nothing about my life has been safe for twelve years.""
He began moving.
Toward the baseball diamond.
Toward the place where his childhood ended.
Toward the secret his younger self had hidden.
Everyone followed.
Except Matteo.
He remained standing near the mansion.
Watching.
Terrified.
Luca reached the old home plate.
The paint was faded.
The dirt was cracked.
But beneath it, something remained.
A small metal latch.
Exactly where he remembered.
He reached down.
His fingers touched cold steel.
Then he heard footsteps behind him.
Not Victor.
Not Antonio.
Not Isabella.
Matteo.
His brother stood there, his face filled with something Luca had never seen before.
Regret.
"Luca.""
He stopped.
"What?""
Matteo looked at the buried box.
Then at him.
"Before you open that...""
A long pause.
"Remember that I was trying to save you.""
Luca stared.
"From who?""
Matteo's eyes filled with fear.
"From our father.""
The world went silent.
Because Luca's father had been dead for fifteen years.
May you like
And yet, somehow...
The dead were not finished revealing their secrets.
