Chapter 9: The Name Hidden in Blood
Adeline couldn’t hear the engine anymore.
She couldn’t hear the rain striking the windows.
She couldn’t hear Luca arguing quietly with Enzo about their next move.
All she heard was one sentence.
Your mother was killed because she found out who you really are.
The words repeated in her mind.
Again.
Again.
Again.
“Who I really am?””
Her voice was almost a whisper.
Nobody answered.
That was the answer.
She looked at Daniel.
Her father.
The man she had spent five years mourning.
The man she had spent the last day trying to forgive.
And now he was hiding something else.
Something about her.
“Dad.””
Daniel looked at her.
She had never seen him look so afraid.
Not when they were attacked.
Not when the truth about the accident was revealed.
Not even when he faced Enzo Marchetti.
Only now.
Because this was about her.
“Tell me.””
Daniel lowered his eyes.
“Adeline…”
“No.””
Her voice cracked.
“No more.””
The car fell silent.
“I spent five years believing you were dead.””
She looked at him.
“I spent my whole life believing I knew who I was.””
A tear slipped down her cheek.
“And now everyone keeps telling me I don’t.””
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I wanted to protect you.””
“Stop saying that.””
The words came out sharper than she expected.
Everyone froze.
“Stop saying you protected me.””
She wiped her face.
“Because I don’t know if that’s true anymore.””
Daniel looked devastated.
But he didn’t argue.
Because maybe he knew she was right.
“Tell me.””
A long silence passed.
Then Daniel reached into his coat.
He pulled out an old photograph.
Not the one from before.
A different one.
A woman.
Young.
Beautiful.
Standing beside Daniel.
Adeline knew immediately.
Her mother.
Claire Croft.
But there was something strange.
A man stood beside her.
A man Adeline had never seen before.
Daniel noticed her expression.
“You recognize him?””
“No.””
He nodded.
“You should.””
Her eyes narrowed.
“Why?””
“Because he was the reason your mother died.””
Adeline looked at the photograph again.
“Who is he?””
Daniel’s voice dropped.
“Your grandfather.””
The world seemed to stop.
“What?””
“His name was Vincent Marchetti.””
Nobody spoke.
Even Enzo looked shocked.
Adeline turned toward him.
“Marchetti?””
Enzo stared at the photograph.
“I’ve never seen this.””
Daniel looked at him.
“Of course you haven’t.””
“Explain.””
Daniel held the picture tighter.
“Vincent Marchetti had two children.””
Enzo’s face changed.
“My father.””
“And your uncle.””
Luca went still.
Adeline looked between the brothers.
“No.””
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.””
The truth finally arrived.
And somehow it was worse than every lie before it.
“My mother…”
Daniel looked at her.
“Was Vincent Marchetti’s daughter.””
The silence became unbearable.
Adeline shook her head.
“No.””
“Yes.””
“That’s impossible.””
“It’s why they hid you.””
Her breathing became uneven.
“You’re saying I’m…”
Daniel didn’t finish.
He didn’t need to.
Everyone understood.
Adeline Croft was not just the daughter of the man investigating the Marchetti family.
She was connected to them by blood.
Enzo looked away.
Luca laughed quietly.
Not happily.
Almost sadly.
“Of course.””
Adeline looked at him.
“What?””
He stared at the floor.
“Everything makes sense now.””
“What does?””
“The fear.””
She frowned.
“The fear?””
“Your existence.””
He looked at her.
“Your father wasn’t hiding evidence.””
A pause.
“He was hiding the heir.””
Adeline felt sick.
“No.””
Daniel’s voice softened.
“Adeline…”
“No.””
She shook her head.
“I’m not part of this.””
“You were born into it.””
The sentence broke something inside her.
She looked at Enzo.
The man she had feared.
The man who had protected her.
The man whose family was connected to hers.
“What does this make me?””
Nobody answered.
Then Enzo spoke.
“Someone who was never supposed to be powerless.””
She looked at him.
His voice was quiet.
“You spent your life believing you were invisible.””
A pause.
“But someone spent years trying to make sure you stayed that way.””
The car stopped.
Everyone turned.
They had arrived at the safe location.
But nobody moved.
Because the danger outside suddenly seemed less terrifying than the truth inside.
The safe house belonged to Enzo.
Of course it did.
Another hidden place.
Another room filled with secrets.
Adeline stood alone near the window.
The city lights blurred through the rain.
She thought about her mother.
A woman she barely remembered.
A woman everyone had lied about.
She remembered small things.
A perfume bottle on the bathroom shelf.
A lullaby.
A hand brushing her hair.
That was all.
Her mother had been a memory.
Now she was a war.
“You’re angry.””
Adeline didn’t turn.
She knew his voice.
“Shouldn’t I be?””
Enzo stood behind her.
“Yes.””
She looked at him.
“You knew?””
“No.””
“Your family.””
“I didn’t know.””
She studied him.
The strange thing was—
She believed him.
Maybe because Enzo Marchetti was many things.
But he was not a man who hid behind fake innocence.
“You knew my mother’s family?””
“I knew Vincent Marchetti.””
“How?””
“He raised me.””
The answer surprised her.
“Your uncle?””
“No.””
His expression darkened.
“My father.””
She looked away.
“So your father killed his own daughter?””
Enzo didn’t answer.
That silence was enough.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?””
“Because the truth would put you in danger.””
She laughed softly.
“I was already in danger.””
“Yes.””
His voice was quiet.
“That’s what I failed to understand.””
Adeline looked at him.
“What?””
“That hiding the truth didn’t make you safer.””
For a moment, they stood there.
Two people connected by a family history neither wanted.
Then Enzo said:
“There’s something else.””
She almost laughed.
“Of course there is.””
He ignored the sarcasm.
“The person hunting you isn’t my uncle.””
Her expression changed.
“Then who?””
Enzo looked toward the table.
The envelope.
The documents.
“The person controlling this started before my father’s death.””
“Who?””
He picked up the letter.
“There’s a second message hidden inside.””
Adeline frowned.
“What?””
“Your father wrote it.””
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
“Because I needed to confirm something.””
She stepped closer.
“And?””
Enzo looked at her.
“The message wasn’t meant for me.””
A cold feeling moved through her.
“Who was it for?””
He handed her the letter.
At the bottom was a sentence she had not seen before.
Written in her father’s handwriting.
*FOR MY DAUGHTER. WHEN SHE IS OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW THE TRUTH.*
Her hands trembled.
She read the words beneath.
*Adeline, if you are reading this, it means I failed to keep you away from them.*
Her heart tightened.
*But there is one thing you must know.*
A pause.
*Your mother did not die because she discovered who she was.*
She looked up.
Daniel stood frozen.
“What does that mean?””
Nobody answered.
She continued reading.
*She died because she discovered who I was.*
Adeline stopped.
The room went silent.
Slowly, she looked at her father.
“Who you were?””
Daniel’s face collapsed.
“Adeline…”
The letter shook in her hand.
“You lied about everything.””
“No.””
“Yes.””
She stepped back.
“My mother was a Marchetti.””
Daniel nodded.
“You were investigating them.””
“Yes.””
“But that’s not all.””
His silence confirmed it.
“What were you?””
Daniel looked broken.
Not like a spy.
Not like a hero.
Like a man who had carried a terrible truth for too long.
“I wasn’t just investigating the Marchetti family.””
A pause.
“I was part of it.””
Adeline felt the ground disappear.
“What?””
Daniel looked at Enzo.
Then at Luca.
“I was Vincent Marchetti’s right hand.””
Nobody breathed.
“I helped build the empire.””
The room went completely silent.
Then Daniel whispered:
“And when I realized what it had become…”
His eyes met Adeline’s.
“I tried to destroy it.””
Before anyone could respond, every light in the safe house went out.
Darkness.
Again.
But this time, nobody moved.
Because they knew.
Someone had found them.
A phone rang.
Not Adeline’s.
Not Enzo’s.
Daniel’s.
He stared at the screen.
His face changed.
“What?””
Adeline stepped closer.
“Who is it?””
Daniel answered.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then his voice became hollow.
“No.””
Everyone watched him.
The phone slipped from his hand.
Enzo caught it.
He looked at the screen.
And froze.
Adeline moved closer.
“What?””
Enzo turned the phone around.
A live video was playing.
A woman sat in a dark room.
Older.
Terrified.
Alive.
Adeline stopped breathing.
Because she knew that face.
She had seen it in old photographs.
She had heard stories.
She had mourned her.
Her mother.
Claire Croft.
And beneath the video was a message:
May you like
*COME ALONE, ADELINE.*
*OR YOUR MOTHER DIES AGAIN.*
