Chapter 9: The Memory Lorenzo Moretti Buried
The name fell into the silence like a broken piece of glass.
“Adrian.””
Lorenzo said it again.
Not as an accusation.
Not as a question.
As if he was finally hearing a truth he had spent seventeen years avoiding.
Adrian Moretti didn’t move.
For the first time since he entered the warehouse, his confidence disappeared.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
And so did Lorenzo.
“You knew,” Lorenzo said.
Adrian looked away.
That was enough.
Because powerful people didn’t avoid questions they could answer.
They avoided questions that threatened them.
Lorenzo lowered his gun slightly.
“Tell me.””
Adrian’s face hardened.
“There are things you don’t want to remember.””
“That’s not your choice.””
“It was.””
The answer was quiet.
And somehow, that made it worse.
Lorenzo stared at him.
“What did you do?””
Adrian didn’t answer.
Marcus stepped forward.
“Boss.””
But Lorenzo raised his hand.
No one moved.
He was no longer looking at Adrian like an enemy.
He was looking at him like a ghost from his past.
A person who had been standing beside him all along.
“You were there,” Lorenzo said.
Adrian remained silent.
“The night my father died.””
“Yes.””
The word changed everything.
Marcus looked stunned.
Even the guards outside went quiet.
Lorenzo’s expression became unreadable.
“Why didn’t I know?””
Adrian laughed softly.
“Because Daniel Hart made sure you didn’t.””
I watched Lorenzo carefully.
The man who seemed impossible to break suddenly looked like someone fighting a battle inside his own mind.
Memories.
Missing pieces.
Things hidden behind a locked door.
“What did he do to me?”” Lorenzo asked.
Adrian looked at him.
“He saved you.””
“That’s not an answer.””
“It is.””
“No.””
Lorenzo’s voice sharpened.
“I want the truth.””
Adrian sighed.
“You were twenty-three.””
The warehouse disappeared.
Not physically.
But emotionally.
Because everyone became trapped in a story that happened before I existed as an adult.
Before Lorenzo became the man standing in front of me.
“Angelo Moretti was changing,” Adrian continued.
“He realized the empire he built had become something he no longer controlled.””
Lorenzo said nothing.
“Your father wanted out.””
Marcus frowned.
“That’s impossible.””
Adrian looked at him.
“You never knew him.””
The words silenced Marcus.
“Angelo wanted to destroy the records. He wanted to expose everyone involved and walk away.””
Adrian looked at Lorenzo.
“But you disagreed.””
Lorenzo’s face tightened.
“I wouldn’t.””
“You did.””
“No.””
“You were angry.””
Adrian stepped closer.
“You believed your father was weak.””
The words hit.
Because Lorenzo reacted.
Not with anger.
With recognition.
A memory trying to return.
“I…”
He stopped.
His hand moved to his temple.
I saw something I never expected.
Pain.
Real pain.
Images flashing through his mind.
A younger Lorenzo.
A different man.
A son standing in the shadow of his father.
“I remember…”
Everyone became still.
Lorenzo closed his eyes.
“My father and I argued.””
His voice was distant.
“About the organization.””
Adrian nodded.
“Yes.””
“He said I didn’t understand what power was.””
“Yes.””
“He said power wasn’t fear.””
A pause.
“He said power was responsibility.””
Lorenzo opened his eyes.
“And I told him he was wrong.””
Nobody spoke.
The memory continued.
“I told him fear was the only thing people respected.””
His voice became quieter.
“I told him I would build something stronger than him.””
Adrian smiled faintly.
“There you are.””
Lorenzo ignored him.
“What happened next?””
Adrian looked toward the broken windows.
“Angelo planned to meet Daniel.””
“For what?””
“To give him the evidence.””
My breath caught.
The evidence.
The thing everyone had been chasing.
“The list.””
Adrian nodded.
“Yes.””
Lorenzo stared.
“And I stopped them.””
Adrian didn’t answer.
He didn’t need to.
The truth was already forming.
Lorenzo looked sick.
“What did I do?””
Adrian’s voice became cold.
“You followed your father.””
“No.””
“You thought he was betraying you.””
“No.””
“You confronted him.””
Lorenzo stepped back.
The memory was hurting him.
I could see it.
“You’re lying.””
Adrian smiled.
“Are you sure?””
A long silence.
Then Lorenzo whispered:
“I had a gun.””
Marcus looked at him.
“Boss?””
Lorenzo didn’t hear him.
“I remember.””
His voice cracked slightly.
“I had a gun.””
I felt something twist in my chest.
Because this was the first time I saw Lorenzo not as a powerful man.
But as someone carrying a wound no one could see.
“What happened?”” I asked softly.
Everyone looked at me.
Including Lorenzo.
His eyes met mine.
And for a moment, I saw the same fear he had shown when he saw my mother’s photograph.
“I don’t know.””
Adrian answered.
“I do.””
Lorenzo turned.
“Speak.””
Adrian’s expression became serious.
“You arrived after Daniel.””
“After?””
“Yes.””
“You said I confronted my father.””
“You did.””
“Then why don’t I remember?””
“Because you weren’t the one who killed him.””
The words stopped everything.
Lorenzo stared.
“What?””
Adrian looked at me.
“Your father arrived first. He saw what was happening.””
He looked back at Lorenzo.
“He realized Angelo’s own son was being manipulated.””
Lorenzo frowned.
“By who?””
Adrian smiled sadly.
“You’re finally asking the right question.””
The warehouse went silent.
Then Adrian said:
“Me.””
Marcus moved instantly.
“You?””
Adrian ignored him.
“I needed Angelo gone.””
“Why?””
“Because he wanted to destroy everything I built.””
Lorenzo’s expression darkened.
“You betrayed my father.””
“Yes.””
“You killed him.””
Adrian didn’t deny it.
“I made a choice.””
Marcus raised his weapon.
But Lorenzo stopped him.
Not because he forgave Adrian.
Because he needed answers.
“What did Daniel do?””
Adrian looked at me.
“Daniel found Lorenzo after the shooting.””
My throat tightened.
“He was alive?””
“Yes.””
Lorenzo looked confused.
“I was?””
Adrian nodded.
“You were injured. Confused. Angry.””
A pause.
“Daniel knew if you remembered the truth, you would destroy yourself trying to fix it.””
Lorenzo looked at me.
“And my father?””
Adrian’s face changed.
“He took the blame.””
I felt tears burning my eyes.
My father.
The man I thought abandoned me.
The man I hated for leaving.
He had spent his life carrying a secret to protect someone else.
“Where did he go?””
Adrian looked away.
“He disappeared.””
“That’s not an answer.””
“No.””
Adrian looked at me.
“It’s a warning.””
My heart stopped.
“What?””
“Daniel didn’t die seventeen years ago.””
The warehouse froze.
I stared at him.
“What did you say?””
Lorenzo looked equally shocked.
“That’s impossible.””
Adrian shook his head.
“It isn’t.””
My voice barely worked.
“Where is he?””
Adrian looked toward the entrance.
Then back at me.
“He’s the reason everyone has been searching for you.””
The answer made no sense.
“My father?””
“Yes.””
“But he’s gone.””
“No.””
Adrian stepped closer.
“He’s been hiding.””
My hands trembled.
“From who?””
Adrian looked at Lorenzo.
Then at me.
“From the person who knows where he is.””
The room went quiet.
Lorenzo’s phone suddenly rang.
Everyone turned.
He answered.
A voice spoke.
His expression changed.
“What?””
He listened.
Then looked at me.
“What happened?””
Lorenzo ended the call.
Marcus stepped forward.
“Boss?””
Lorenzo looked at me.
“Your apartment.””
My stomach dropped.
“What about it?””
“They found something.””
“What?””
He hesitated.
Then handed me the phone.
A photograph filled the screen.
My old apartment.
My bedroom.
The loose floorboard beside my bed had been removed.
The place where my father had hidden something years ago.
Something I never told anyone about.
Under the photograph was a message.
*You wanted the truth, Evelyn.*
A second message appeared.
*Come alone if you want your father back.*
My breath disappeared.
Because below those words was a location.
A place I knew.
A place my father had once taken me when I was a child.
And at the bottom of the message was a name.
Not Adrian.
Not Lorenzo.
Someone else.
May you like
Someone impossible.
*Daniel Hart.*
