Chapter 5 - The Father Who Was Never Dead
They found Lorenzo Bellini beneath the monastery three hours later.
Sophia had imagined hundreds of versions of that moment.
None looked like reality.
Her father was thinner than in the photographs.
His hair was gray.
He walked with a cane.
But his eyes were unmistakably the same eyes Sophia saw whenever she looked in the mirror.
He stared at her for several seconds.
Then whispered her childhood nickname.
“Little star.”
Sophia broke.
She crossed the room and threw her arms around him.
Lorenzo held her as if she were still three years old.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I know.”
“You let me believe that.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
He closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
That answer hurt more than any excuse could have.
Matteo stood several feet away.
Lorenzo noticed him.
His expression tightened.
“You are a Duca.”
“Yes.”
“My father trusted your family.”
“My father did too.”
Lorenzo shook his head.
“Then you are not like them.”
Sophia looked between the two men.
“Tell me everything.”
Lorenzo sat.
The story took hours.
He had survived the night of the coup.
He was captured and forced into hiding.
Orsini believed Lorenzo possessed the second seal.
He never found it.
Marcella escaped with Sophia.
Years later, Lorenzo secretly watched his daughter from a distance.
He saw her first school recital.
Her graduation.
Her first day at Matteo’s company.
He never approached.
“Why?”
“Because every time I came close, people around me disappeared.”
Lorenzo looked at Matteo.
“Your father protected me once.”
“What happened?”
“He intercepted a convoy carrying me to Orsini’s men.”
Matteo frowned.
“My father never spoke about this.”
“He couldn’t.”
Lorenzo leaned forward.
“He was killed because of it.”
Matteo went still.
“My family told me he died in a business dispute.”
“It was no dispute.”
Sophia looked at Matteo.
For the first time, she understood the coldness surrounding him.
The secrets.
The distrust.
The endless security.
He had been raised inside a war he never fully understood.
Lorenzo reached beneath his coat.
He removed a folded piece of paper.
“This is what Victor has been searching for.”
Sophia opened it.
It was a map.
At the center was an ancient palace.
Beneath it were marked three chambers.
“The final archive.”
Lorenzo nodded.
“The legal proof of succession.”
“Why is it still hidden?”
“Because the archive contains more than property records.”
“What else?”
“The names of everyone who planned the coup.”
Sophia stared at the page.
“That could destroy Victor.”
“It could destroy half the people who now claim to support your restoration.”
Matteo understood immediately.
“This is why the council wants Sophia.”
Lorenzo nodded.
“They want a controllable queen.”
Sophia frowned.
“A queen they can manipulate.”
“Yes.”
“And if I refuse?”
“Then they will manufacture another heir.”
Matteo said, “That explains the false bloodline rumors.”
Sophia turned.
“What rumors?”
“Three women have recently appeared claiming to be descendants of the Venturi line.”
Lorenzo laughed bitterly.
“Victor has been preparing replacements for years.”
Sophia looked at Matteo.
“And what do you want?”
He did not answer immediately.
Lorenzo watched him.
Matteo finally said, “I want Sophia alive.”
“Nothing else?”
“I want her free to decide what she does with the crown.”
Sophia felt something crack inside the walls she had built around herself.
Lorenzo smiled faintly.
“Then perhaps you are the man my father hoped you would become.”
They returned to Milan.
The next morning, Sophia discovered a message waiting on her private phone.
YOU HAVE TWENTY-FOUR HOURS TO LEAVE MATTEO DUCA.
A photograph followed.
Clara’s son.
Alive.
Tied to a chair.
Sophia showed Matteo.
His face became expressionless.
“We’re going to get him.”
“Victor wants me to choose.”
“No.”
Matteo took the phone.
“He wants you to believe you have only two choices.”
“What’s the third?”
“We take the war to him.”
Lorenzo entered.
“He will expect that.”
Matteo looked at him.
“Then we give him something else.”
They devised a plan.
Sophia would publicly announce that she had accepted the succession.
The council would gather.
Victor would attend.
Meanwhile, Matteo would locate Clara’s son.
Lorenzo would retrieve the final archive map.
The plan almost worked.
Almost.
At the public announcement in Milan, cameras surrounded Sophia.
She stepped onto the stage in a simple cream suit.
No crown.
No royal symbols.
“My name is Sophia Bellini,” she said.
The room fell silent.
“And I have spent most of my life believing that my family disappeared.”
She paused.
“I now know that was not true.”
Every camera flashed.
“The House of Venturi survived because people sacrificed themselves to protect it.”
Victor stood in the crowd.
Sophia looked directly at him.
“I will not be ruled by fear.”
Then she said something Matteo had not expected.
“I accept my heritage.”
The room erupted.
That night, the country’s media exploded with speculation.
But within hours, an anonymous report appeared online accusing Matteo Duca of orchestrating Sophia’s appearance.
The report claimed he planned to control the future queen.
Evidence followed.
Bank transfers.
Photographs.
Old documents.
Sophia read them in silence.
They were convincing.
Too convincing.
Matteo entered the room.
“I didn’t do any of that.”
“I know.”
He stopped.
She looked up.
“Because if you wanted control, you would have taken the crown the first night.”
His expression softened.
“I’m glad you know me that well.”
“I’m not sure I do.”
He smiled slightly.
“You’re learning.”
Before she could respond, Enzo rushed in.
“We found Clara’s son.”
Sophia stood.
“Where?”
“An abandoned hotel near Lake Como.”
Matteo grabbed his coat.
Then stopped.
“Sophia stays here.”
She frowned.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“I’m the reason he’s there.”
“And that’s exactly why I need you alive.”
She stepped closer.
“You said you wanted me free.”
“I do.”
“Then let me choose.”
He stared at her.
Finally, he nodded.
“Get your coat.”
The rescue ended in gunfire.
Matteo reached the basement just as Victor’s men prepared to move Clara’s son.
Sophia followed with Enzo.
The young man was wounded but alive.
Then Victor appeared on the security monitors.
“You see, Sophia? This is what happens when you trust the Duca family.”
Sophia looked at the screen.
Victor smiled.
“Meet me at the palace.”
The monitor went black.
Lorenzo entered the room behind her.
His face had become grim.
“He has the final archive.”
Matteo turned.
“How?”
May you like
Lorenzo looked at Sophia.
“Because I gave him the map.”
