Chapter 83 News about his long lost son
When Deborah returned to the Valmere company, the atmosphere was immediately wrong in a way she couldn’t ignore. The executive floor, usually alive with controlled movement and quiet authority, stood unnaturally still, as if the building itself was holding its breath. Assistants were nowhere to be seen, and even the security personnel kept their voices low, their expressions tight and unreadable as she passed. Well.... this is just normal when fundano is here in the company. He don't want people walking everywhere.
She was led straight into the private conference hall reserved only for bloodline matters, the kind of room that was never used unless the subject was dangerous, confidential, or capable of tearing families apart.
Inside, the Valmere brothers were already there.
Caelum stood near the glass wall, arms crossed tightly over his chest, his jaw set in a way Deborah recognized immediately as restrained fury. Lucio sat at the table but hadn’t bothered opening the files in front of him, his attention fixed on the man standing across from them. Knight remained closest to Deborah’s side, silent but alert, his presence a quiet shield even as his eyes carefully observed every movement in the room.
Across from them stood Fundano Valmere.
Beside him was Rionessi Valmere.
The silence was thick, deliberate, and heavy with something unspoken.
Fundano broke it first, his voice steady but stripped of its usual confidence, as though even speaking the words required effort. “Thank you for coming so quickly princess, have a seat,” he said, his gaze sweeping across the Valmere siblings before settling briefly on Deborah. “What we are about to discuss does not leave this room.”
No one argued. No one needed to.
Rionessi folded his hands behind his back, his posture formal, eyes sharp with calculation rather than emotion. “Earlier today,” he began carefully, “an anonymous message was intercepted by one of our private channels. It was not sent through the public network, nor through any known corporate line. Whoever sent it knew exactly how to reach us without being traced.”
Caelum straightened immediately, his voice low and edged with suspicion. “And..... what did this message say?”
Rionessi paused, then answered plainly. “It claimed knowledge of Fundano’s long lost son.”
The words landed like a controlled explosion.
Deborah felt the air leave her lungs, not from shock alone, but from the way Fundano’s expression hardened as if the past had just clawed its way back into the present.
Fundano stepped forward slowly, placing both hands on the table. “My son was declared dead many years ago, even though there are no traces of his body or bones aside from the drivers burnt body,” he said, each word weighed down by history. “That truth has never been questioned… until now.”
Lucio leaned forward, his voice calm but sharp. “You’re saying someone not only knows about him, but is confident enough to announce it anonymously. That doesn’t sound like a bluff.”
“It isn’t,” Rionessi replied, his gaze shifting briefly toward the data screen beside him. “The sender included details that were never recorded officially. Names, locations, timelines that only family or someone deeply embedded in the past would know.”
Knight’s jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing. “Then this person isn’t guessing.......They’re watching?”
Fundano nodded once, grim. “And they ended the message with a single sentence.” His eyes lifted slowly, scanning each face in the room. “They said my son is not only alive… but also near.”
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Caelum let out a slow breath, his voice dropping dangerously low. “Near as in the city? Or near as in this company?”
Rionessi didn’t answer immediately, which only made the tension worse. “We are still tracing the signal,” he said carefully. “But the proximity suggests access. Not to our buildings alone… but to our inner circles.”
Deborah’s heart pounded painfully as the implication sank in. Someone close. Someone trusted. Someone who had learned how to hide in plain sight.
Lucio’s fingers curled against the table. “Whoever sent that message didn’t want money or leverage. They wanted fear.”
“And attention,” Knight added quietly. “They want us looking in every direction except the one that matters. But uncle, do you think that person who send it is having a true sources?”
Fundano’s eyes darkened. “Which is why this remains within this room,” he said firmly. “Until we identify who sent the message, we will assume my son could be anyone… an ally, an enemy, or someone we already know.”
Deborah finally spoke, her voice steady but tight with unease. “Why now?”
All eyes turned to her.
Fundano studied her for a moment before answering. “Because something has shifted,” he said slowly. “Someone believes the time is right for the truth to surface… or for chaos to follow.”
Rionessi activated another display, lines of data scrolling rapidly. “We are attempting to locate the origin of the message, but whoever sent it knows how to erase themselves. They left us just enough to confirm credibility, and nothing more.”
Caelum scoffed softly, anger threading through his tone. “So we’re being watched, tested, and manipulated by someone who knows our bloodlines better than we do.”
“Yes,” Rionessi replied evenly. “And until we find them, we assume they will strike again. But don't worry boys, we are protected you know that. We are not easy to fool. Not a valmere.”
Deborah felt a cold knot form in her chest, a quiet realization settling deep within her. If Fundano’s son was truly alive and nearby, then this wasn’t just a revelation…...
A revelation that the past was done waiting. And that whoever this lost heir had become, he was no longer hiding. He was circling.