Chapter 112: Chapter one hundred and Twelve

Chiara

I opened my eyes to a white ceiling. The smell of antiseptic hit me first. Then the faint beeping beside my bed. My body felt like it had been beaten from the inside out.

It took a while before everything came rushing back.

The heist building.

The fake ring.

The Table.

Valentino’s fist.

The axe.

The gunshots.

My mother.

Cameron. “I doubt he would be able to make it…” Zach’s voice echoed in my head.

I sat upright with force. Pain shot through my ribs so violently that I nearly screamed. My head spun, but I ignored it. I yanked off the IV attached to my wrist. Blood came out from there. I threw my legs over the side of the bed, nearly collapsing when my injured leg screamed in protest. “Cameron…”

I stumbled towards the door. I pushed it open. My mother stood outside speaking rapidly into her phone, her expression cold.

“Search every sea route in Horrixo,” she ordered. “Even the oceans. I don’t care how many men or divers you need. Just bring my son to me!”

She ended the call. I grabbed her arm.

“Mother.” Her eyes dropped to my bloodied hand.

“Where is Cameron?”

She didn’t answer immediately. That silence frightened me more than anything.

“He hasn’t been found yet.”

My chest tightened.

“What do you mean he hasn’t been found?”

She looked at me with an expression I couldn’t understand.

“The vehicle plunged into the sea just by Sebastian’s beach house.”

My breath caught.

“Where?”

“Near the eastern coast.”

This loud noise played in my ears.

“No… no…” The eastern coast had waves so strong they could pull down a building. My mother’s face remained frighteningly calm.

“He should be dead by now.”

Zach’s voice filled my ears from behind. His hand was in his pocket.

“Shut up!” I growled at him.

“Somewhere beneath the ocean,” he continued coldly. “Probably a snack for the sharks.”

My knees nearly gave out. I shook my head violently.

“No, you don’t know that.”

My voice echoed through the hallway.

“He’s alive!” I screamed. “He has to be!”

Zach looked at me with irritation in his eyes.

“Cameron wouldn’t have been in that situation if you hadn’t caused all this.”

I turned toward him.

I bit my lips. “Sebastian was targeting you.”

My lips parted, but no words came out.

“Imagine how you almost made us enemies with the Borgattas because of your stupidity.”

My body trembled.

“He took Cameron to get back at you. You killed Cameron, Chiara!”

Something inside me cracked.

“Enough, both of you!” Mother yelled.

My mind dragged me back to the last conversation we’d had. The ruthless words I had said to him. “…You are no different from Mother and Zach… how did I share a womb with you…”

He was scared. He wanted us to leave Horrixo, and I refused because of my greed for a seat. Breathing became hard.

I recalled his face when I called him weak.

I feel so stupid.

“No…” I stumbled backwards, then bolted. I didn’t even look at where I was going. I only knew I had to find him, tell him I didn’t mean those words I said. We could leave now together. Damn everything else.

“Chiara!” I heard Zach behind me.

I pushed through the hospital doors and almost made it down the corridor before his arms wrapped around my waist.

“Let me go!”

“Chiara, stop!”

“LET ME GO!” I clawed at his arms. “I need to find him!”

“There’s nothing you can do!”

“He’s not dead!” My voice broke.

“He can’t be dead!”

I fought harder. “Cameron would never leave me. He promised me!”

Footsteps rushed toward us. Some doctors and nurses grabbed me from his arms, holding me in place.

“No! Don’t touch me!”

I felt a sharp sting at the side of my neck. I gasped, tried to fight them off, but I felt my body failing me.

“What did you—”

The hallway began to spin.

My mother’s face blurred in front of me, followed by Zach’s.

“Mother… Please…” My voice barely came out. But she didn’t move.

My heart seized. Darkness swallowed me.

When I woke up again, the room was different. There were no hospital machines, no furniture or windows, just four white walls and a locked door.

I pushed myself upright, but I felt something holding me back. My legs and arms were restrained to the bed with belts.

“What is this?”

My mother stood on the other side of the room. Zach was beside her. I stared at them.

“Where am I?”

They didn’t answer. Zach just puffed out smoke.

“Mother?” I called.

She folded her arms.

“You’ve caused enough trouble, Chiara.”

“What?”

“You have embarrassed this family, challenged people far more powerful than you, stolen what you couldn’t control, and dragged your brother into your mess.”

“He was kidnapped!”

“Whose fault was that?”

My eyes burned.

“I’m... sorry.” My lips trembled.

She stepped forward and trailed her fingers along my cheeks. Her eyes flickered with something rare.

“My sweet daughter.”

“Take me home. I will be good.”

“No.”

She turned toward the door.

“You’re staying here,” she said, already walking to the door.

“A mental facility,” Zach added, following behind her.

The words struck harder than Valentino’s fists.

“No.”

I struggled against the restraints.

“Mother, please.”

She didn’t even look back.

“You need to learn that your actions have consequences.”

“You can’t leave me here... I’m not crazy!” I thrashed.

“Zach, please!”

He stopped. For one second, I thought he might turn around. He didn't. Instead, he opened the door.

“You shouldn’t have come for me...” My voice cracked. “You should have let me die!!!!”

She paused only for a few seconds before she walked out and shut the door. The sound of the lock sliding into place was louder than any gunshot.

Tears slipped down my cheeks.

I had spent years believing that somewhere beneath all her cruelty, my mother loved me. That when the moment came, she would choose me.

She had. She had come to save me. And I had been stupid enough to believe it meant something.

A sob escaped from my mouth.

“Cam...” My voice broke. “Please be alive.”

Because if Cameron was really dead...

I had nothing left.

\~~~~~~~~~~

\### Alessia

“It all started thirty-five years ago...”

He paused. His eyes lingered on Diana like he was unsure whether to continue.

“I... I will leave.”

She moved. My hand shot out before my brain could think.

“She’s my wife,” I declared, holding her hand.

Matteo’s eyes stayed on her for a few seconds longer than necessary before returning to me. He wanted to say something, but stopped.

“I will gouge your eyes out,” I warned him.

A slow smirk pulled at his lips.

“Protective, ain’t we?”

“We don’t have all day,” Kendrick said impatiently. “Spill.”

Matteo’s amusement faded.

“Thirty-five years ago, your grandmother and grandfather visited Borgatta during the annual coronation.”

A knot tightened in my chest at the mention of my family. I had heard stories about that trip when I was younger. Grandfather had always called it a diplomatic visit.

Nothing more.

“On that day, things went south,” Matteo continued. “King Charles, who was crowned that morning, was found dead in his chambers the next morning.”

Diana’s fingers tightened around mine.

“The entire kingdom was thrown into disarray. There were rumors he had been poisoned.”

“Rumors?” I asked.

Matteo nodded. “The official story was heart failure.”

I frowned.

“What does this have to do with any of this?” Kendrick asked, arms folded across her chest.

Matteo walked toward the window, his gaze fixed on the darkness outside.

“King Charles was murdered.”

My jaw tightened.

“By who?”

“His stepmother, Queen Lardini, so her son Festus could have a chance at the throne.”

“I still don’t get it,” Kendrick pressured.

“The night King Charles died, I saw something. Something I didn’t understand because I was only six...”

I narrowed my eyes.

“What is that?”

Matteo’s fingers tightened around the kerchief covering his injured hand.

“I was fond of King Charles...” His eyes turned distant. “He was the only one who remembered my late mother, his sister, and indulged me... he didn’t call me a curse like the others... That night I hid in his chambers to surprise him, but he came in with a woman...” He paused, not going into details, but I knew.

“I fell asleep hiding...” His voice broke. “When I woke up... he was lifeless and she was gone...”

“So I spent all my days trying to find out who she is... years after years, but nothing... until I met you during that mission where you saved me....”

My brows squinted.

“Those damn eyes don’t lie...”

My smile disappeared.

Kendrick unfolded her arms.

“That’s not enough to prove anything.”

Matteo reached into his jacket, slowly pulled out his phone.

“I didn’t trust my own conclusion either.” He tapped the screen. A document appeared.

“So I ran a test...” He stepped forward and handed me the phone. I took it, and my gaze moved across the DNA result on the screen.

Kendrick came forward and looked at the result with me. I tried hard to keep my face straight.

Matteo looked directly at me.

“You are King Charles' daughter. You were conceived that night. Your mother was that woman...”

I never once cared who my father was. I never asked because I believed if he wanted to be in my life, he would be.

“So?” I asked him.

“Then you aren’t simply the heir to the Vincenzo empire.”

He paused.

“You are the rightful blood of the Borgatta crown.”

“And Kendra is aware?” Kendrick asked.

Matteo nodded. “Prince Festus isn’t royal blood. The thirty-five-year mourning period is over. The next coronation is close... if you don’t exist, it goes just like she wants it,” he explained.

“I think it’s time you return to Borgatta...”

“Return back?” I repeated.

“Yes, I have everything planned out... the opposition team is ready to fight for you.”

“The last time I checked...” I paused. “Women don’t rule in Borgatta...”

His face shifted. He quickly adjusted it. I could have missed it.

“T-they don’t.”

I stepped forward until I stood in front of him. Our eyes met.

“How do you plan on putting me there?” I asked him.

His eyes shifted to Diana, who had been quiet. He looked like he was weighing telling the truth or lying. His jaw clenched tightly. Once he released it, his face was—whatever, I would just say it—kind of face.

“Marry me.”

He dropped the bomb.

Silence stretched in the atmosphere.

I felt Diana's finger tighten around mine. I turned toward her. Her face had gone completely still.

“She’s married to me. Why does she have to marry you?” She stepped forward, her eyes staring glaciers at Matteo.

His eyebrow lifted.

“Because she needs me and everything I can offer her. What can you offer her?”

Diana’s hand loosened on mine. I hated that she shrank back.

Kendrick gave a short, humorless laugh.

“I knew there was something wrong with you.”

“Why can you offer...” I asked.

“You have lost here in Horrixo...” He stated. “Kendra has taken over. You are injured and powerless. You’ve lost every one of your supporters. You are prone to death. Vulnerable. Tell me how you plan to survive?”

My jaw tightened.

“I have no interest in marrying you.”

“Alessia, he has a point,” Kendrick pointed out.

“You don’t get it, do you?” He turned to Diana. “If she marries me, she will become Princess Consort of Borgatta, gain the protection of the crown, access to the royal army, the opposition’s support, and a legitimate path to the throne. Then she can fight off Kendra, else she ends up dead. Make your choice.”

Diana blinked, her teeth bit her lower lip. Her grip on my hand loosened. I felt this strange sensation in my chest.

“Y-you should—”

The door opened quickly. Nurse Reyes stood in front of the door, breathing hard.

“Some strange faces are in the hospital... You all need to leave now!” She said urgently.

“Thomas...” Diana called, already moving to go meet him.

Then the lights went off, the hospital plunged into a deep darkness