Chapter 19 - Voss IslandThe island appeared on no public map.
Dominic reached it before dawn.
A helicopter landed on a private runway.
Marco and a small team followed.
Daniel came with them.
Evelyn stayed behind with Lily.
Dominic had wanted to bring her.
She refused.
“If you don't come back,” she had told him, “Lily will never forgive you.”
He promised.
Now he walked through an abandoned industrial complex.
Daniel led the way.
“He'll be here.”
Dominic looked around.
“Who?”
“Noah.”
They reached a locked steel door.
Daniel opened it.
Inside was a laboratory.
Empty.
Tables.
Medical equipment.
Old computers.
Then Dominic heard a sound.
Footsteps.
A teenage boy appeared at the end of the corridor.
He froze.
Dominic froze too.
For several seconds, neither moved.
The boy whispered:
“Dad?”
Dominic's eyes filled with tears.
He had imagined this moment.
But never like this.
He walked slowly forward.
“Noah.”
The boy stepped back.
“You really came.”
“I promised.”
“No.”
Noah shook his head.
“You didn't promise me.”
Dominic stopped.
“I know.”
“You didn't even know I existed.”
“I know.”
“You chose another family.”
Dominic felt the words like knives.
“I didn't know.”
“That doesn't change anything.”
“No.”
Dominic nodded.
“It doesn't.”
Noah looked at him.
For the first time, Dominic didn't try to defend himself.
He simply said:
“I am sorry.”
Noah's eyes filled with tears.
Then an alarm sounded.
Daniel looked toward the ceiling.
“Voss.”
The doors locked.
A voice came over the speakers.
“Welcome home, Dominic.”
Voss appeared on a monitor.
“You found your son.”
Dominic stared at the screen.
“Let him go.”
“You still don't understand.”
“What?”
“This island isn't mine.”
Dominic looked around.
Voss smiled.
“It belongs to the Moretti family.”
Dominic's face hardened.
“My grandfather?”
“Your great-grandfather.”
Voss continued.
“Your family built this place.”
Dominic realized the truth.
The Moretti empire had not begun with legitimate businesses.
It had begun here.
And the Black Ledger was only part of the story.
Voss pressed a button.
Screens appeared.
They showed decades of Moretti history.
Money.
Weapons.
Political influence.
Secret agreements.
Then one final document appeared.
A birth certificate.
Noah's.
But the father's name had been altered.
It wasn't Dominic.
It was Anthony Moretti.
Dominic stared.
“No.”
Voss smiled.
“Your father claimed Noah as his son.”
Dominic's mind raced.
It meant only one thing.
Noah might not be his son.
He might be his half-brother.
Daniel looked horrified.
“Anthony…”
Voss laughed.
“You've spent your entire life believing you were the heir.”
He looked directly at Dominic.
“You aren't.”
The doors opened.
Armed men entered.
Voss's voice continued.
“The true heir is Noah.”
Dominic looked at the boy.
Noah looked terrified.
Dominic stepped in front of him.
“I don't care.”
Voss frowned.
Dominic continued:
“He's my son.”
Then the lights exploded.
Gunfire erupted.
Daniel shouted.
“Get Noah out!”
Dominic grabbed the boy.
They ran.
May you like
Behind them, the laboratory caught fire.
And somewhere in the chaos, Voss disappeared.
