Kevin Moretti was nothing like Lily imagined.
His salt-and-pepper hair was neatly slicked back, his tailored black suit pristine, his posture regal. But it was his eyes that held her breath hostage—cold, calculating, and disturbingly familiar. They were her eyes.
"Come," he said softly, as if welcoming a long-lost child home from school. "You've been away too long."
Lily didn't move.
Behind her, Damian hovered like a shadow ready to strike. He hadn't let go of her hand since they entered the estate, and his presence was a silent snarl of threat.
"You know why I'm here," Lily said, voice level. "You know what I want."
Kevin's smile didn't falter. "You want the truth. And you've come to the right place." His gaze shifted to Damian. "But your husband must wait outside."
Lily's stomach clenched. She felt Damian's grip tighten. "No," she said firmly. "He stays."
Kevin's expression turned sour for a split second before he nodded. "As you wish. But I warn you, Elena… truth is rarely kind."
He led them through the villa's grand foyer—gilded mirrors, marble floors, oil paintings of long-dead Morettis whose eyes followed them like ghosts. They entered a lavish study with tall windows and crimson velvet drapes. A crystal decanter gleamed on the desk, beside a framed photo of a woman with dark curls and a haunted smile.
"My mother," Lily whispered, stepping forward.
Kevin's gaze softened. "She loved you. Fiercely. She used to sing to you every night. 'Ninna Nanna.' You never cried in her arms." He picked up the frame, brushing dust from the glass. "I lost her too soon."
"What happened to her?" Lily asked, her heart thundering.
Kevin looked at her, then at Damian. "I could lie. But I sense you're tired of lies."
"Tell me."
He sighed. "She tried to leave me. Said she wanted you to have a normal life. A life without blood on your hands. I told her we could never be normal. That this world was the only one we knew. She disagreed… and ran."
Damian tensed beside her.
Kevin went on, voice low. "I found her weeks later in Paris. Pregnant with your sibling. But she'd fallen in love with someone else. A civilian." His hand curled into a fist. "I gave her a choice. Come home—or lose the child."
Lily's throat went dry. "And she chose the baby."
Kevin nodded once. "She died two days later. Car bomb. I was supposed to be in the car. She wasn't."
Lily stepped back, reeling. "You killed her."
Kevin's eyes blazed. "No. My enemies did. But she died because she left me. Because she betrayed her blood."
"You mean you."
He didn't deny it. "Blood loyalty is everything. And you are mine, Elena. Not his." His eyes flicked to Damian. "A Bratva bastard, poisoning my daughter's womb."
Damian stepped forward, but Lily caught his arm. "Don't. Not yet."
Kevin poured himself a glass of wine and sat behind the desk. "I didn't know you were alive. John Keller told me you died in the hospital. He sent me a tiny casket. Sealed. My men tried to retrieve your body, but it was gone by the time they arrived. He buried it in an unmarked grave."
Lily's voice was barely a whisper. "He stole me. Because he hated you."
"He feared me," Kevin corrected. "And wanted your mother. He couldn't have her, so he took the next best thing. You."
Silence stretched between them.
Lily's heart ached with memories she didn't have—her mother's lullabies, her father's rage, a life that was never hers.
"And framing Damian?" she asked, her voice sharp. "Was that also revenge?"
Kevin's expression turned to stone. "It was justice."
"For what?"
"For taking you." His voice rose now. "You chose him. You ran to him instead of coming home. You gave yourself to him. You married him. Had his child."
"I didn't know!" she screamed. "I didn't remember any of it!"
Kevin slammed his glass down. "That's no excuse. You were mine to protect. And he corrupted you."
Damian growled. "You want to talk about corruption? You murdered John, blamed me, tried to erase your daughter's life—"
"He wasn't her father!" Kevin snapped.
"No," Lily interrupted. "But he raised me. He taught me how to ride a bike, kissed my bruises, read bedtime stories—he may have been twisted, but he loved me."
Kevin stood, walking slowly around the desk. "And I'm supposed to forgive the man who raised my daughter in shadows? Who let you live in ignorance while I mourned you for twenty-six years?"
"You're supposed to be better than him!" she yelled. "But you're not. You're worse. Because you knew the truth and still chose hate."
Kevin's hand came down on the desk hard. "You will not speak to me that way. I am your father."
Lily's chin lifted. "No. You're just the man who gave me blood. But you are not my father."
The words were a blade.
Kevin's eyes burned with fury. But instead of striking, he turned cold.
"You want the final truth?" he said. "Fine. I'll give it to you."
He opened a drawer and tossed a folder onto the desk.
Inside were photos. Surveillance images. One showed a young woman—Lily—pregnant, walking beside Damian. Another showed her holding a baby.
"You ran before the accident. You tried to escape with Mikhail. Because you knew what I'd do if I found out you'd borne his child."
Lily stared, stunned. "You… would've killed my son?"
Kevin's jaw clenched. "I would've saved you."
"You're sick," Damian growled.
Kevin smiled slowly. "And you're soft. You always were."
Then he pulled a gun from under the desk.
"Let's end this," he said. "You walk away from him, Elena, and you come home. Or I put a bullet in his skull right now."
Lily's breath caught. She stepped between Damian and Kevin. "Don't you dare."
Kevin's eyes flared. "Move, or I shoot through you."
"I'd rather die than be yours." Her voice cracked, but her feet held steady. "You already took enough. You won't take him too."
Kevin's hand trembled on the trigger.
Damian stepped forward slowly, pulling his own weapon from his coat.
"You point a gun at my wife again," he said, "and I will take your blood and paint this room with it."
For one breathless second, time froze.
Then a gunshot rang out.
Kevin's shoulder jerked back—Anton stood in the doorway, weapon raised.
The guards burst in.
"Secure him," Anton barked.
Kevin hit the floor with a curse, blood pooling under his arm.
Damian caught Lily as she stumbled, trembling.
"It's over," he whispered.
But Lily knew better.
This was just the beginning.
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