The Blood of My Enemy

Part 3 — The Daughter Who Destroyed the Mancini Empire

Two days later, Elena was transferred to a private recovery suite under the protection of twenty armed guards.

Her condition had improved, although she still needed several weeks of recovery.

I personally made sure she had everything she needed.

Fresh flowers.

Books.

Her favorite food.

A new phone.

But the one thing she wanted most was something money couldn’t buy.

Her mother.

Every morning, she asked whether Sofia’s body had been found.

And every morning, I had to tell her that we were still searching.

On the third evening, Marco entered my office.

“Antonio has arrived.”

I put down my glass.

“Where is he?”

“In the basement.”

I stood and buttoned my jacket.

“Let’s go.”

Antonio was sitting in a metal chair when I entered. His expensive suit was wrinkled, and his face was pale.

He looked up.

“Luca. Thank God. There’s been a terrible misunderstanding.”

I laughed without humor.

“A misunderstanding?”

I threw Sofia’s death certificate onto the table.

“Explain this.”

His eyes moved across the document.

“I don’t know anything about it.”

I placed the photograph of him entering Sofia’s clinic beside it.

His expression changed.

“Where did you get that?”

“Answer the question.”

He leaned back.

“Your father would never have wanted this family destroyed over some woman.”

I stepped closer.

“Don’t mention my father.”

Antonio sighed.

“Luca, you don’t understand. Sofia was a liability. She knew things she shouldn’t have known.”

“What things?”

He remained silent.

I grabbed the front of his jacket.

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?”

His face twisted.

“Your father hid the original Mancini inheritance records before he died. They contained evidence of financial arrangements that could have sent half the family to prison.”

I released him.

“And Sofia knew where they were?”

“No. But she knew about the child.”

I stared at him.

Antonio continued.

“Richard discovered that your father had left something connected to his bloodline. We believed the girl might lead us to it.”

“Who killed Sofia?”

Antonio looked down.

“I didn’t order her death.”

“Then who did?”

He hesitated.

“Richard.”

My hand tightened.

“Where is he?”

Antonio finally looked up.

“Your family’s old estate. He has been using it for years.”

I turned toward Marco.

“Prepare the cars.”

But Antonio suddenly shouted behind me.

“Luca! Wait!”

I stopped.

“There’s something else.”

I looked over my shoulder.

“Speak.”

He swallowed.

“Richard doesn’t want the girl dead anymore. He wants her alive.”

“Why?”

“Because the secret your father left behind isn’t hidden in a bank account or a safe.”

Antonio’s voice dropped.

“It’s hidden in the original family bloodline records. Elena’s name is the final piece.”

For several seconds, I said nothing.

Then my phone rang.

It was the head of security at Elena’s hospital.

I answered.

“Talk.”

His voice was frantic.

“Boss, we have a problem.”

My blood turned cold.

“What happened?”

“Someone entered the recovery suite. Your daughter is missing.”

I didn’t remember leaving the basement.

I only remembered running.

When we reached the hospital, the corridor was filled with security personnel. Elena’s room was empty.

Her blanket lay on the floor.

Her phone had been smashed.

And on the pillow was a small white envelope.

I opened it.

Inside was a photograph of Elena sitting in the back of a black car.

On the reverse, someone had written:

Come alone to the Mancini estate. Bring the original family records. You have one hour.

Marco stepped forward.

“Luca, it’s a trap.”

I stared at the photograph.

“Of course it is.”

“We’ll assemble the entire team.”

“No.”

“Boss—”

“I said no.”

I turned toward him.

“Richard wants me to believe he’s holding my daughter. He thinks I’ll walk into his trap like a desperate father.”

I slipped the photograph into my jacket.

“He’s right about one thing. I’m desperate.”

Then I looked directly at Marco.

“But he’s wrong about something else.”

“What?”

“I’m not going there to negotiate.”

Forty minutes later, I arrived at the abandoned Mancini estate.

The place where I had grown up.

The place where my father had taught me that loyalty was more valuable than money.

And the place where my uncle had apparently buried the truth.

Richard Vale stood in the grand hall, holding a gun.

Beside him was Elena.

Her wrists were tied, but she was standing.

“Dad!”

I nearly lost control when I saw her.

See more Stories :

“I’m here, sweetheart.”

Richard smiled.

“Touching, isn’t it? The great Luca Mancini finally has something he can’t buy.”

I slowly placed a black folder on the marble table.

“The records. Now release my daughter.”

Richard laughed.

“Do you really think I’m stupid?”

He opened the folder.

His smile disappeared.

It was empty.

“You bastard!”

I looked directly into his eyes.

“You wanted the original records? Then you should have known I wouldn’t bring them here.”

Richard raised his gun toward Elena.

“Where are they?”

Elena suddenly spoke.

“Dad, don’t give him anything!”

Richard turned and slapped the gun against the table.

“Be quiet!”

I took one step forward.

“Touch her again, and you won’t leave this building.”

Richard laughed.

“You still don’t understand, Luca. Your father didn’t hide those records to protect the family. He hid them because he discovered who had been stealing from him.”

He pulled a second photograph from his pocket.

It showed my father standing beside Richard.

And between them stood a third man.

My uncle Antonio.

Richard smiled.

“Your father was murdered because he discovered that his own brother had been selling the family’s secrets.”

I froze.

Antonio.

My uncle had been involved from the beginning.

Suddenly, a gunshot echoed through the hall.

Richard’s weapon flew from his hand.

Marco and my security team stormed through the entrance.

Within seconds, Richard was on the floor.

I ran toward Elena and cut the ropes around her wrists.

“Are you hurt?”

She shook her head, tears running down her cheeks.

“I was so scared.”

I pulled her into my arms.

“You’re safe now.”

But then she looked up at me.

“Dad, there’s something Mom told me before she died.”

I gently brushed the hair away from her face.

“What is it?”

“She said the truth about Grandpa was hidden in something you still had.”

I frowned.

“What thing?”

Elena reached into her jacket and pulled out a small silver necklace.

The same necklace we had found beside Sofia’s car.

I recognized it immediately.

My anniversary gift to Sofia.

Elena pressed a tiny section of the pendant.

A hidden compartment opened.

Inside was a miniature memory card.

My hands went cold.

Sofia had carried the evidence with her all those years.

And she had somehow managed to keep it from Richard.

Marco approached.

“Boss, we have Antonio in custody. He’s ready to cooperate.”

I looked at the memory card.

“Good. Then we’ll hear everything.”

That night, we watched the files in my private office.

The first recording showed my father speaking shortly before his death.

His voice was weak, but unmistakable.

“If Luca ever finds this, tell him the truth. The person who betrayed this family is not an outsider.”

Then the screen changed.

A bank transfer appeared.

Millions of dollars had been moved through accounts controlled by Antonio and Richard.

There were recordings of threats, forged documents, and proof that they had arranged my father’s murder.

But the final video was the one that left me speechless.

It showed Sofia sitting in a small room, holding a newborn Elena.

She looked directly into the camera.

“Luca, if you’re watching this, then I hope you’ve finally found our daughter.”

She smiled sadly.

“I wanted you to be there when she took her first breath. I wanted you to hold her when she learned to walk. I wanted her to know her father.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“But I was afraid. And I thought keeping her away from you was the only way to keep her alive.”

She paused.

“Please don’t blame yourself. You never knew.”

The recording ended.

I sat motionless.

For seventeen years, I had hated Sofia for leaving.

Now I understood that she had spent every single one of those years protecting the child we had created together.

Elena quietly entered the office.

“Dad?”

I turned.

She was wearing a beautiful cream-colored sweater, and the little crescent scar beneath her eye was clearly visible.

“Come here.”

She approached slowly.

I opened my arms.

She hugged me.

“Are you going to stay with me now?”

I kissed the top of her head.

“Every day.”

She pulled back slightly.

“Even though I’m not used to having a father?”

I smiled through the tears in my eyes.

“Then we’ll learn together.”

Six months later, Richard and Antonio were convicted for their roles in the conspiracy surrounding my father’s murder, Sofia’s death, and the attempted killing of Elena.

The Mancini family empire changed forever.

I dismantled the criminal operations my father had built and turned the legitimate businesses over to a new board.

Some people called me weak.

Others said I had betrayed the family.

I didn’t care.

For the first time, I had something more important than power.

On Elena’s eighteenth birthday, I took her to Sofia’s grave.

We placed white roses beside her name.

Elena knelt and touched the cold marble.

“Mom, I found Dad.”

I stood behind her, unable to speak.

She looked up at me.

“Can we come back next week?”

I nodded.

“Every week, if you want.”

Then she smiled.

And for the first time, I saw Sofia’s smile on my daughter’s face.

I had spent seventeen years believing that losing Sofia was the worst thing that could happen to me.

I was wrong.

The worst thing would have been losing Elena without ever knowing she existed.

I took her hand as we walked away from the cemetery.

My enemies had tried to destroy my bloodline.

Instead, they had given me the one thing I never thought I would have.

A daughter.

And this time, I would never let go.

The End.