CHAPTER 9 The Woman Beneath the House #2
Sofia felt cold.
“What?”
“The first message at the estate was fabricated.”
“You’re telling me they copied your voice.”
“Yes.”
Sofia stared.
Dante’s jaw tightened.
“Deepfake.”
“More sophisticated.”
Elena continued.
“They have decades of recordings.”
Sofia remembered Matteo saying scary lady.
Her stomach turned.
“So tonight?”
“This is me.”
“How do I know?”
Elena looked at Sofia.
Then said quietly, “When you were eight, you broke the blue porcelain bird in my dressing room.”
Sofia froze.
“You blamed the cat.”
Her throat tightened.
“There was no cat.”
“No.”
“You cried for two days because you thought I loved the bird more than you.”
Sofia stared.
Elena’s eyes filled.
“I threw the pieces away after you slept.”
The memory hit with cruel clarity.
Sofia had forgotten.
No file would know that.
Or perhaps a file could.
She hated that she even had to wonder.
“Why did you let me believe you didn’t know where I was?”
“Because once you ran, you were safer if everyone believed I was searching too.”
“You were searching?”
“Publicly.”
“Privately?”
“I knew.”
“Always?”
“Almost.”
Sofia’s anger surged.
“You could have come.”
“No.”
“You could have held your grandson.”
“No.”
“You could have helped me.”
“No.”
“Stop saying no!”
Her voice echoed through the vault.
Elena flinched.
Sofia’s breathing shook.
“Why?”
“Because if I came to you, Mercer would know you mattered to me more than the program.”
Sofia laughed through tears.
“I was your daughter.”
“You always mattered more.”
“That did not feel like love.”
“No.”
Elena’s voice broke.
“It looked like cowardice.”
Silence.
Sofia stared at her mother.
For the first time, Elena looked old.
Not weak.
Tired.
Dante spoke.
“What changed?”
Elena looked at him.
“Matteo became active designation.”
“When?”
“Three days ago.”
Sofia’s heart stopped.
“The video.”
“Yes.”
“Phase two.”
“Yes.”
Dante’s eyes darkened.
“What does active designation mean?”
“They stop observing.”
Sofia felt dread.
“And start?”
“Acquisition.”
The word froze the room.
“No.”
Dante’s voice came like steel.
Elena continued.
“Once the designation activates, the old faction moves the child into Circle custody.”
“Over my dead body.”
“They expected you to say that.”
Dante stepped closer.
“Then they understand at least one thing.”
Elena held his gaze.
“They also expect you to start a war.”
“I will.”
“And that is exactly what they need.”
Dante stopped.
Sofia looked at her mother.
“Why?”
“Because Mercer needs instability.”
“For what?”
“To replace the Custodian.”
Sofia frowned.
“I thought Matteo was supposed to become Custodian.”
“Eventually.”
“And now?”
Elena’s face darkened.
“Mercer wants the role first.”
Dante’s eyes narrowed.
“He can’t access the archive.”
“No.”
“So he needs us.”
“Yes.”
“He wants us to open it.”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
“Kill both of you.”
Sofia’s stomach dropped.
Elena looked toward the vault.
“Take Matteo.”
Dante’s hand tightened around his weapon.
“And use his bloodline authorization once he is old enough.”
Sofia felt rage replace fear.
“No.”
Her mother nodded.
“That is why I brought you here first.”
Dante laughed bitterly.
“Brought?”
“Yes.”
“You manipulated the hospital record.”
“Yes.”
“You leaked the shell company.”
“Yes.”
“You sent Carlo the safe-house warning.”
“Yes.”
Sofia stared.
“You knew he would come.”
“I hoped.”
“Why?”
“Because he knows enough to be useful.”
Carlo’s betrayal flashed through Sofia’s mind.
“You still trust him?”
“No.”
“Then why save him?”
Elena looked at her daughter.
“Because I knew you would need the chance to decide what to do with him yourself.”
Sofia went still.
Choice.
That word again.
Elena continued.
“I have made too many choices for you.”
Her voice softened.
“I won’t make that one.”
Sofia did not know whether to hate her more or less.
Dante stepped closer to the archive console.
“What do you need deleted?”
Elena looked toward him.
“Designation files.”
“All?”
“All children currently marked active or future.”
“Matteo included.”
“Especially Matteo.”
Sofia’s chest tightened.
“Can that erase him from the system?”
“Yes.”
“Completely?”
“From succession.”
“What about copies?”
“Most mirror copies will wipe automatically.”
“Most?”
Dante repeated.
Elena looked at him.
“One external node remains outside my control.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“That is not useful.”
“I know.”
Dante examined the central console.
“What happens once we initiate deletion?”
“The old faction will know.”
“How quickly?”
“Immediately.”
“How long does deletion take?”
“Eleven minutes.”
Dante almost laughed.
“Of course.”
Sofia looked around.
“And in eleven minutes?”
“They will try to stop us.”
“Here?”
“Yes.”
“You brought us into a vault while an armed faction is coming.”
“Yes.”
Dante’s expression became almost admiring in the worst possible way.
“You really are her mother.”
Sofia glared at him.
“This is not the moment.”
“It explains things.”
Elena almost smiled.
Sofia pointed between them.
“Absolutely not.”
For one absurd second, tension eased.
Then an alarm sounded.
Low.
Steady.
Elena’s face changed.
“They found the outer access.”
Dante raised his gun.
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
“Security?”
“Minimal.”
“You planned badly.”
“I expected more time.”
“Everyone always does.”
Dante moved toward Sofia.
“We go upstairs.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
“We take Matteo and leave.”
“You won’t make it.”
“Watch me.”
“They have the roads.”
“We use the tunnel.”
“They know it.”
“Another route.”
“There isn’t one.”
Dante’s face hardened.
“Then we create one.”
Sofia grabbed his arm.
“Wait.”
He looked at her.
“What?”
She looked toward the console.
“Eleven minutes.”
“No.”
“Dante.”
“We are not doing this during an attack.”
“If we leave, they keep Matteo in the system.”
“I will destroy the system later.”
“What if there is no later?”
His eyes flashed.
“Don’t.”
“She’s right.”
Elena said quietly.
Dante turned on her.
“You do not get to agree with my wife.”
Silence.
Everyone froze.
Sofia stared at him.
Dante did too.
Wife.
The word had come instinctively.
Not runaway bride.
Not former fiancée.
Wife.
His face changed slightly.
Sofia’s pulse raced.
“We never married.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t call me that.”
His eyes held hers.
“Noted.”
But something about his expression said the word was not gone.
Elena looked away, perhaps hiding emotion.
Another alarm sounded.
Closer.
Sofia stepped to the console.
“What do I do?”
Dante caught her wrist.
“Sofia.”
“If we run now, we are still running.”
“I don’t care.”
“I do.”
“Your life matters more than a database.”
“And Matteo’s freedom matters more than my fear.”
His grip loosened.
Sofia stepped closer.
“You said fathers are harder to control than Dons.”
“Yes.”
“Well, mothers are worse.”
Despite everything, Dante almost smiled.
Then his expression softened.
“If we do this, you follow every instruction.”
“No.”
His eyes narrowed.
“We’re negotiating now?”
“Yes.”
“Terrible timing.”
“Get used to it.”
He stared at her.
Then nodded.
“Fine.”
Sofia looked at Elena.
“Start.”
Her mother moved toward the console.
Two biometric panels illuminated.
Elena entered a code.
“Once you both authorize, there is no stopping the deletion.”
“Good.”
Sofia placed her hand on the first scanner.
Dante stood beside her.
His hand covered the second.
The screen activated.
**M-04 CONFIRMED.**
**S-17 CONFIRMED.**
Then:
**JOINT AUTHORITY ACCEPTED.**
Sofia stared.
Elena selected a directory.
Thousands of files appeared.
Names.
Numbers.
Birth dates.
Children.
Some not yet born.
Sofia’s stomach turned.
Elena highlighted one category.
**SUCCESSION PROGRAM.**
“Confirm.”
Dante looked at Sofia.
“Your choice.”
She stared at the screen.
For years, everyone else had chosen.
Her father.
The Circle.
Fear.
This time, no one would.
“Delete it.”
Dante pressed confirmation.
A countdown appeared.
**10:59**
Elena exhaled.
“It’s done.”
“No,” Dante said.
He drew his gun.
“It’s started.”
Gunfire echoed somewhere above them.
Sofia’s heart raced.
The countdown continued.
**10:41**
Dante looked at Elena.
“Get upstairs.”
“No.”
“You’re unarmed.”
“I have weapons.”
“Then get one.”
Elena moved toward a concealed drawer.
Sofia stared.
“You have a gun?”
Her mother opened it.
“Several.”
Sofia shook her head.
“Of course you do.”
Dante almost smiled again.
Then Luca’s voice crackled through a small emergency radio.
“Boss.”
Dante answered instantly.
“Status.”
“Multiple hostiles entered the property.”
“Matteo?”
“With me.”
Sofia’s chest loosened.
“Keep him away from the bunker.”
“Working on it.”
“Carlo?”
“Armed.”
Sofia stared.
“My father is fighting?”
Luca’s voice replied.
“He seems very motivated not to die.”
Dante looked unimpressed.
“Useful for once.”
Then gunfire exploded through the radio.
The line cut.
“Luca?”
Nothing.
Sofia went pale.
“Luca!”
Dante grabbed her shoulders.
“He’s alive.”
“How do you know?”
“I know.”
“You cannot know.”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“But panic wastes time.”
She hated that he was right.
The countdown reached:
**08:12**
Elena looked toward a security monitor.
“They’re inside the upper level.”
“How many?”
Dante asked.
“Nine.”
“Mercer?”
“Unknown.”
Dante checked ammunition.
Sofia looked at him.
“What are you doing?”
“Buying eight minutes.”
“No.”
He met her eyes.
“Sofia.”
“No.”
“You need to remain at the scanners.”
“Why?”
“If either authorization disconnects during deletion, the process pauses.”
Her blood chilled.
“So we both have to stay here?”
“Yes.”
Dante looked at Elena.
“You failed to mention that.”
“You would have refused.”
“Yes.”
Elena nodded.
“Exactly.”
Dante looked ready to shoot her.
Sofia grabbed him.
“Later.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You keep delaying my violence.”
“You’re welcome.”
Another gunshot sounded outside the vault.
Closer.
Dante moved Sofia behind the central console.
Elena stood beside the door.
Weapon raised.
The countdown continued.
**06:49**
Sofia looked at Dante.
“If they get in?”
“They won’t.”
“You just said no guarantees.”
“I’m making an exception.”
“Dante.”
He looked at her.
She wanted to say something important.
Something final.
She hated that her mind went there.
“What?”
“If something happens—”
“No.”
“Listen.”
“No.”
“Dante.”
“I refuse.”