THE DON’S FORBIDDEN MARRIAGE
The Don’s Forbidden Marriage – Chapter 17
©Joy Cindy
The Choice No One Expected
The chapel was silent.
Two doors stood behind the altar.
One carried the black rose.
The other bore the Romano symbol.
Above them, the words remained:
CHOOSE ONE. SAVE ONE.
Elena stared at the doors.
Her heart pounded.
“No.”
Marco’s voice echoed through the speakers.
“You have sixty seconds.”
Alessandro stepped toward her.
“Don’t listen to him.”
“My mother is behind one of those doors.”
“Or he wants you to believe she is.”
“What about you?”
“I’m standing here.”
“For now.”
The lights flickered.
A timer appeared above the doors.
00:59
Elena looked around.
The chapel doors were locked.
The council members stood frozen.
Her mother was gone.
She hadn’t noticed when she disappeared.
“Where is my mother?” Elena demanded.
No one answered.
Alessandro’s father moved toward the doors.
“Marco took her.”
“When?”
“During the blackout.”
Elena looked at Alessandro.
“You didn’t see?”
“No.”
“Then what are we waiting for?”
She ran toward the doors.
Alessandro followed.
“Elena, stop.”
She reached the black rose door.
The handle was cold.
The timer changed.
00:43
“Which one?” she asked.
Alessandro studied the symbols.
“Don’t open either.”
“Why?”
“Because this is a trap.”
“Everything is a trap.”
“That doesn’t mean we walk into it.”
Marco laughed through the speakers.
“Thirty seconds.”
Elena looked at the Romano door.
Then at the black rose.
Her mother had once worn a black rose pendant.
But Alessandro’s family symbol was carved into the old council room.
Which one was meant to confuse her?
Her thoughts moved quickly.
Marco wanted her to choose.
So maybe the right answer was not choosing.
She stepped away.
Alessandro frowned.
“What are you doing?”
“Finding another way.”
The timer continued.
00:24
Elena looked around the altar.
The floor was covered in old symbols.
Then she noticed something.
A third symbol.
Small.
Hidden beneath the altar.
A silver key.
She knelt.
“Alessandro.”
He moved beside her.
“What?”
“Look.”
He studied the symbol.
His expression changed.
“The council seal.”
“What does it mean?”
“It means there’s another passage.”
“Where?”
He looked beneath the altar.
“Help me.”
Together, they pushed.
The heavy stone moved.
A narrow opening appeared beneath it.
Cold air rose from below.
Marco’s voice became angry.
“Step away from the altar.”
Elena smiled.
“You’re nervous.”
The timer reached:
00:12
Alessandro looked into the passage.
“It’s too narrow.”
“I can fit.”
“No.”
“Alessandro.”
“You don’t know what’s down there.”
“Neither do you.”
“I’m going.”
“You’re too broad to fit.”
He stared at her.
For one second, Elena almost laughed.
Then the timer reached:
00:05
She dropped into the passage.
“Elena!”
The stone door closed above her.
Darkness surrounded her.
She heard Alessandro shouting her name.
Then silence.
A small light appeared at the end of the tunnel.
Elena crawled forward.
The passage opened into a hidden room.
Her mother sat against the wall.
Her hands were tied.
“Mother!”
“Elena?”
She rushed toward her.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
Elena untied her.
“How did you get here?”
“Marco took me.”
“Where is Alessandro?”
Her mother looked toward the wall.
“I don’t know.”
Elena stood.
“We have to get out.”
A voice came from behind them.
“You chose your mother.”
Elena turned.
Marco stood at the entrance.
He held a small remote.
“Where is Alessandro?” Elena demanded.
Marco smiled.
“Behind the Romano door.”
Her heart tightened.
“You lied.”
“I gave you a choice.”
“You said I could save one.”
“You saved one.”
“Then let him go.”
Marco laughed.
“That wasn’t the agreement.”
Elena stepped forward.
“You don’t control me.”
“Not yet.”
He pressed the remote.
A loud sound echoed through the walls.
The room shook.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
“What did you do?”
“The Romano door is closing.”
Elena’s eyes widened.
“Stop it.”
“Choose the council.”
“No.”
“Choose Vittorio.”
“No.”
“Then Alessandro dies.”
Her mother grabbed Elena’s arm.
“Don’t.”
Elena looked at her.
“Mother—”
“Don’t give him power.”
Marco stepped closer.
“You have ten seconds.”
Elena stared at the remote.
Then at the wall.
Then at the old symbol carved into the floor.
A silver key.
She remembered the pendant.
The hidden key.
The words her mother had said.
The key is not an object. It’s a name.
Lucia Romano.
Elena looked at Marco.
“You’re wrong.”
His smile faded.
“What?”
“The heir doesn’t choose the council.”
Marco frowned.
“Yes, she does.”
“No.”
Elena pointed to the symbol.
“The heir chooses who ends it.”
The room became silent.
Her mother stared at her.
“Elena…”
She stepped toward the wall.
“Lucia Romano.”
Nothing happened.
Marco laughed.
“That name means nothing.”
Elena repeated it.
“Lucia Romano.”
A hidden mechanism clicked.
The wall opened.
Behind it was a second passage.
Marco’s smile disappeared.
“No.”
Elena grabbed her mother’s hand.
“Run.”
They entered the passage.
Marco shouted behind them.
“Stop!”
They ran through the narrow tunnel.
The ground shook.
Stone cracked above them.
Then they reached a metal door.
Elena pushed it open.
They entered the chapel.
Alessandro stood near the Romano door.
He was alive.
“Elena!”
She ran toward him.
“You’re okay.”
“I told you not to go.”
“And I told you I would choose.”
He looked at her.
Then at her mother.
“You found her.”
“Yes.”
The timer above the doors disappeared.
The chapel lights returned.
Marco was gone.
The council members stared at Elena.
The old council leader stepped forward.
“You used the third passage.”
Elena faced him.
“Yes.”
“No heir has done that before.”
“Then the old rules were wrong.”
The man’s expression hardened.
“You cannot change the rules.”
“Why not?”
“Because they were written by the founders.”
“People wrote them.”
“And people can rewrite them.”
The council began arguing.
Some agreed.
Others shouted.
Then the chapel doors opened.
Vittorio entered.
He looked angry.
“You were supposed to choose.”
Elena turned toward him.
“I did.”
“You chose your mother.”
“I chose neither door.”
His expression changed.
“You found Lucia’s passage.”
“Yes.”
“Then you know.”
“Know what?”
Vittorio stepped closer.
“Lucia is alive.”
The chapel became silent.
Alessandro’s father stared at him.
“No.”
Vittorio smiled.
“She has been alive for eight years.”
Elena looked at Alessandro.
His face had gone pale.
“Where is she?” he asked.
Vittorio’s smile grew.
“Somewhere you will never find.”
Alessandro moved toward him.
“Tell me.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s my aunt.”
“And she knows the truth.”
Elena stepped forward.
“What truth?”
Vittorio looked at her.
“The truth about your birth.”
Her heart tightened.
“What about it?”
“You aren’t the heir because of your blood.”
Elena frowned.
“Then why?”
“Because Lucia chose you.”
The room went silent.
Elena stared at him.
“Why would she choose me?”
“Because she knew what you would become.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will.”
Vittorio reached into his coat.
He removed a small envelope.
The same black rose was stamped across it.
He placed it on the altar.
“Open it.”
Alessandro stepped forward.
“Don’t.”
Elena looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because it’s another trap.”
“Maybe.”
She picked up the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
A young woman stood beside Elena’s mother.
The woman held a baby.
On the back were four words:
THE HEIR WAS SWITCHED.
Elena’s hands went cold.
She looked at her mother.
“What does this mean?”
Her mother stared at the photograph.
Her face became pale.
“Elena…”
“Tell me.”
Her mother didn’t answer.
Vittorio smiled.
“The child you believe you are…”
He paused.
“…may not be the child you were born as.”
The chapel became silent.
Elena looked at Alessandro.
Then at her mother.
Every secret had changed her life.
But this one could change who she was.
And somewhere beyond the villa, Lucia Romano was alive—
Holding the final truth.
