Chapter 15 - THE FATHER WHO WAS NEVER IN THE GRAVE|
Gabriel sat in silence while Elena explained what she remembered.
Lorenzo Romano had discovered that his younger brother, Vittorio, was using the family’s shipping company to move illegal goods and finance a network of corrupt officials. He intended to report the operation and transfer the legitimate business to Gabriel when his son became an adult.
But Lorenzo had made one fatal mistake.
He told his brother that he planned to expose everything.
Vittorio responded by threatening Elena and her unborn child.
Lorenzo arranged for Elena to disappear, believing that hiding her would protect Catherine. He then attempted to confront Vittorio privately.
The official story claimed Lorenzo died in a car accident two days later.
Elena had never believed it.
“He told me he would come back for us,” she said. “He never did.”
Gabriel stared at the floor.
“For eleven years, I believed my father died because he lost control of a car.”
“I’m sorry,” Elena whispered.
Catherine took her mother’s hand.
“Why didn’t you contact us when you learned I was alive?”
Elena’s face tightened.
“Because Vittorio sent me photographs of you. Your school. Your house. Your father’s workplace. He told me that if I came back, the people who killed Lorenzo would finish what they started.”
“And you believed him.”
“Yes.”
Catherine pulled away.
“I spent my entire life thinking my mother was dead.”
“I know.”
“You let me grow up without you.”
“I know.”
“You let me marry into the same family that destroyed our lives.”
Elena began to cry.
“I thought Gabriel was different. I thought he could protect you.”
Gabriel looked up.
“You knew about the marriage?”
“Not until it happened. When I heard your name, I tried to contact Catherine. The message never reached her.”
Catherine remembered the anonymous warnings, the threats against her father, and the strange insistence that she remain quiet.
Someone had been monitoring her long before she found the silver.
Elena reached into a cabinet and removed a small metal box.
Inside was a photograph of Lorenzo, a set of keys, and a folded document.
“This belonged to your father-in-law,” she said. “He left it with me before he died.”
Gabriel opened the document.
It was a legal declaration transferring the majority of the legitimate Romano holdings into an independent trust. The transfer had never been completed.
A second page contained a handwritten note.
If Vittorio gains control of the company, he will use Gabriel’s name to protect the operation. Do not let him inherit the crimes with the money.
Gabriel’s face hardened.
“He has been controlling my company since I took over.”
Elena nodded.
“He wanted you to believe you were building an empire. In reality, he was using your reputation to protect his own.”
Catherine looked at the keys.
“What do they open?”
Elena’s answer was quiet.
“The room beneath the old family chapel. Lorenzo hid the original ledger there.”
Gabriel stood.
“Then we’re going back to Chicago.”
Elena caught his arm.
“You don’t understand. Vittorio knows about the room.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Then he knows we’re coming.”
Outside, a car engine started.
They rushed to the window.
A black vehicle sat at the end of the driveway.
Its headlights flashed once.
Then it sped away.
May you like
Someone had followed them.
And whoever it was had just confirmed that the final secret was no longer safe.
