Chapter 17 - TWO DAUGHTERS, ONE SECRET|
Catherine could not take her eyes off her father.
Arthur looked older than she remembered, his face drawn and his shoulders bent beneath the weight of a secret he had carried for decades. He held no weapon, but his presence beside Vittorio was enough to make Catherine feel betrayed all over again.
“You knew,” she whispered.
Arthur lowered his head.
“I knew part of it.”
“Which part?”
“That your mother was alive. That the records had been changed. That someone wanted you hidden.”
“You let me believe she was dead.”
“I thought it was safer.”
Catherine’s voice broke.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
Vittorio stepped down one stair.
“Give me the ledger. This has gone far enough.”
Gabriel positioned himself between Vittorio and the others.
“You’re not leaving with it.”
“You still think this is about money?” Vittorio laughed. “The ledger can destroy the entire family.”
“Then perhaps the family deserves to be destroyed.”
Vittorio’s expression darkened.
“You sound like your father.”
“That’s the point.”
Catherine opened the ledger to the page about the second child.
“What happened at the clinic?”
Arthur looked at Elena.
She shook her head slowly.
“I remember the pregnancy. I remember giving birth. But the doctor told me the baby was a girl and that she was taken to another room for observation. When I woke up, Margaret was holding Catherine.”
Catherine’s mind raced.
“Margaret was told I was her biological daughter.”
Arthur nodded.
“She was asked to protect you. She believed the arrangement was temporary.”
“What about the second baby?”
Vittorio’s silence was answer enough.
Elena looked at him.
“You took another child.”
Vittorio’s face remained cold.
“The child was placed with a family who could provide the protection the Romanos required.”
“You exchanged babies?” Catherine whispered.
“It was necessary.”
“For what?”
“To keep the inheritance from falling into the wrong hands.”
Gabriel stepped forward.
“You used children to control the family.”
Vittorio raised the gun slightly.
“I used every tool available to keep this family alive.”
Arthur finally spoke.
“You told me the second child had died.”
Vittorio turned on him.
“And you accepted the money.”
Arthur flinched.
Catherine stared at the man who had raised her.
“Did you know I wasn’t Elena’s only child?”
“No,” Arthur whispered. “I learned that years later. I was told the second baby had been adopted by a family outside Chicago.”
“Who?”
Arthur looked toward the ledger.
“The name was changed. But I remember the original record.”
He swallowed.
“Isabella Moretti.”
Gabriel went still.
Isabella was married to Nicholas Romano, Gabriel’s cousin. Her family controlled a powerful business network that had recently been negotiating a merger with the Romanos.
Catherine looked at Elena.
“You had twins?”
Elena began to cry.
“I never knew.”
Vittorio seized the ledger.
Gabriel lunged forward. A gunshot exploded against the stone wall, showering them with dust.
Elena screamed.
Catherine grabbed the loose pages while Gabriel forced Vittorio against the safe. Arthur pulled the older man’s arm away from the gun.
For several seconds, the chamber became chaos.
Then Marcus and the security team stormed down the stairs.
Vittorio was disarmed.
But when Gabriel turned back toward the safe, the original ledger was gone.
Catherine looked at Arthur.
He held the missing book against his chest.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
May you like
Then he handed it to her.
“Your sister deserves to know who she is.”
