Chapter 5 - A MARRIAGE BUILT ON DEBT|
Matteo returned to the penthouse at 1:18 a.m.
The apartment was dark except for the city lights beyond the windows. Catherine's slippers stood beside the sofa. Her favorite blue mug sat in the sink. A book lay open on the armchair where she sometimes waited for him to come home.
Everything looked ordinary.
That made her absence unbearable.
He called her again.
The phone went directly to voicemail.
He called Samuel.
No answer.
Then he called his head of security.
"Where is my wife?"
"We lost sight of her near Myers Park."
"You lost sight of her?"
"She left with another vehicle."
"Find it."
"Sir, there are concerns about the photograph—"
Matteo ended the call.
He walked to the kitchen and found the anniversary menu Catherine had left on the counter. She had written it by hand, including the dessert he had once mentioned liking during their first month together.
He had forgotten that conversation.
She had remembered it for four years.
A knock sounded at the door.
Enzo entered without waiting.
"You're making a mistake."
Matteo turned.
"My wife is missing."
"Your wife is dramatic."
"She is pregnant."
Enzo's expression flickered.
"Then she should be somewhere safe."
"Who authorized the search of her medical records?"
"I did."
Matteo crossed the room.
"You had no right."
"She's carrying the future of this family. I had every right to know."
"She's my wife."
"Your wife is a Bennett. Her father nearly destroyed himself trying to protect a company he couldn't manage. Do not mistake marriage for loyalty."
Matteo grabbed Enzo by the lapels.
"Say another word about her father."
Enzo did not flinch.
"You're angry because you know I am right. You chose the gala. You chose Celeste. You chose the votes. Catherine finally saw the man you are."
Matteo released him.
For once, his uncle had found a weapon he could not intimidate.
"Why did my father change his will the day Rose's baby disappeared?"
Enzo's face went still.
"Where did you hear that?"
"Answer me."
"Your mother was sick. Your father was frightened. People say things when they're frightened."
"Was there another child?"
Enzo straightened his jacket.
"Not one who matters now."
Matteo felt something inside him turn to ice.
"Get out."
Enzo's voice hardened.
"Be careful, nephew. The waterfront vote is tomorrow. If you abandon the project, the family loses more than money."
"Then perhaps the family should have thought of that before it started threatening my wife."
Enzo left.
Matteo opened the safe behind his study desk and removed a thin folder he had never shown anyone.
His mother had given it to him during her final weeks.
Inside was a birth certificate with the name scratched out, a hospital bracelet, and a letter written in Rose's trembling hand.
Matteo, if you ever discover what happened to your brother, remember that your father was not the only person who made a choice.
He had never understood the letter.
Now he called the one person who might.
"Martin Sloan."
His father's former adviser answered sleepily.
"Matteo? Do you know what time it is?"
"I need the truth about my brother."
Silence.
Then Martin sighed.
"I wondered when you'd ask."
"Was he alive?"
"Yes."
"Where is he?"
"I don't know."
"Who took him?"
Martin's voice dropped.
"Your father believed the child was a threat to the family trust. Enzo believed the boy could be used to control Rose. A nurse was paid to remove him from the hospital."
Matteo gripped the desk.
"Who paid her?"
"I have the records."
"Send them."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because the last person who tried to expose the arrangement died in a warehouse fire."
Matteo remembered the photograph Gabriel had shown Catherine.
The warehouse.
The trucks.
The date.
"Martin, tell me who died."
The old adviser exhaled.
"Your father didn't just lose his firstborn son, Matteo. He helped make the world believe that child never existed."
Matteo closed his eyes.
May you like
Then Martin said the words that changed everything.
"And Catherine's father was the only man who ever found proof."
