THE MAFIA BOSS NEEDED A WIFE FOR ONE WEEKEND—SHE CHANGED HIS FAMILY FOREVER

Daniel arrived at the printing shop before sunrise.

The front window had been cracked, the lock forced, and a stack of paper scattered across the floor. The owner, Mr. Alvarez, stood beside a police officer, looking more angry than frightened.

"They didn't take the register," he said. "They didn't touch the computers. They went straight to the office."

Daniel looked at the empty filing cabinet.

"My employment records."

"Some of them," Mr. Alvarez replied. "And the old payroll files."

Luca stood near the doorway with Margaret. He had insisted that Daniel decide whether the family security team should come. Daniel had agreed only after the police requested that the area remain clear.

Evelyn arrived with coffee and a paper bag of breakfast sandwiches.

No one had eaten.

"Did they take anything else?" she asked.

Mr. Alvarez shook his head.

"Not that I can see."

Daniel crouched beside the cabinet.

"Why would anyone want my time sheets?"

"To challenge the dates in the payment records," Evelyn said. "Or to create the impression that you worked for the company when you didn't."

Daniel looked up.

"Can they do that?"

"They can try. That's why the original records matter."

The police officer explained that the break-in would be investigated, but there was no immediate suspect. The shop's camera system had been disabled shortly before midnight.

Luca's expression became cold.

"This is connected to the audit."

"Probably," Margaret said. "But we shouldn't assume we know who ordered it."

Daniel stood.

"I want to make a statement. I want the police to know I never worked for Caruso Maritime."

"You can do that," Margaret replied. "We'll provide the financial records to the investigators through the proper channels."

Luca looked at his nephew.

"We can arrange for you to stay somewhere secure."

Daniel shook his head.

"I'll stay with my mother."

"Then we'll make sure the house is safe."

Daniel's jaw tightened.

"I don't want guards following me to work."

Luca started to object, then stopped.

"What would make you comfortable?"

"Knowing someone is investigating the people who did this instead of treating me like a problem to hide."

Luca nodded.

"All right."

It was a small exchange, but Evelyn recognized its significance. Luca was learning to ask before he acted.

The police collected the remaining documents. Mr. Alvarez offered Daniel a few days off, but Daniel refused.

"I need the routine," he said. "If I stay home every time something scares me, I'll never get my life back."

Evelyn respected that.

As they left the shop, she noticed a torn piece of paper caught beneath a filing cabinet. She picked it up carefully and handed it to the officer.

It was part of a printed invoice.

The visible portion contained a company name: Harborline Advisory.

Margaret recognized it immediately.

"That's one of the firms that received the consulting payments."

The officer placed the fragment in an evidence bag.

Back at the estate, the audit team traced Harborline Advisory to a registered agent whose address matched a mailbox in a commercial office building. The company had no employees, no operating website, and no record of performing legitimate consulting work.

Its bank account had received payments from both Caruso Maritime and a Northline subsidiary.

The money had then been transferred to accounts controlled by a second company.

That company was registered to Charles Weller's brother.

Luca stared at the diagram.

"Bell and Weller were working together."

"That's the leading possibility," Margaret said. "But we still need evidence showing who authorized the transfers and where the money went."

Marco studied the dates.

"These payments began before the waterfront report was altered."

"Which suggests the report may have been part of the scheme rather than its original purpose," Evelyn said.

Luca looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Someone may have been using the project to justify payments that were already being made. The false report could have created a reason to move additional money without drawing attention to the earlier transfers."

Margaret nodded slowly.

"That's plausible. The audit should test that theory."

A new email arrived from the forensic team.

The transfers had funded a series of purchases involving Northline shares shortly before a confidential acquisition announcement.

If the Caruso family had been forced to sell its waterfront assets under pressure, Northline's stock position would have increased substantially in value.

The scheme was no longer simply about the trust.

It was about manipulating the market and forcing the Carusos into a distressed sale.

Then the team discovered a final payment.

It had been made to a private investigator who had contacted Amelia Reed.

The payment description read: Locate beneficiary. Secure signature. Prevent disclosure.

Evelyn read the line twice.

"Prevent disclosure of what?"

Margaret opened the supporting attachment.

It was a scan of an old letter written by Anna Caruso, Luca's late wife.

The letter had been sealed in the trust archive.