Chapter 10 - The Daughter Nobody Knew Existed
The photograph was taken only a few weeks earlier.
The young woman stood outside a small coffee shop in Providence, wearing a denim jacket and carrying a canvas backpack.
On the back was a handwritten name.
Sofia Hale.
Dante stared at it.
"Where did you find her?"
Isabella smiled.
"She found me."
Elena felt Matteo's small fingers gripping her hand.
"Why would she contact you?"
"Because she knows who killed her mother."
Dante stepped forward.
"Careful, Isabella."
"Oh, I'm being very careful. Your sister's daughter is alive because someone took her from the hospital and raised her far away from the Moretti family. She grew up believing her mother abandoned her."
Elena's heart ached.
"That's horrible."
"Life is rarely fair, sweetheart."
Isabella looked at Dante.
"And now she's old enough to understand that her family has spent years lying to her."
Dante's expression hardened.
"Where is she?"
"Somewhere you can't reach."
Before Isabella could continue, a loud crash came from the opposite end of the warehouse.
Dante's men entered.
Thomas immediately turned his weapon toward Matteo.
Elena didn't hesitate.
She grabbed the heavy metal chair beside her and threw it toward Thomas's legs.
He stumbled.
Dante fired once, striking the weapon from Thomas's hand.
Two guards rushed forward and secured him.
Isabella attempted to escape through the rear exit.
Elena chased her.
"Stop!"
Isabella turned and raised a small pistol.
But before she could aim, a second woman appeared behind her.
She was young, perhaps twenty-two, with dark curls and the same sharp Moretti eyes.
"Drop it, Isabella."
Everyone froze.
Dante slowly lowered his gun.
The young woman held a small recording device.
"I have everything," she said.
Isabella's expression changed.
"You stupid girl."
"My name is Sofia Hale."
Dante stared at her.
"You're Sofia's daughter?"
The young woman nodded.
"I came because I wanted to see the man who let my mother die."
Dante looked devastated.
"I was seventeen. I didn't know what my father had done."
"You were her brother."
"I know."
His voice cracked.
"And I've regretted not protecting her every day since."
Sofia looked at Elena.
Then at Matteo.
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Is he...?"
Elena nodded slowly.
"He's your brother."
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then Matteo stepped forward.
"Are you my sister?"
Sofia dropped the recording device.
She knelt and opened her arms.
Matteo ran toward her.
The sight broke something inside Elena.
Dante stood beside her, unable to speak.
But the reunion lasted only a few seconds.
A sharp electronic beep came from Sofia's device.
She looked down.
Her face turned white.
"What is it?" Elena asked.
Sofia swallowed.
"The recording isn't the only thing I brought."
She opened a message on her phone.
A bank transfer.
A massive payment made that morning.
The sender was a company owned by Dante Moretti.
The recipient was Thomas Reed.
But the payment had been authorized from Dante's personal account.
Sofia looked up.
May you like
"Someone inside your family paid for my mother's murder."
And the authorization carried Dante's digital signature.
