Chapter 6 - The Ledger of Ghosts
Vincent survived.
The bullet missed every major organ.
According to Sofia, this gave him absolutely no excuse to behave like a dying emperor.
“You are thirty-four years old,” she told him in his private recovery room. “Stop frightening nurses.”
“I asked for water.”
“You glared.”
“I have a face.”
Elena laughed.
Vincent looked offended.
Sofia looked delighted.
It was the first peaceful moment they had shared.
It didn’t last.
The real ledger contained hundreds of names.
Judges.
Police officers.
Port officials.
Executives.
And one name that changed everything.
Marco Bellini.
Elena stared.
“No.”
Vincent said nothing.
Marco had protected him for twelve years.
But the payments beside Marco’s name were recent.
Very recent.
Elena looked toward Vincent.
“You knew?”
“I suspected someone close.”
“Marco saved us.”
“So did Paul once.”
The words hurt because they were true.
Vincent summoned Marco.
When Marco saw the ledger, he didn’t deny it.
“I took money.”
Vincent’s expression became empty.
“Why?”
“To find my daughter.”
Silence.
Marco explained that his seventeen-year-old daughter, Isabella, had disappeared two years earlier. Paul contacted him afterward.
He claimed Isabella was alive.
In exchange for information about Vincent, Marco would receive proof.
“I gave him schedules,” Marco said. “Nothing that would get you killed.”
Vincent stepped forward.
“You don’t get to decide which betrayal kills me.”
Marco lowered his head.
“I know.”
Elena watched Vincent’s hand tighten.
But he didn’t reach for a weapon.
“Is she alive?” Elena asked.
Marco looked at her.
“I don’t know.”
Elena opened the ledger again.
Near Paul’s trafficking records were coded initials.
One entry read IB-17.
A transfer destination appeared beside it.
Virginia.
Elena looked at Marco.
“I think we can find her.”
Vincent stared at the ledger.
Then at the man who had betrayed him.
“Why would you help him?” Marco asked.
Vincent’s answer came quietly.
May you like
“Because I’m not Paul.”
That decision changed everything.
