Chapter 7 - The Wife They Thought Was Weak
I didn't sleep that night.
Dominic tried.
He lay beside me in the dark, one hand resting lightly against my waist.
But every time I closed my eyes, I heard Gabriel's voice outside the bedroom door.
We need to talk.
For years, Gabriel had been the closest thing Dominic had to a brother.
He knew the codes to our security system.
He knew where we lived.
He knew the names of the children Dominic visited at the hospital.
And he had used that trust to get close enough to frighten me in my own home.
At four in the morning, I sat up.
Dominic opened his eyes immediately.
“What's wrong?”
“I keep thinking about your aunt.”
He rubbed his face.
“So do I.”
“You said you identified her body.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
He sat against the headboard.
“My father took me to a private funeral home. There'd been a fire. The body was badly damaged.”
My stomach tightened.
“Could you recognize her?”
“Not her face.”
“Then how did you know?”
“She wore my mother's ring.”
I stared at him.
“A ring?”
“A gold band with a small emerald. My mother gave it to her when they were teenagers.”
“Did you see the ring on her hand?”
Dominic frowned.
“No. It was in an evidence envelope.”
I felt something click into place.
“Then you didn't identify your aunt.”
He looked at me.
“You identified a ring.”
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Then Dominic reached for his phone.
By breakfast, Evelyn Hart had been informed.
By noon, investigators were searching for the records of the funeral home.
And by evening, they had discovered something extraordinary.
There was no verified death certificate for Elena Bellini.
Only a document submitted by a private physician who had died seven years earlier.
Dominic stared at the report.
“She could really be alive.”
I took his hand.
“Yes.”
He looked almost frightened to believe it.
Then Evelyn called.
They had found an address associated with Elena's old passport.
A small coastal town in Maine.
The same state Dominic had chosen for our honeymoon.
I looked at him.
“That's a strange coincidence.”
He shook his head.
“It's not.”
“What?”
He swallowed.
“My mother used to take us there in the summers. Before everything changed.”
For the first time, I understood why Dominic had chosen Maine.
He had wanted to take me somewhere that reminded him of being loved before his family taught him to fear everything.
Evelyn advised us not to travel.
Investigators would check the address.
Dominic agreed.
Reluctantly.
That night, I received a phone call from Sofia Vale.
“Claire, I found something.”
“What?”
“My father's old journals.”
I sat down.
“He kept journals?”
“Yes. Most were destroyed, but one was hidden in a storage box.”
“What does it say?”
Sofia hesitated.
“He wrote about a woman named Elena.”
My heart began racing.
“And?”
“She was trying to expose Victor.”
I closed my eyes.
Sofia continued.
“My father wasn't just a property developer. He was helping Elena collect evidence against the Kessler family.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor had been stealing from Dominic's father.”
I frowned.
“That doesn't make sense. Victor and Dominic's father worked together.”
“Apparently not by the end.”
I thought of the warehouse fire.
The diverted money.
The false death certificate.
The forged documents.
And Gabriel.
“Does the journal mention Gabriel Russo?”
“Yes.”
My blood chilled.
“What does it say?”
Sofia's voice became very quiet.
“It says Gabriel delivered a warning to my father three days before the fire.”
I stood.
“Where are you?”
“At home.”
“Are you alone?”
“Yes.”
“Lock your doors.”
Sofia went silent.
“Claire?”
“Please.”
Then I called Evelyn.
Within an hour, federal agents were protecting Sofia and her family.
I didn't feel brave.
I felt terrified.
But terror had taught me something.
Waiting quietly for powerful men to decide what happened next was not always the safest choice.
Sometimes safety meant speaking.
Sometimes it meant keeping records.
Sometimes it meant refusing to let someone else's fear become your silence.
The following afternoon, I returned to the hospital.
Dominic wanted me to take leave.
I refused.
The children needed nurses.
And I needed something familiar.
Owen was visiting for a follow-up appointment.
He spotted me near the elevators.
“Claire!”
He ran toward me.
Rebecca hurried after him.
“Slow down!”
Owen hugged my waist.
“Where's Dominic?”
“Working.”
“Tell him I beat the video game.”
“Which one?”
“The racing one.”
I smiled.
“He'll be devastated.”
Owen grinned.
Then he lowered his voice.
“Is he still sad?”
I crouched beside him.
“Sometimes.”
“Does he have someone to sit with him?”
My throat tightened.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
He nodded seriously.
“Everybody needs that.”
After they left, I stood near the elevators longer than necessary.
Then my phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
It showed a small white house beside the ocean.
Beneath it was a message.
Your husband deserves to know what happened to his mother.
I stared at the screen.
Another message arrived.
Come alone if you want the truth.
My hands began trembling.
I forwarded both messages to Evelyn.
Then I called Dominic.
He answered immediately.
“Claire?”
“Someone sent me a location.”
“Don't go.”
“I wasn't planning to.”
He exhaled.
“Thank God.”
I looked at the photograph again.
“Dominic, I think it's your aunt.”
Silence.
Then he whispered, “How do you know?”
“Because there's a woman standing in the upstairs window.”
He went quiet.
I enlarged the photograph.
The woman's face was partially hidden behind a curtain.
But around her neck hung a small gold chain.
And on it was an emerald ring.
The same ring Dominic had described.
I looked at the image until my eyes blurred.
Then I noticed something else.
A man's reflection in the downstairs window.
Dark suit.
Short hair.
May you like
Familiar face.
Gabriel Russo.
