Chapter 7 - THE SECRET OF THE GALLO FAMILY
The war revealed an old secret.
Dominic's father had once betrayed the Morettis.
He had stolen territory.
Money.
And a shipment that nearly destroyed their family.
Dominic had inherited the consequences.
The Morettis didn't want his empire.
They wanted revenge.
But the stolen shipment contained something else.
A ledger.
A list of politicians.
Judges.
Police officials.
Businessmen.
Names capable of destroying half the city.
The Morettis had it.
Dominic needed it.
Linda discovered where it was hidden.
"In the hospital."
Dominic stared.
"What?"
"Keo's original medical records."
She explained.
The hospital's old archives had been used as a dead drop.
Someone had hidden the ledger inside a sealed medical storage box.
They returned to St. Jude's.
The same hospital where Dominic had first seen Linda crying.
The building was nearly empty.
They reached the basement.
Linda opened the cabinet.
Nothing.
"Someone beat us."
Dominic looked around.
Then noticed a loose floor tile.
He lifted it.
The ledger was underneath.
Linda stared.
"That's it."
Dominic opened it.
Names.
Payments.
Photographs.
Everything.
Then a photograph fell out.
Linda picked it up.
Her face changed.
"What's wrong?"
She turned it around.
It showed Dominic's father.
Standing beside Linda's mother.
Dominic froze.
"Who is that?"
"My mother."
"How do they know each other?"
Linda's voice shook.
"My mother worked for your family."
Dominic stared.
"Doing what?"
"She was a housekeeper."
He looked at Linda.
"My mother died when I was ten."
Dominic remembered.
His father had fired several staff members after a scandal.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't know."
Then another photograph appeared.
Dominic's father.
Linda's mother.
And a baby.
Dominic's breath stopped.
"That's you."
Linda stared at the photograph.
The baby wore a tiny bracelet.
L. G.
Dominic whispered:
"Your mother wasn't just a housekeeper."
"What?"
"She was protecting someone."
"Who?"
Dominic looked at the ledger.
"Me."
Linda stared.
The truth was devastating.
Their families had been connected long before they met.
Her mother had discovered a plot against Dominic's father.
She had tried to expose it.
Instead, she was silenced.
Linda had spent her childhood believing her mother died from illness.
The truth was darker.
She had been murdered.
Dominic looked at Linda.
"I swear to you, I didn't know."
She believed him.
But the discovery changed everything.
Their love was no longer simply dangerous.
It was personal.
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Someone had been manipulating both families for decades.
And the person behind it was still alive.
