Chapter 1
"# THE MAFIA BOSS FOUND HIS PREGNANT MAID PROTECTING A LOCKED BRIEFCASE—THEN HIS FIANCÉE SCREAMED, “THAT CASE CAN'T BE HERE!”
“GIVE ME THAT BRIEFCASE!” THE MAFIA BOSS'S FIANCÉE SCREAMED, SHOVING HIS SEVEN-MONTH-PREGNANT MAID AGAINST A MARBLE TABLE. BUT WHEN THE MAFIA BOSS GRABBED HER WRIST AND FORCED HER TO LET GO, HE DISCOVERED THE CASE HAD BEEN DELIVERED BY HIS DEAD BROTHER'S LAWYER—AND CONTAINED A LIST OF PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN PAID MILLIONS AFTER HIS BROTHER'S DEATH.
The crash echoed through the Moretti mansion.
CRASH!
A silver tray struck the marble floor.
Emily Carter stumbled backward, clutching a black leather briefcase against her pregnant belly.
“PLEASE! DON'T TAKE IT!”
Vanessa Sterling grabbed the handle with both hands.
“LET GO!”
Emily shook her head.
“I can't! It belongs to Mr. Moretti!”
Vanessa yanked harder.
Emily lost her balance.
Her back struck the edge of a marble console table.
She cried out.
One hand flew to her stomach.
But she refused to release the briefcase.
“I SAID GIVE IT TO ME!”
Vanessa raised her hand.
Before she could strike Emily, a deep voice thundered from the doorway.
“VANESSA!”
Dominic Moretti stood at the entrance.
His black suit was still damp from the rain.
He had returned home early from a business meeting.
And now he was staring at his fiancée attacking a pregnant maid.
Vanessa froze.
Dominic crossed the room.
“LET HER GO.”
“Dominic, she's stealing!”
He seized Vanessa's wrist and pulled her hand away from the case.
Emily stumbled.
Dominic caught her by the shoulders before she fell.
“Emily, are you hurt?”
The young maid was trembling.
“My baby…”
Dominic immediately helped her into a chair.
“Look at me. Are you having pain?”
Emily nodded weakly.
“A little, sir.”
Dominic turned toward his security chief.
“CALL A DOCTOR. NOW.”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“Dominic, you're overreacting!”
He slowly faced her.
“YOU JUST SHOVED A PREGNANT WOMAN INTO A MARBLE TABLE.”
“She stole that briefcase!”
Emily shook her head.
“No, sir. A lawyer brought it.”
Dominic froze.
“What lawyer?”
Emily swallowed.
“Mr. Daniel Whitmore.”
The room fell silent.
Dominic stared.
Daniel Whitmore.
The attorney who had represented his younger brother, Gabriel Moretti.
Before Gabriel died four years earlier.
Dominic slowly looked at the briefcase.
“Why would Whitmore send something here?”
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
“He said it belonged to your brother.”
Vanessa suddenly lunged forward.
“THAT CASE CAN'T BE HERE!”
Dominic caught the handle before she could grab it.
He turned toward her.
“What did you just say?”
Vanessa went pale.
“I mean… it shouldn't be here. Gabriel's estate was settled years ago.”
Dominic stared.
“How do you know what's inside?”
She couldn't answer.
Emily whispered:
“Sir, Mr. Whitmore said nobody except you should open it.”
Dominic looked down.
The briefcase was black leather, scratched along one corner.
He recognized it.
Gabriel had carried it everywhere.
His younger brother had been only twenty-nine when he died in a suspicious car accident.
Dominic had spent four years believing Gabriel had been killed by a rival family.
Now his brother's briefcase had returned.
And Vanessa looked terrified.
Dominic examined the lock.
A small brass plate was engraved with Gabriel's initials.
G.M.
He looked at Emily.
“Did Whitmore give you a key?”
She nodded.
With trembling fingers, she reached into her apron.
But Vanessa suddenly grabbed her arm.
“DON'T GIVE HIM ANYTHING!”
Dominic stepped between them.
“TOUCH HER AGAIN, AND YOU'RE LEAVING THIS HOUSE WITH SECURITY.”
Vanessa backed away.
Emily handed Dominic a small silver key.
He inserted it into the lock.
Click.
The briefcase opened.
Inside were several thick folders, a sealed envelope, and a black USB drive.
Dominic lifted the first document.
NORTHBRIDGE HOLDINGS LLC.
He frowned.
He had never heard of the company.
Beneath the title was a certificate of ownership.
SOLE BENEFICIAL OWNER: GABRIEL MORETTI.
Dominic stared.
“Gabriel owned a company?”
Emily nodded.
“Mr. Whitmore said your brother kept it secret.”
Dominic opened the second folder.
Bank statements.
Property transfers.
Corporate accounts.
Millions of dollars had passed through Northbridge Holdings.
Then he noticed the dates.
The largest payments had been made after Gabriel's death.
Dominic's jaw tightened.
He turned another page.
AUTHORIZED DISTRIBUTIONS FOLLOWING DEATH OF OWNER.
A list of recipients appeared beneath it.
Dominic read the first name.
Then the second.
Then the third.
His expression changed.
Vanessa stepped backward.
“Dominic, please. Those papers aren't what you think.”
He slowly looked up.
“WHY IS YOUR FATHER'S NAME ON THIS LIST?”
Vanessa froze.
Dominic pointed at the document.
ROBERT STERLING — $2,400,000.
His voice grew colder.
“Two million four hundred thousand dollars.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“My father had business dealings with Gabriel!”
“Then why was he paid eleven days after Gabriel died?”
No answer.
Dominic looked at the next recipient.
VANESSA STERLING — $875,000.
He stopped breathing.
He had met Vanessa two years after Gabriel's death.
At least, that was what she'd told him.
He slowly raised his eyes.
“YOU RECEIVED EIGHT HUNDRED SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS FROM MY BROTHER'S COMPANY TWO YEARS BEFORE WE MET?”
Vanessa began crying.
“Dominic, I can explain.”
He slammed the document onto the table.
“THEN EXPLAIN!”
The sound made everyone jump.
Vanessa stumbled backward.
“It was a business arrangement!”
“What business?”
“I can't tell you!”
Dominic stared at her.
“Can't? Or won't?”
Before she could answer, Emily suddenly gasped.
She bent forward, holding her stomach.
Dominic immediately turned.
“Emily?”
Her face had gone pale.
“I'm sorry, sir…”
He knelt beside her.
“Don't apologize. The doctor is coming.”
Emily grabbed his sleeve.
“There's something else.”
Dominic looked at her.
“What?”
“The lawyer said your brother left a letter.”
Dominic turned toward the briefcase.
He found the sealed envelope.
Across the front was Gabriel's handwriting.
TO MY BROTHER DOMINIC — IF I DON'T COME HOME.
Dominic's hands began shaking.
He tore it open.
Dom,
If you're reading this, something has happened to me.
Northbridge Holdings was never meant to make money.
I created it to trace the people stealing from our family.
Dominic froze.
He continued.
Every payment was recorded.
Every recipient was identified.
If I disappear, follow the money.
Dominic looked toward Vanessa.
Her face was white.
He read the next paragraph.
The people receiving these payments believe they were paid for their silence.
What they don't know is that I kept copies of every agreement.
Dominic turned to the final page.
A handwritten warning appeared at the bottom.
DON'T TRUST ANYONE WHO TELLS YOU MY DEATH WAS AN ACCIDENT.
Dominic closed his eyes.
Gabriel had been trying to warn him.
For four years, Dominic had blamed the wrong people.
Then he noticed a small photograph clipped to the letter.
It showed Gabriel standing outside a private bank.
Beside him stood a younger Vanessa.
Dominic stared.
The photograph had been taken six months before Gabriel died.
He slowly turned toward her.
“YOU KNEW MY BROTHER.”
Vanessa began trembling.
“Dominic…”
“YOU KNEW GABRIEL BEFORE YOU EVER MET ME!”
She shook her head.
“It wasn't what you think!”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Then why did you lie?”
Vanessa suddenly snatched the USB drive from the open briefcase.
“YOU CAN'T SEE WHAT'S ON THIS!”
She ran toward the fireplace.
Dominic lunged forward.
He caught her arm just as she raised the drive over the flames.
“DROP IT!”
Vanessa struggled.
“DOMINIC, PLEASE!”
He forced her hand away from the fire.
The drive fell onto the carpet.
His security chief rushed forward and retrieved it.
Dominic stared at Vanessa.
“YOU WERE WILLING TO BURN MY BROTHER'S LAST EVIDENCE?”
Vanessa burst into tears.
“Because you don't understand what Gabriel discovered!”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“Then tell me.”
She shook her head.
“He wasn't supposed to find out!”
“Find out what?”
Vanessa looked toward the briefcase.
Then whispered:
“Who was really financing Northbridge.”
Dominic froze.
He returned to the documents.
Beneath the ownership certificate was another sealed folder.
Its label read:
CONFIDENTIAL — ORIGINAL INVESTOR AGREEMENT.
Dominic opened it.
Inside was a single contract.
He scanned the signatures.
Gabriel Moretti.
Robert Sterling.
And a third name.
Dominic's hands stopped moving.
He recognized the signature.
It belonged to someone who had attended Gabriel's funeral.
Someone who had stood beside Dominic as he lowered his brother's coffin into the ground.
Someone he had trusted with his life.
Dominic slowly looked at Vanessa.
“YOU KNEW WHO WAS BEHIND THIS.”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
He held up the contract.
“YOU KNEW MY BROTHER WAS INVESTIGATING THEM.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Dominic, please…”
He stepped closer.
“DID THEY PAY YOU TO KEEP QUIET ABOUT HIS DEATH?”
Vanessa shook her head desperately.
Then whispered:
“NO, DOMINIC.”
She looked toward the briefcase.
“THEY PAID ME TO MAKE SURE YOU NEVER FOUND OUT WHO GABRIEL WAS WORKING FOR.”
Dominic went completely still.
Behind him, Emily weakly spoke.
“Sir…”
He turned.
The maid pointed toward the bottom of the briefcase.
“There was another envelope.”
Dominic lifted the leather lining.
Beneath it lay a photograph.
Gabriel.
Alive.
Standing beside a black SUV.
The date printed on the back was three weeks after his funeral.
Dominic stared.
His heart began pounding.
“THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE.”
Vanessa looked at the photograph.
And screamed.
“NO! THEY TOLD ME THAT PICTURE HAD BEEN DESTROYED!”
Dominic slowly turned toward her.
His voice was barely a whisper.
May you like
“VANESSA… WHY IS THERE A PHOTOGRAPH OF MY BROTHER TAKEN AFTER WE BURIED HIM?”
Read Chapter 2 in the first comment to discover who received millions from Gabriel's secret company—and whether the brother Dominic buried four years ago was ever inside that coffin. Thank you for reading!"
