Chapter 4 - Giovanni SpeaksMrs. Gable ran.
She did not make it far.
Marco caught her before she reached the main staircase.
Brody tried to follow but stopped when two guards blocked the hall.
Nora remained beside Giovanni.
She could barely breathe.
The betrayal was larger than unpaid debts.
Larger than stolen money.
She had been placed inside the estate intentionally.
A desperate pregnant woman with bad credit, no family nearby, and a vanished fiancé.
The perfect scapegoat.
Lorenzo listened to the entire recording.
Mrs. Gable had been stealing from the estate for almost five years.
Brody had helped move portions of the money through shell companies and gambling accounts.
But there was another voice on several recordings.
A man named Victor Kane.
Lorenzo went pale when he heard it.
Nora noticed.
“Who is Victor?”
Lorenzo did not answer immediately.
Marco did.
“Family attorney.”
“Former family attorney,” Lorenzo corrected.
Nora looked toward Giovanni.
His eyes had become cold.
Victor Kane had managed Giovanni’s legal and financial affairs after his stroke.
He had also helped Lorenzo restructure the family holdings and move most legitimate businesses away from criminal operations.
Three years earlier, Lorenzo had fired him for secretly negotiating with a rival company.
Apparently Victor had never truly left.
Lorenzo moved closer to his father.
“You knew?”
Giovanni tapped once.
“For how long?”
No response.
“Years?”
One tap.
Pain appeared briefly across Lorenzo’s face.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Giovanni’s eyes flashed.
The answer was obvious.
He had tried.
No one had listened.
Nora touched Lorenzo’s arm.
It was instinctive.
He looked down at her hand.
She immediately pulled away.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
The two words were quiet.
Personal.
Mrs. Gable was brought back into the room.
Her composure was gone.
“You don’t understand,” she told Lorenzo.
“I understand theft.”
“It wasn’t supposed to go this far.”
“Neglecting my father?”
She shook her head quickly.
“That wasn’t me.”
Giovanni struck the wheelchair arm twice.
No.
Mrs. Gable flinched.
“He doesn’t understand.”
Again Giovanni tapped twice.
Lorenzo walked toward her.
“You should stop saying that.”
Mrs. Gable’s eyes moved toward Nora.
“This girl is the problem.”
Nora almost laughed.
“You hired me.”
Mrs. Gable’s expression shifted.
Nora continued.
“You and Brody chose me because you needed someone disposable.”
“No.”
“You knew his debts. You knew he had ruined my finances. You knew I couldn’t afford to walk away from this job.”
Brody looked down.
Nora stared at him.
“Did you know they planned to blame me?”
“Nora…”
“Did you?”
He rubbed his face.
“Not at first.”
Her heart broke with surprising quietness.
There was no dramatic explosion.
Just the final death of whatever remained between them.
“Get away from me.”
“I can explain.”
“No.”
“Nora, Lily is my daughter.”
At the sound of the baby’s name, Giovanni suddenly made a harsh noise.
Everyone turned.
His throat worked painfully.
Nora rushed toward him.
“Giovanni?”
His hand gripped the wheelchair.
His face tightened.
“Call the doctor,” Lorenzo ordered.
Nora crouched.
“Don’t force it.”
Giovanni looked at Brody.
Then at Nora.
His lips moved.
Nothing came out.
Nora held his hand.
“It’s okay.”
He tried again.
This time, a sound formed.
Rough.
Broken.
But unmistakable.
“N… no.”
Lorenzo froze.
Marco froze.
Even Mrs. Gable stopped breathing.
Nora’s eyes filled.
Giovanni tried again.
“No.”
Lorenzo dropped to his knees beside him.
“Dad.”
Giovanni’s eyes moved toward his son.
“Loren…”
The word shattered whatever remained of Lorenzo’s composure.
He bowed his head.
For several seconds, the feared Lorenzo Moretti simply held his father’s hand.
Nora looked away to give them privacy.
Giovanni’s voice returned in fragments.
Doctors later explained that he had likely regained limited speech gradually but had been too weak, isolated, and psychologically defeated to use it consistently.
Nora’s daily conversation had stimulated him.
Her patience had given him a reason to try.
Giovanni demanded that Nora remain when the physician arrived.
He refused to allow Mrs. Gable or Brody anywhere near him.
By sunrise, the storm still raged outside.
The estate had become a locked courtroom.
Lorenzo gathered everyone in the grand dining room.
Giovanni sat at the head of the table.
Nora sat beside him.
Mrs. Gable hated that.
“You’re putting a servant beside your father?” she asked.
Giovanni slowly turned his head.
“Nora.”
Everyone stared.
His voice was thin but clear.
“Stays.”
Lorenzo folded his arms.
“You heard him.”
Nora felt strangely emotional.
For months, she had spoken for a man everyone ignored.
Now he was speaking for her.
Marco connected Giovanni’s flash drives to a laptop.
Records filled the screen.
Money transfers.
Audio recordings.
Photographs.
Copies of forged medical reports.
One document made Lorenzo stand abruptly.
“What is this?”
Marco zoomed in.
A private physician had signed statements claiming Giovanni’s cognitive function had deteriorated to the point that he could no longer understand financial decisions.
The report allowed Victor Kane to obtain temporary control over several trusts.
Lorenzo stared at the signature.
“That doctor retired two years before this date.”
Marco nodded.
“It’s forged.”
Another document appeared.
The Moretti family trust held more than just money.
It controlled voting power over their legitimate companies, including hotels, shipping operations, construction firms, and medical centers.
Someone had been preparing to transfer controlling shares.
To whom?
Victor Kane.
Mrs. Gable whispered, “I didn’t know about that.”
Brody looked terrified.
Lorenzo turned.
“What did you know?”
“Just money,” Brody said quickly. “Small transfers. Gable said the family wouldn’t notice.”
“Two hundred thousand dollars is small?”
“For you, maybe.”
Wrong answer.
Lorenzo stared at him.
Nora felt the danger in the room.
She stepped between them.
“Lorenzo.”
His eyes moved to hers.
“Don’t.”
It was the first time she had used his name.
Something shifted.
Lorenzo inhaled slowly.
Then stepped back.
Nora turned to Brody.
“You’re going to tell the truth.”
He laughed nervously.
“You think you can order me?”
“No.”
She placed a hand over Lily.
“But you once told me you loved your daughter.”
Brody’s face changed.
“If that was ever true, do one decent thing before she enters this world.”
Brody looked away.
Minutes passed.
Finally he whispered, “Victor has someone inside Lorenzo’s company.”
Marco leaned forward.
“Who?”
“I never met him.”
“Name.”
“I don’t know.”
Lorenzo slammed his palm onto the table.
Brody jumped.
“I swear!”
“Then what do you know?”
Brody stared at the floor.
“He’s coming here.”
Silence.
“When?” Marco asked.
Brody looked toward the storm.
“Tonight.”
Nora’s skin went cold.
“Why?”
Brody met Lorenzo’s eyes.
“To finish what Mrs. Gable couldn’t.”
Lorenzo’s voice dropped.
“What does that mean?”
Brody swallowed.
“He needs Giovanni’s signature.”
May you like
Giovanni’s hand tightened.
“And if your father refuses,” Brody continued, “Victor plans to make sure this storm becomes the night Giovanni Moretti died.”
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