Chapter 16 - FATHER AND DAUGHTER
Thomas did not deny what he had done.
That made him more frightening.
He admitted manipulating companies.
Threatening Margaret.
Ordering violence.
Building an empire after disappearing.
But every confession came wrapped in justification.
“I survived because I was stronger.”
“No,” Nora said.
“You survived because people helped you avoid consequences.”
Thomas looked at Vincent.
“Some did.”
Vincent lowered his eyes.
Thomas turned back to Nora.
“I can give you everything.”
“I have everything.”
“A husband?”
Nora’s expression hardened.
“A daughter. A family. A life I chose.”
“You scrubbed floors.”
“And?”
“You should hate what they reduced you to.”
“The Morettis didn't make me poor.”
Thomas smiled.
“No. I did.”
Nora froze.
He had found Margaret years earlier.
Not physically.
Financially.
He quietly sabotaged opportunities.
Blocked jobs.
Purchased debt.
Even Brody’s gambling recruitment had originated deeper inside Vale’s surviving network than Elias realized.
Nora felt nauseated.
“You watched me struggle?”
“Yes.”
“While pregnant?”
Thomas hesitated.
That was the first crack.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“And you did nothing.”
“I needed to know whether you had Margaret’s evidence.”
Nora stepped closer.
“You let your grandchild almost become homeless because you wanted money.”
“Power.”
“That’s worse.”
Thomas studied her.
Then smiled.
“You really are nothing like me.”
“Thank God.”
Lorenzo almost smiled.
Thomas offered a bargain.
Nora unlocks the accounts.
Thomas disappears permanently.
“No.”
“Nora.”
“No.”
“You don't understand the people attached to those accounts.”
“Then explain.”
“There are governments involved.”
“I still don't care.”
“Men who will come after Lily.”
Lorenzo stepped forward.
Thomas looked at him.
“You think you can protect them forever?”
“Yes.”
Thomas laughed.
“That's what Giovanni thought.”
The room chilled.
Giovanni rose slowly using his cane.
“I protected enough.”
Thomas looked at him.
“Did you?”
His eyes moved toward Alexander.
“Ask your forgotten son.”
Giovanni flinched.
Thomas knew exactly where to cut.
Nora saw it.
“You do this every time.”
Thomas looked at her.
“What?”
“You find the wound and push.”
His expression changed.
“You did it to my mother. Giovanni. Vincent. Now Alexander.”
Nora shook her head.
“You don't actually want power. You want everyone around you to feel smaller so you don't have to.”
Thomas’s smile vanished.
For the first time, Nora had hurt him.
Good.
Then sirens sounded outside.
Thomas looked surprised.
Lorenzo did not.
Federal agents surrounded the church.
Nora had agreed to the meeting only if law enforcement was informed.
Thomas laughed.
“My own daughter.”
“You don't get to call me that.”
Agents entered.
Thomas remained calm.
“You think prison ends this?”
“No.”
Nora held up Margaret’s locket.
“Destroying your legacy does.”
Thomas’s composure cracked.
“No.”
There.
That was the true fear.
Nora smiled faintly.
“You should have listened when Mom left you.”
Thomas lunged.
Lorenzo moved faster.
He slammed Thomas against a pew.
Agents restrained him.
Thomas shouted at Nora:
“That money is yours!”
Nora answered:
“No.”
“It belongs to your blood!”
“No.”
“You are a Vale!”
Nora looked at Lorenzo.
At Giovanni.
At Alexander.
At Vincent.
Then back at Thomas.
“My name is Nora Moretti.”
Thomas was taken away.
Everyone believed the immediate threat had ended.
They were wrong.
That evening, as Lily slept at the estate under guard, someone entered her bedroom.
The intruder did not hurt her.
They placed a small envelope beside her pillow.
Inside was a photograph of Nora at fourteen standing beside Margaret’s hospital bed.
May you like
Written on the back:
Thomas was never the one giving the orders.
