Chapter 6 - THE FIANCÉE WHO NEVER EXISTED
For a moment, Dante forgot how to breathe.
Valentina had never mentioned knowing his father personally.
She had described herself as a businesswoman whose family had connections throughout Europe.
She had entered his life three years earlier.
At first, she had been useful.
Then charming.
Then indispensable.
Now he was beginning to understand that every step might have been planned.
"Explain the photograph," he demanded.
Gabriel looked at him.
"Valentina is Lorenzo's daughter."
Dante stared.
"That's impossible."
"Your father had another family."
Isabella slowly rose from the floor.
"Dante, we need to leave."
Gabriel ignored her.
"Your father promised Valentina that she would inherit a portion of the family empire. When he died, the documents disappeared."
"Why would she need me?"
"Because she needed access to the Russo accounts."
Dante looked toward the photograph.
"She used me."
"She used your marriage."
Gabriel explained that Valentina had approached him months earlier. She wanted the original inheritance documents, which were believed to be hidden in the Moretti family's archives.
Gabriel had agreed to help her because he wanted revenge against Lorenzo's descendants.
He had assumed Dante was responsible for the family's treatment of Nicholas.
But Isabella had changed his mind.
"She showed me your mother's letters," Gabriel said. "She showed me the medical records. She told me Elena had paid for my treatment."
Dante looked at his brother.
"Then why did you bring her here?"
"Because Valentina knows where the original documents are."
Isabella shook her head.
"No. She knows where one copy is."
Dante turned.
"One copy?"
Isabella reached into her handbag and removed a small flash drive.
"Your mother gave me this."
Dante stared at it.
"What's on it?"
"Everything."
The drive contained copies of Lorenzo's private letters, bank transfers, medical payments, and a recorded conversation between Lorenzo and a lawyer.
In the recording, Lorenzo discussed a second will.
A will that named Nicholas as the primary heir.
Dante listened to the first few seconds.
Then he stopped it.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Isabella's eyes filled.
"I tried."
"When?"
"Before the wedding. I called you from the clinic. I asked you to meet me in the library. I sent you messages."
Dante remembered the missed call.
He remembered turning his phone facedown.
She continued.
"Your mother had trusted me with something enormous. I wanted to tell you privately, but every time I tried, you were busy. Then Valentina contacted me."
Dante's expression darkened.
"What did she say?"
"She told me that if I exposed the documents, people would get hurt."
Gabriel spoke quietly.
"She threatened your unborn child."
Dante turned toward him.
"What?"
Isabella's hand went to her stomach.
"She knew about the pregnancy before you did."
Dante felt a violent rush of anger.
"How?"
"She had access to the clinic records. Someone at the reception desk sold information."
"Who?"
Isabella shook her head.
"I don't know."
Dante stepped toward her.
"Why didn't you tell me she threatened you?"
"Because I didn't trust you."
The words struck harder than any bullet.
He lowered his head.
"I know."
"No, Dante. You don't. You think because you're powerful, you can fix anything. But you couldn't even answer your wife's phone call."
He looked at her.
She was pale.
Exhausted.
And still wearing the faint mark left by her wedding ring.
"I am sorry," he whispered.
Isabella looked away.
Gabriel suddenly moved toward the window.
"Someone's coming."
Marco rushed into the room.
"Boss! We have a problem."
"What?"
"Valentina's people are outside."
A burst of gunfire shattered the window.
Everyone dropped.
Marco returned fire.
Dante grabbed Isabella and pulled her behind a concrete pillar.
"Stay down!"
Gabriel fired toward the hallway.
Then a second explosion shook the building.
The lights went out.
For several seconds, the apartment became chaos.
When emergency lights flickered on, Gabriel was gone.
So was the flash drive.
Dante looked toward Isabella.
"Did he take it?"
She shook her head.
"No."
"Then where is it?"
Isabella looked at him with a strange expression.
"I gave it to someone before we came here."
"Who?"
She swallowed.
"Your mother."
Dante stared.
"My mother is dead."
"I know."
Isabella reached into her coat and removed a small envelope.
Inside was a photograph of Elena Russo.
The date printed on the back was from three weeks earlier.
Dante looked up.
"Where did you get this?"
Isabella's voice trembled.
"Because someone has been sending me photographs of your mother."
She turned the picture over.
A handwritten message appeared.
May you like
Tell Dante the truth. Elena is alive.
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