Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN WHO NEVER DIEDVincent read the note twice.
“My mother is dead.”
Anna looked at him.
“Are you certain?”
“I attended her funeral.”
“Did you see her body?”
He didn't answer.
Because he hadn't.
His mother had supposedly died during a private medical emergency in Europe. Anthony had handled everything, including the funeral arrangements.
Vincent had been twenty-seven.
He had trusted his father.
That trust was beginning to look like the greatest mistake of his life.
Marco received a call.
After listening for several seconds, he turned toward Vincent.
“Boss, we found Daniel.”
“Where?”
“He's at the old Moretti estate.”
Vincent immediately ordered a car.
Anna insisted on coming.
He objected.
“It's too dangerous.”
She gave him a cold look.
“Then perhaps you should have thought about danger before leaving me on a burning aircraft.”
Vincent fell silent.
They drove through the city under heavy security.
Ethan slept against Anna's chest while Vincent sat across from them, watching the little boy's face.
He wanted to reach out.
He wanted to hold him.
But he didn't know whether he had the right.
At the estate, Daniel was waiting near the entrance.
He looked older than Anna remembered, with gray hair at his temples and a deep scar running along his jaw.
When he saw her, he lowered his head.
“I'm glad you made it.”
Anna stepped forward.
“You knew my father-in-law was involved?”
“I suspected it.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I needed proof.”
Vincent approached.
“Start talking.”
Daniel led them into a study.
On the desk was a collection of old photographs.
One showed Anthony standing beside a woman in a hospital corridor.
Another showed Gabriel entering a private medical facility.
The final photograph made Vincent freeze.
It showed Eleanor Moretti sitting in a wheelchair.
Alive.
“This was taken four months ago,” Daniel explained.
Vincent picked up the photograph.
“Where is she?”
“I don't know exactly. But I know she's being held somewhere.”
“By my father?”
Daniel nodded.
“He used her disappearance to control the family's inheritance. Your mother was supposed to inherit the majority of the Moretti estate. Anthony forged documents claiming she had transferred everything to him before her death.”
Vincent's jaw tightened.
“And Gabriel?”
“Your brother discovered the fraud. Anthony arranged the warehouse fire to make him disappear. Gabriel survived, but he became dependent on your father to stay hidden.”
Anna looked at the photographs.
“Why did they want me dead?”
Daniel opened another folder.
“Because your marriage changed the inheritance arrangement.”
He explained that Eleanor had established a trust for Vincent's future children. Under its terms, the first legitimate child of Vincent Moretti would become the primary beneficiary.
Ethan.
If he survived, Anthony would lose control of a fortune worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Vincent stared at the documents.
“My father tried to kill my wife and child for money.”
Daniel nodded.
“But there's something else.”
He placed a small recording device on the desk.
“Three years ago, I recorded a conversation between Anthony and Sophia.”
Vincent looked up.
“Play it.”
Daniel pressed the button.
Anthony's voice filled the room.
“Once the aircraft is gone, Vincent will have no reason to question the accident. He'll need someone beside him. Sophia will make certain of that.”
Sophia's voice followed.
“And the baby?”
A pause.
Then Anthony answered.
“Neither of them can be allowed to return.”
Vincent's face became stone.
Anna felt Ethan stir against her.
Then another voice entered the recording.
A voice Vincent knew better than anyone.
His own.
It was a recording of a phone conversation made hours before the flight.
“I'll handle Anna,” Vincent's recorded voice said. “She'll do what I tell her.”
Anna stared at him.
Vincent shook his head.
“I never said that.”
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
“It's an edited recording.”
But Anna had already heard enough.
The door behind them opened.
A woman stood in the doorway.
Her hair was white, her face thinner than the photographs, but her eyes were unmistakable.
“Vincent?”
He dropped the recording device.
“Mom?”
Eleanor Moretti took one trembling step forward.
Then she looked at Anna.
May you like
And whispered:
“I'm sorry, sweetheart. I tried to stop them.”
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