Chapter 4 - The Dead DetectiveThe man outside Hannah's apartment wore the face of a dead police detective.
Emily stood motionless as Margaret gripped her arm.
“His name was Daniel Mercer,” Margaret whispered. “He investigated your mother's case.”
Hannah stepped away from the door.
“Then who is that?”
The man knocked again.
“Mrs. Bellini, we know you're inside.”
Emily's pulse hammered.
She reached for her phone.
The man spoke once more.
“You need to come with us before your husband's people arrive.”
Margaret shook her head urgently.
“Do not answer him.”
Hannah dialed 911.
The dispatcher confirmed that no officers had been sent to the apartment.
Within minutes, the man disappeared.
But before leaving, he slipped an envelope beneath the door.
Inside was a single photograph.
Emily's mother.
Lying in a hospital bed.
Alive.
The date printed on the photograph was six months after her supposed death.
Emily dropped into a chair.
“No.”
Margaret covered her mouth.
Emily looked at her.
“You told me she died.”
“I believed she did.”
“Then explain this.”
“I can't.”
Emily stared at the photograph until the details blurred.
The woman had her mother's face.
Her mother's hair.
Even the small scar above her left eyebrow.
On the back were four words.
She is still waiting.
Meanwhile, Aleandro was learning that betrayal could begin inside the family long before anyone recognized it.
His security chief entered the office carrying a tablet.
“We recovered surveillance footage from the east hallway.”
Aleandro frowned.
“What hallway?”
“The one outside your private study.”
Marco pressed play.
The recording showed Isabella entering Aleandro's office at 2:13 a.m., three nights earlier.
She remained inside for eleven minutes.
When she emerged, she carried a black folder.
Aleandro leaned forward.
“Why wasn't this reported?”
“The camera was temporarily disabled in the main security system. We recovered the footage from a separate backup.”
“Who disabled it?”
“Someone with executive access.”
Aleandro stared at the screen.
His sister had spent years insisting that Emily was dangerous.
That she was too independent.
Too curious.
Too interested in the family's business.
He had dismissed those complaints as ordinary jealousy.
Now he wondered whether Isabella had been preparing this betrayal for months.
“Bring her here.”
Marco hesitated.
“She's gone.”
“What?”
“Her housekeeper says she left before dawn.”
Aleandro rose.
“Find her.”
Marco nodded.
“And, boss?”
“What?”
“We found something else in the security logs.”
He turned the tablet around.
A message had been sent from Isabella's private office to an encrypted account.
The message contained only one sentence.
The wife has left. Proceed with Phase Two.
Aleandro felt his stomach drop.
“What is Phase Two?”
Marco's expression darkened.
“We don't know.”
At that moment, Aleandro's phone rang.
Emily.
He answered immediately.
“Emily.”
Her voice was quiet.
“Did your father know my mother?”
Aleandro froze.
“What?”
“Answer me.”
He thought of Vittorio Bellini.
A ruthless man who had taught him that affection was weakness and secrets were currency.
“My father knew thousands of people.”
“Did he know Laura Bennett?”
Aleandro's blood chilled.
He remembered that name.
Not clearly.
A conversation overheard when he was seventeen.
His father arguing with someone behind a closed door.
Laura Bennett has copies.
Then make sure she never uses them.
“Aleandro?”
He gripped the phone.
“Where did you hear that name?”
Emily's voice broke.
“Laura Bennett was my mother.”
He closed his eyes.
For the first time, he understood that his marriage might have been connected to something far older than either of them realized.
“Emily, listen carefully. Don't trust anyone who approaches you about your mother.”
“Why?”
“Because I think my father was involved in something terrible.”
Silence.
Then Emily asked the question he deserved.
“And why should I trust you?”
Aleandro couldn't answer.
A faint sound came through the phone.
A door opening.
Then Hannah's frightened voice.
“Emily, get away from the window!”
A crash.
Emily gasped.
May you like
The call disconnected.
Aleandro shouted her name into the dead line.
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