Chapter 3 - The Man Lorenzo Trusted With Everything Had Been Watching Me
Gabriel Shaw entered the room at noon.
He was elegant.
Silver tie.
Gray hair.
Perfect posture.
He looked like a man who had never broken a rule in his life.
He saw the ledger.
Then me.
Then Lorenzo.
Nothing changed on his face.
That scared me.
“Lorenzo.”
“Gabriel.”
“You summoned me.”
“I did.”
Gabriel looked at the ledger.
“Where did you get that?”
Lorenzo smiled without warmth.
“Why does that matter?”
Gabriel shrugged.
“Because Marco burned every copy before he died.”
My heart stopped.
“You knew about my father.”
Gabriel looked at me.
“Of course.”
“He knew you.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Business.”
I stepped closer.
“You are lying.”
Gabriel smiled.
“You're perceptive.”
Lorenzo moved between us.
“Tell me about 417.”
Gabriel was silent.
“Now.”
Gabriel sighed.
“It was a contingency location.”
“For what?”
“Documents.”
“What kind?”
“Insurance records.”
Lorenzo's voice sharpened.
“My father never kept insurance records.”
“He did.”
“My father didn't trust insurers.”
Gabriel smiled.
“Then he trusted your friend very badly.”
Silence.
Lorenzo understood.
“You worked with Thomas.”
“Yes.”
“Against me?”
“No.”
“Then explain.”
Gabriel looked at me.
“Your father discovered money was being diverted through hospital suppliers.”
Mave...? No user asked only story. Need stay Mia.
He continued.
“The suppliers paid shell companies.”
“Whose?”
“Several.”
“Yours?”
“No.”
“Rafael?”
“Maybe.”
Lorenzo narrowed his eyes.
“You're avoiding the answer.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Yes.”
Then he placed a folder on the table.
Inside were hospital invoices.
Pharmaceutical purchases.
Equipment contracts.
And dozens of canceled shipments.
Mia recognized some medication names.
“These are oncology drugs.”
“Yes.”
“Some were never delivered.”
“Correct.”
“Patients died.”
Gabriel's expression remained flat.
“Some.”
I stared at him.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
Lorenzo stepped toward him.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you would have burned the entire operation.”
“That sounds tempting.”
“It wouldn't have solved the problem.”
Mia looked at Lorenzo.
“He's right.”
Lorenzo frowned.
She continued.
“If this goes through multiple hospitals, people, and suppliers, killing one person won't fix anything.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Your father said exactly the same thing.”
Lorenzo went still.
“You knew Thomas was investigating.”
“Yes.”
“And you let him.”
“I tried to protect him.”
“You failed.”
“Yes.”
Gabriel took a breath.
“Your father was not the man you thought.”
Mia stiffened.
“My father wasn't perfect.”
“No.”
“He gambled.”
“Yes.”
“He lied.”
“Yes.”
“He loved you.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“He loved you.”
The room went silent.
“He made every bad decision because he believed he could eventually buy your safety.”
Mia's throat tightened.
“How did you know?”
“He told me.”
“Why?”
“Because I was one of the few men he thought might survive.”
Gabriel looked at Lorenzo.
“Your father left a second ledger.”
“Where?”
“In your family chapel.”
Lorenzo froze.
“The chapel burned.”
“Not all of it.”
They went that afternoon.
The chapel sat behind an old estate.
The building was damaged.
Half the roof had collapsed.
Inside, Lorenzo found a stone panel.
Behind it was another ledger.
This one was larger.
Names covered every page.
Politicians.
Police.
Doctors.
Judges.
Bankers.
At the center was a circle.
Marco Moretti.
Rafael Moretti.
Gabriel Shaw.
And a fourth name.
Unknown.
Mia stared.
“Who is that?”
Gabriel shook his head.
“Your father never discovered it.”
Lorenzo looked toward him.
“You expect me to believe you?”
“No.”
Gabriel pointed to the bottom.
“Read the initials.”
Mia did.
M.K.
She frowned.
“My initials.”
Lorenzo looked at her.
Then at the ledger.
“That can't be.”
There was a note beneath the initials.
The daughter knows where the money is.
Mia's blood went cold.
“I don't know where any money is.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“Your father believed you did.”
“I was twenty-four.”
“You were.”
“I didn't know anything.”
“But he did.”
Lorenzo looked at her.
“Think.”
She closed her eyes.
Her father had hidden things.
The sewing box.
The key.
The garage cabinet.
And one memory came back.
A blue kitchen tin.
Her father had always called it the cookie box.
She suddenly whispered:
“The house.”
They rushed there.
The tin was still beneath the sink.
Inside was a key.
Different from 417.
Attached to the key was a note.
Not from her father.
From her mother.
Mia had barely remembered her mother.
She had died when Mia was seven.
But the note carried her handwriting.
If Thomas gives you this, it means he is gone.
Do not trust Lorenzo's uncle.
Do not trust the police.
And never let Gabriel Shaw see the blue key.
Mia stared.
Lorenzo looked at Gabriel.
Gabriel went pale.
“I've never seen that.”
She held up the key.
“My mother knew your name.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Gabriel did not answer.
Lorenzo stepped forward.
“Gabriel.”
He finally spoke.
“Because your mother was my father's accountant.”
Mia's world shifted.
Her mother had been part of the organization.
May you like
The woman she remembered as gentle and quiet had been keeping books for the Moretti family.
And now she was beginning to understand why she had died.
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