Chapter 5 - The Aunt Who Knew Everything
Sofia Castellano did not look like a criminal mastermind.
That was her greatest strength.
She was sixty-two, elegant, silver-haired, and known in Brooklyn for donating to hospitals and hosting charity dinners.
She had also killed before.
Amelia knew it the moment she saw her smile.
Not because Sofia looked cruel.
Because she looked calm.
Too calm.
“Put the flowers down,” Vincent said.
Sofia obeyed.
“You've changed.”
“You haven't.”
She smiled sadly.
“I raised you.”
“And betrayed me.”
“That's a serious accusation.”
“You hired men to attack me.”
“I hired men to retrieve evidence.”
“People were shot.”
“No one important died.”
Vincent stared at her.
Sofia looked toward Amelia.
“And there she is.”
Amelia's heart raced.
“You know me.”
“I knew your father.”
“Then you knew what Raymond did.”
“I knew what everyone did.”
That answer chilled the room.
Sofia sat.
Vincent remained standing.
“Tell me about Monroe.”
Sofia smiled.
“Your father was obsessed with Monroe.”
“Who is he?”
“A banker.”
Amelia stared.
“A banker?”
“Yes.”
“A banker controlled the entire operation?”
“Money controls more lives than bullets ever could.”
Sofia folded her hands.
“Your father discovered that Monroe was moving billions through shell companies.”
Vincent's eyes hardened.
“And Thomas Fletcher?”
“A useful fool.”
“What about Raymond?”
“An ambitious son who thought he could inherit his father's world.”
Amelia took one step forward.
“My father.”
Sofia looked at her.
“Your father was the problem.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed exposing the truth would save everyone.”
Amelia felt anger rise.
“You had him killed.”
Sofia's expression softened.
“No.”
She looked at Vincent.
“Your father ordered his death.”
Vincent's jaw clenched.
“Why?”
“Because your father learned your father was going to betray him.”
She corrected herself.
“Because he learned Elena's father intended to betray the network.”
Amelia shook her head.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It will.”
Sofia reached into her purse and removed a photograph.
It showed Elena's father meeting someone at an airport.
The stranger was Monroe.
Amelia stared.
“I thought my father never met him.”
“He did.”
“When?”
“Two weeks before he died.”
Vincent took the photograph.
“Why did you hide this?”
“Because I was protecting Giovanni.”
“From what?”
“From himself.”
Sofia stood.
“Your father had one weakness.”
Vincent said nothing.
“Love.”
She looked at Amelia.
“He wanted to keep you alive.”
Amelia felt tears gather.
“So he made a deal.”
“Yes.”
“With Monroe?”
“No.”
“With Thomas?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Sofia's gaze shifted toward Vincent.
“With me.”
Vincent looked stunned.
“What deal?”
“I promised Giovanni I would destroy the evidence.”
Vincent's eyes narrowed.
“And did you?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I discovered the truth was bigger than all of us.”
Silence.
Sofia reached into her purse again.
This time she removed a memory card.
“The ledger isn't paper.”
Vincent took it.
“What is it?”
“A digital archive.”
“Where?”
Sofia smiled.
“Inside the diner.”
Amelia's heart stopped.
“How?”
“Your father knew someday someone would search for you.”
She looked at Amelia.
“So he placed the archive where you would feel safe.”
Castellano's.
The chipped mugs.
The counter.
The kitchen.
The place she loved.
The place Vincent protected.
The archive had been in front of them all along.
“How do we find it?”
Sofia pointed at Amelia's scar.
“Your father left a clue.”
Amelia touched her eyebrow.
“The scar?”
“You weren't born with it.”
“No.”
“Raymond gave it to you.”
Amelia's breathing became shallow.
“He cut me because I refused to tell him where the key was.”
Vincent's expression changed.
“Key twenty-seven.”
Sofia nodded.
“The key opened the archive door. But the scar contains the second clue.”
Amelia frowned.
“How?”
“The stitches.”
She looked at Vincent.
“My scar?”
Sofia stepped closer.
“The night your father died, you were injured in the car crash. Doctors used seven stitches.”
Amelia nodded.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Seven stitches. Seven letters.”
Vincent understood.
“Her birth certificate name.”
Sofia nodded.
“Not Elena.”
Amelia stared.
“My name isn't Elena?”
Sofia shook her head.
“Your mother changed it.”
She placed another document on the table.
Amelia picked it up.
Her hands trembled.
The name written there was unfamiliar.
Lydia Rose Fletcher.
She nearly dropped it.
“Fletcher?”
Raymond's family.
Sofia nodded.
“You are Thomas Fletcher's daughter.”
Vincent froze.
Amelia looked at him.
“No.”
“Your mother had an affair with Giovanni Castellano.”
The room became silent.
“No.”
Sofia continued.
“Thomas married your mother knowing the child wasn't his.”
Amelia's entire world cracked.
“That is impossible.”
“Your father wasn't the man who raised you.”
Vincent stared at Sofia.
“My father was her father.”
“Yes.”
Amelia backed away.
“Why would he hide me?”
“Because Thomas would have killed you.”
“Then why did Raymond know?”
“Because Raymond discovered the truth.”
She understood.
Raymond had never been trying to find the ledger.
He had been trying to find proof.
Proof that Amelia was Giovanni Castellano's biological daughter.
Proof that could destroy Thomas Fletcher's legacy.
Proof that Vincent's father had secretly protected the woman he loved and the child he could never publicly claim.
Amelia looked at Vincent.
“What does that make me?”
He stepped toward her.
“My family.”
Her eyes filled.
“I don't know how to be your family.”
“You don't have to know.”
Sofia looked at both of them.
“There is one more problem.”
“What?”
“The person who told Raymond about Elena wasn't Thomas.”
Vincent's face hardened.
“Who?”
Sofia looked toward the hallway.
“The person has been inside this house for years.”
Footsteps sounded outside.
Everyone turned.
Marco entered with a gun drawn.
“Boss.”
Vincent looked at him.
“What?”
Marco raised the weapon.
Sofia smiled.
“I suppose now we find out whether blood matters more than loyalty.”
May you like
Marco whispered one word.
“I'm sorry.”
