Chapter 4 - Natalie’s Biggest Lie Finally Comes Undone
The shooting changed everything.
Rafael stopped trusting people.
Gianna started trusting evidence.
Together, they became dangerous in a way neither family had anticipated.
For the first time, they weren't fighting each other.
They were looking in the same direction.
Matthew was missing.
Natalie was missing.
Arthur Voss disappeared from every public event.
And somewhere in the shadows, someone was moving pieces across the board.
Rafael stayed at the Rosetti estate because Gianna refused to let him leave alone.
Not because she had forgiven him.
Because she needed information.
Every night, she sat across from him with files spread across the table.
Every night, he answered questions.
Sometimes they argued.
Sometimes they fell silent.
Sometimes they laughed despite themselves.
It frightened Gianna.
Because the man sitting across from her was still the man she loved.
And love was dangerous when trust was dead.
One evening, Rafael handed her another file.
“Read this.”
She opened it.
It contained medical records.
Natalie Sullivan.
Gianna frowned.
“These are fake.”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I had the original records copied.”
She scanned them.
Every illness Natalie had claimed was either exaggerated or nonexistent.
Every hospital admission had been paid through an account linked to Matthew.
Gianna looked up.
“Why?”
“We don't know yet.”
Then Rafael found a second file.
Blood test results.
Natalie's name.
A notation near the bottom.
Positive.
Pregnancy.
Gianna froze.
“She was pregnant?”
“Seven years ago.”
“Seven?”
“She miscarried.”
Gianna stared.
“Was the baby yours?”
Rafael's face tightened.
“Yes.”
Gianna's breath stopped.
“But…”
“I never knew.”
“Why did she never tell you?”
“Because she wasn't pregnant when she first claimed she was.”
Gianna reread the date.
Then something clicked.
The pregnancy happened months after their first wedding was supposed to occur.
Natalie had used it to maintain control over him.
“She lied.”
“Yes.”
“About your child.”
“Yes.”
Gianna sat down.
For a moment, she felt sorry for him.
Then she remembered the seventeen weddings.
Compassion and anger collided inside her.
“I don't know whether to hug you or hit you.”
Rafael gave a weak smile.
“Considering my current luck, I'd prepare for both.”
She almost laughed.
Then the door opened.
Bianca stepped inside.
“We found Natalie.”
Rafael stood.
“Where?”
“A private clinic outside the city.”
They drove there with security.
Natalie was waiting.
She looked frightened.
Rafael walked in first.
“You lied to me.”
She began crying.
“I was trying to survive.”
“No.”
He put a file on the table.
“You were trying to control me.”
Natalie stared at the papers.
“Who gave you these?”
“Does it matter?”
She looked at Gianna.
“You.”
“Yes.”
Natalie laughed bitterly.
“You think you've won because you have money?”
Gianna stepped closer.
“I don't want to win.”
“You took Rafael.”
“I never took him.”
Natalie looked at Rafael.
“He chose me.”
Gianna said nothing.
Rafael did.
“No.”
Natalie froze.
“I thought I was protecting you.”
“You weren't.”
“I loved you.”
“No.”
His voice was calm.
“You loved what I could give you.”
Natalie began sobbing.
Then she said something that silenced the room.
“Ask Matthew who really killed Antonio.”
Rafael's face drained.
“Why?”
“Because he knows.”
Gianna exchanged a glance with him.
Natalie leaned forward.
“Matthew was there.”
Rafael whispered, “That's impossible.”
“He was ordered to protect your father.”
“And Antonio?”
Natalie looked at them.
“Antonio wasn't killed by an enemy.”
She pointed at Rafael.
“He was killed by your family.”
The truth hit like a physical blow.
Rafael stepped back.
Gianna took his arm.
He didn't shake her off.
Natalie continued.
“Your father ordered the hit because Antonio was about to expose the trafficking routes.”
Rafael's breathing grew uneven.
“And Matthew?”
“He carried out the order.”
Silence.
Rafael sat down.
All his life, he had believed Antonio died saving him.
In reality, Antonio had died trying to stop Rafael's father.
Matthew had rewritten the story.
Natalie had known.
She had been blackmailed.
Rafael looked at her.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Matthew threatened me.”
“Then why now?”
She looked at Gianna.
“Because you are the only person he was ever afraid of.”
Gianna stared.
“Who?”
“Your grandfather.”
Natalie stood.
“Your grandfather knew everything.”
Before anyone could stop her, the lights went out.
A scream.
A gunshot.
When the emergency lights came on, Natalie was gone.
Only one thing remained.
A handwritten note.
YOU ARE LOOKING FOR MATTHEW IN THE WRONG PLACE.
Gianna read it twice.
Rafael looked at her.
“Then where is he?”
Gianna remembered something.
The Rosetti shipping records.
The missing money.
The old freight route.
“On a ship.”
“What ship?”
She looked at the map.
“One registered under a company neither family owns.”
“Who owns it?”
Gianna's eyes widened.
“Your mother.”
Rafael stared.
“My mother died fifteen years ago.”
“Yes.”
Gianna looked at the registration document.
“But her name is still active.”
May you like
Something much bigger was waiting for them.
And this time, neither of them could pretend the past was finished.
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