Chapter 7 - Vincent’s Father Had Been Dead for Twenty Years—So Why Was He Standing in a Photograph Taken Last Week?The photograph had been taken recently.
The man looked older.
But it was unmistakably him.
Vincent's father.
The man who had supposedly died decades earlier.
He had been the founder of the Moretti organization.
The man who built everything.
Vincent believed he had died protecting the family.
He hadn't.
He had disappeared.
For twenty years, he had lived under another name.
And now he was back.
His message was simple.
COME HOME, SON.
Vincent refused.
His father responded by threatening no one.
He simply began buying businesses around us.
One after another.
The market shifted.
Competitors appeared.
People inside our companies resigned.
It was a quiet attack.
The kind I understood now.
Vincent became distracted.
I asked:
“Are you afraid of him?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I know what he's capable of.”
I took his hand.
“We'll face it together.”
He smiled.
“You always say that.”
“Because it's true.”
We investigated.
His father's name was Antonio Moretti.
He had built an international criminal network.
He wanted Vincent to return.
Vincent refused.
Antonio threatened to expose everything.
Vincent had one weakness.
Me.
Antonio used it.
A message arrived.
I WANT MY SON'S WIFE.
I laughed.
“He doesn't know me.”
Vincent looked at me.
“He'll learn.”
We fought back.
Legal action.
Financial pressure.
Public disclosures.
Witness cooperation.
We dismantled Antonio's companies one by one.
But then Antonio kidnapped Rosa.
The woman who had welcomed me into the Moretti home.
That changed Vincent.
He wanted revenge.
I stopped him.
“No.”
“She has my family.”
“And you're going to save her.”
He looked at me.
“Not kill anyone.”
“Exactly.”
He nodded.
We rescued Rosa.
Antonio escaped.
But he left one final clue.
A warehouse in Chicago.
Inside were records of the original Moretti network.
And my name.
I stared.
“Why am I here?”
Vincent looked at the page.
“You're part of something.”
“What?”
He shook his head.
“I don't know.”
The records showed that my father had once worked with Antonio.
My father had been an accountant.
He had helped create the financial structure.
Then he disappeared.
I had never known.
My mother had hidden the truth.
She had wanted me far away.
Antonio had been watching my family for years.
That meant Derek's obsession hadn't started with Derek.
He had been manipulated.
I felt sick.
Vincent held me.
“This isn't your fault.”
“It feels like it.”
“It isn't.”
He showed me another document.
My father's signature.
And a message.
PROTECT MY DAUGHTER IF I FAIL.
Vincent stared.
“Your father knew me.”
My heart stopped.
“He trusted you.”
“I never met him.”
“Maybe not.”
“But he knew your family.”
The connection was deeper than we imagined.
We followed the records.
They led to a bank account.
In my name.
I had never opened it.
Inside were millions.
My father had hidden money for me.
Not to make me rich.
To protect me if he died.
The account came with one instruction.
Do not let the Moretti family use this.
I looked at Vincent.
He understood immediately.
“This is why Antonio is after you.”
“Because of the money?”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“Because your father left something more valuable.”
“What?”
“The evidence.”
The account contained files.
Names.
Dates.
Transactions.
Everything.
It could destroy Antonio.
We prepared to release it.
Then Antonio contacted us.
He wanted the files.
I said no.
He threatened me.
Vincent answered.
“She's not yours to threaten.”
Antonio laughed.
“You think you've become a good man.”
Vincent looked at me.
“I don't need to be good.”
He looked back at the phone.
“I need to be better.”
May you like
The call ended.
The final war had begun.
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