Chapter 8 - Dante's Most Trusted Lieutenant Betrayed Him—And I Discovered Why My Kidnapping Had Been So Carefully PlannedThe lieutenant was named Samuel.
He had served Dante for twenty-five years.
Dante refused to believe it.
Until we showed him the ledger.
Samuel disappeared.
His house was empty.
His bank accounts had been drained.
We found him at the old train station.
Dante confronted him.
"Why?"
Samuel looked broken.
"Because Victor threatened my family."
"Your family?"
"My wife. My children."
Victor had controlled Samuel for years.
He had used threats.
Debt.
Fear.
Samuel had helped erase my identity.
But he also revealed something important.
Victor didn't kidnap me because he hated Dante.
He kidnapped me because of my inheritance.
My grandfather had established a trust for me.
If I died before twenty-five, the money would go to the Vale organization.
If I remained alive, it would belong to me.
Victor wanted control of that trust.
The entire operation had been built around one thing.
Money.
Not revenge.
Not hatred.
Greed.
I felt sick.
Twenty years of my life had been destroyed for a fortune I never knew existed.
Dante looked at me.
"You don't have to take the inheritance."
"I know."
"What will you do?"
I thought about it.
"I want to use it to help people."
Dante smiled sadly.
"Your mother would have liked that."
Then Samuel whispered:
"Victor has the original trust document."
We realized where he was going.
The courthouse.
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If Victor obtained the document, he could challenge my identity.
We had to stop him.
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