Chapter 4 - The Mother Who Started The War
Tiberio took Brena to his mother's old townhouse.
It had been empty for five years.
Dust covered the furniture.
The curtains were closed.
But the security system still worked.
“Why bring me here?” Brena asked.
“Because my mother kept records.”
“Of Roman?”
“Of everyone.”
He opened a hidden compartment beneath the staircase.
Inside were dozens of folders.
Brena began reading.
Company names.
Account numbers.
Dates.
Photographs.
She understood why Tiberio's voice had changed when he spoke about his mother.
There was pain there.
Not grief.
Something more complicated.
“She used to work for Roman,” he said.
“As what?”
“Bookkeeper.”
Brena looked at him.
“A bookkeeper became part of organized crime?”
“She wasn't always.”
Tiberio explained that his mother had discovered Roman's illegal accounts years earlier.
Instead of exposing him, she helped organize them.
Not because she wanted money.
Because Roman threatened Tiberio's father.
Then he threatened the children.
Alio.
And Tiberio.
She believed obedience was protection.
It wasn't.
Years later, Alio discovered the truth.
He wanted out.
Roman wouldn't allow it.
Grant became the intermediary.
Then Alio found evidence.
His life ended soon afterward.
Brena looked at Tiberio.
“So you blamed my father.”
“Yes.”
“Because he was the easiest person to blame.”
“Yes.”
“But Grant wasn't the one who killed Alio.”
“No.”
“Who was?”
Tiberio stared at the floor.
“My mother.”
Brena's breath caught.
“What?”
“She didn't order the murder.”
He looked at her.
“She gave Roman the location where Alio was hiding.”
Silence.
“Why?”
“She thought Roman only wanted the documents.”
“But?”
“Roman never intended to let Alio leave.”
Brena sat.
Tiberio's confession continued.
His mother had lived with guilt ever since.
Before her death, she gave Tiberio one instruction.
Find Grant Walsh.
Find out what he stole.
Then find the person who paid him.
Tiberio had done exactly that.
But he had misunderstood one thing.
Grant wasn't the mastermind.
He was trying to escape.
And Brena was unknowingly holding the key to the money that could expose everyone.
“Why marry me?” she asked again.
This time, Tiberio answered differently.
“Because I thought you were the final piece of your father's betrayal.”
“And now?”
“Now I think you're the person he was trying to protect.”
Brena looked at him.
“Which means?”
“I don't know.”
She smiled sadly.
“Finally. Something honest.”
They searched the townhouse for hours.
Near midnight, Brena found a false panel inside a desk.
Behind it was a cassette tape.
Old-fashioned.
Tiberio found a player.
They listened.
His mother's voice filled the room.
“If you're hearing this, then I failed.”
Tiberio stopped breathing.
She continued.
“Grant Walsh did not steal Alio's money.”
Brena looked at Tiberio.
“He stole evidence.”
The voice continued.
“Roman ordered the killing. Grant discovered it. He tried to bargain. He wanted protection for his daughter.”
Brena covered her mouth.
Her father had known.
Her father had been trying to protect her.
The recording continued.
“Brena's name is the only clean name left.”
“Her father used her trust because Roman could not touch it without revealing his own connection.”
“I know what it looks like.”
“I know what it will look like to Tiberio.”
“But if my son marries her, he will think he is punishing Grant.”
“He will not understand that Grant's greatest act of love was making sure his daughter survived him.”
Tiberio sat down.
His face was destroyed.
“He knew,” Brena whispered.
“He knew I would hate him.”
The recording went on.
“One day, Tiberio will learn the truth.”
“He will realize that the woman he married was never his enemy.”
“She was the witness.”
The tape ended.
Neither spoke for a long time.
Finally Brena asked, “What happens now?”
Tiberio looked at her.
“I owe you an apology.”
“You owe me several.”
“I know.”
“No more revenge.”
He nodded.
“No more.”
“No more using me.”
“No.”
“No more secrets.”
He hesitated.
Brena's eyes hardened.
“Tiberio.”
“I agree.”
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
His security chief spoke rapidly.
Tiberio's expression changed.
“Where is Grant?”
Brena froze.
“My father?”
“He's alive.”
Tiberio looked at her.
“He was never captured.”
“What?”
“He's been hiding.”
“Where?”
Tiberio listened.
Then his face became expressionless.
“He's downstairs.”
Brena's heart slammed against her ribs.
She ran down the staircase.
The front door opened.
A man stepped inside.
Older.
Thinner.
But unmistakable.
Grant Walsh.
Brena stopped.
May you like
Her father looked at her.
“I hoped you would never know.”
