Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Knew Where the Bodies Were BuriedJulius moved Dileia into the estate.
Not as staff.
As protected family.
She objected.
He ignored her.
“You're safer here.”
“I can protect myself.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because I can't protect you from across town.”
She stared.
“You're afraid.”
“Yes.”
The admission shocked her.
“Of what?”
“Losing you.”
She looked away.
They didn't discuss it.
Not yet.
Instead, Julius focused on the investigation.
Dileia became his unofficial partner.
She knew details employees overlooked.
She noticed patterns.
One morning, she found a small discrepancy in the casino logs.
“This payment is wrong.”
Julius looked.
“Why?”
“The date.”
“What about it?”
“It's a Sunday.”
“So?”
“Your casino accounting department is closed Sundays.”
He looked at her.
“You read all this?”
“I cleaned the office.”
She pointed.
“The numbers don't match.”
Julius smiled.
“You'd have made a very good accountant.”
“I was studying law.”
He stopped.
“You were?”
“I couldn't afford to finish.”
“Why?”
“Emma.”
He nodded.
No more questions.
That afternoon, they found evidence that Roco had been using the casino as a transfer point.
But the money was being routed somewhere else.
A private hospital.
The same facility where Emma was being treated.
Dileia froze.
“No.”
Julius looked at the records.
“The hospital is compromised.”
“What are they doing?”
“Using patient accounts.”
“For what?”
“Money transfers.”
Dileia's face went pale.
Emma wasn't only sick.
Her medical records were being used.
The two of them rushed to the hospital.
Emma was awake.
She smiled when she saw Julius.
“Is that your boss?”
Dileia blushed.
“Something like that.”
Emma smiled.
“I like him.”
Julius laughed.
“You haven't met me.”
“I know your face.”
“How?”
“My sister talks about you.”
Dileia looked horrified.
“Emma.”
“She likes you.”
Julius looked at Dileia.
Dileia wanted the floor to open.
But then alarms sounded.
Nurses rushed into the room.
Emma's monitor changed.
“What's happening?”
A doctor shouted.
“Pressure dropping!”
Dileia stepped forward.
Julius held her.
“Let them work.”
After several minutes, Emma stabilized.
Dileia cried silently.
Julius stood beside her.
She leaned into him.
He wrapped an arm around her.
Neither noticed the doctor watching.
The doctor later told them:
“Someone changed her medication orders.”
Julius became furious.
“Who?”
“We don't know.”
Dileia understood.
Someone wanted Emma weakened.
Because Dileia had become a threat.
That night, she found another note.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE ESTATE.
She showed Julius.
He destroyed it.
“You're done being alone.”
She looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you're not facing this without me.”
She smiled.
“Okay.”
Then Julius kissed her.
Slowly.
Carefully.
He waited for her to pull away.
She didn't.
The kiss became deeper.
When they separated, she whispered:
“This changes everything.”
“Yes.”
“I don't know what happens next.”
“Neither do I.”
Then Roco called Julius.
“Come alone.”
“Where?”
“The old church.”
Julius went.
Dileia followed secretly.
Inside, Roco stood beside Anthony.
And between them was an older man.
Dileia stopped breathing.
Her father.
Samuel Marsh.
Alive.
He looked at her.
“Dileia.”
She ran into his arms.
For a moment, nothing else mattered.
Then Samuel whispered:
“Get away from Julius.”
She froze.
“Why?”
“Because his family killed your mother.”
Dileia stared.
Julius looked shocked.
“That isn't true.”
Samuel turned toward him.
“You don't know what your father did.”
Julius stepped closer.
“What happened to my father?”
Samuel looked at him.
“He didn't die the way you were told.”
Silence.
“You need to know the truth.”
And then the lights went out.
Gunshots filled the church.
Samuel disappeared again.
Roco and Anthony fled.
Dileia clung to Julius.
He pulled her close.
When the lights returned, Samuel was gone.
But he had left something behind.
A photograph.
Two men.
Bruno Castellano.
Samuel Marsh.
Standing beside a third person.
Sabrina.
Dileia stared.
“Why was your wife there?”
Julius didn't answer.
May you like
Because he finally understood.
Sabrina had known the truth all along.
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