Chapter 3 - The Secret Elena’s Father Died Protecting
The attack ended in less than 4 minutes.
That was how long it took Dante’s security team to drive the intruders away.
No one was killed.
But 2 guards were injured.
A window in the east corridor was shattered.
One camera had been disabled.
The metal box disappeared.
Dante stood in the center of the hall, furious.
Marco approached.
“They knew exactly where to go.”
Dante nodded.
“They had inside information.”
His eyes moved to Bianca.
She was sitting on the stairs.
Crying.
She looked different now.
Less like the glamorous future Mrs. Moretti.
More like a frightened woman whose world had been ripped open.
Dante walked toward her.
“Tell me the truth.”
She looked up.
“I already did.”
“No.”
He crouched.
“You knew Elena’s mother.”
Bianca nodded.
“She was my aunt.”
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
“You said she disappeared.”
“She did.”
“When?”
“20 years ago.”
Dante looked at her.
“What happened?”
Bianca looked away.
“My father told me Sofia betrayed the family.”
“Your father was wrong.”
Bianca stared at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because Luca Rossi left evidence.”
Her face changed.
“Luca…”
“You knew him.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He came to our house.”
“Why?”
Bianca hesitated.
“To warn my father.”
“About what?”
“The Morettis.”
Dante's eyes narrowed.
Bianca shook her head.
“He said the Moretti family was being framed.”
Silence.
“By whom?” Dante asked.
“The people behind the Morettis and Vitalis.”
That answer made no sense.
Dante understood anyway.
A third organization.
Someone had manipulated both families.
Marco entered.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“The safe room has been compromised.”
Dante's expression hardened.
“That’s impossible.”
“We found a hidden microphone.”
He handed over the device.
Dante crushed it.
“Everyone out.”
They moved to the underground command room.
Elena sat beside the large table.
She felt like she had entered another world.
Screens covered the walls.
Maps.
Financial records.
Photographs.
Names.
Everything Dante had hidden from ordinary employees.
She looked at him.
“You’re going to tell me the truth.”
“Yes.”
“All of it.”
“Yes.”
“My father.”
“Yes.”
“My mother.”
“Yes.”
“And the box.”
“Yes.”
Dante placed both hands on the table.
“20 years ago, my father controlled the Moretti organization.”
Elena listened.
“Your father handled the books.”
“My father was a criminal.”
“He was an accountant working for criminals.”
“That doesn't make him innocent.”
“No.”
Dante looked at her.
“But it doesn't make him evil.”
He explained.
Luca discovered money moving into accounts he did not recognize.
Millions.
Then tens of millions.
The payments went to judges, police officers, politicians, and foreign companies.
Luca traced them.
Every trail led to a name.
The Vale Group.
A hidden network of businessmen who financed criminal operations while remaining legally invisible.
“They manipulated both families,” Dante said.
“How?”
“They made it appear as though your father had stolen money from my family.”
Elena stared.
“And then?”
“My father ordered him killed.”
She closed her eyes.
Dante continued.
“Luca escaped.”
He found Sofia.
They planned to disappear.
Sofia was pregnant.
With you.
Elena opened her eyes.
“My mother was pregnant with me?”
“Yes.”
“They tried to run.”
“They failed.”
“Then what happened?”
Dante hesitated.
“Your mother gave birth in secret.”
Elena's breath caught.
“And me?”
“You were taken to an orphanage.”
“What?”
“She thought it would protect you.”
Elena covered her mouth.
“I grew up thinking she abandoned me.”
“She believed she was saving you.”
“Where was my father?”
“Dead.”
“And my mother?”
“Alive.”
“Where?”
Dante looked at Bianca.
“That is what we need to discover.”
Bianca stood.
“There’s 1 place.”
Everyone looked at her.
“My father had a property in Vermont.”
Dante frowned.
“What property?”
“An old hunting lodge.”
“Why would Sofia be there?”
Bianca swallowed.
“Because my father told me once that if Sofia ever returned, that is where she would go.”
Dante turned to Marco.
“Prepare the car.”
Bianca stepped forward.
“I’m coming.”
Dante looked at her.
“No.”
“I know where it is.”
“You're not going.”
“Dante…”
He stared at her.
“You pushed Elena into a lake.”
Bianca's face fell.
“I was angry.”
“You could have killed her.”
“I know.”
“That means nothing to me.”
Tears rolled down Bianca's cheeks.
“I love you.”
Dante’s face remained cold.
“I don't love you.”
Her expression broke.
He walked away.
Elena followed.
The drive to Vermont took 5 hours.
The forest became denser.
The road narrower.
Rain began falling.
Dante sat beside Elena.
Neither spoke for nearly an hour.
Then Elena asked, “Why did you trust me?”
He looked at her.
“Because you never asked me for anything.”
She smiled sadly.
“That isn't always a good quality.”
“It made you different.”
“And Bianca?”
He looked out the window.
“She wanted what I could give her.”
“What did you want from her?”
“Nothing.”
“And from me?”
His eyes met hers.
“Everything.”
Elena looked away.
Before she could respond, the car stopped.
Marco stepped out.
“The gate is locked.”
Dante looked at the lodge.
Old.
Dark.
Abandoned.
He pulled his weapon.
“Stay close.”
They entered.
Dust covered the furniture.
A fireplace stood cold.
A staircase led upstairs.
Elena felt something strange.
A familiarity.
She walked toward a hallway.
“Wait.”
Dante stopped.
“What?”
Elena pointed.
A child's drawing was pinned to the wall.
A little girl.
A lake.
A woman.
And a man.
Underneath, in childish handwriting:
Mommy says Daddy will come back.
Elena touched it.
“I drew this.”
Dante looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“Because I remember.”
A memory flashed.
Her mother holding her.
Her father's voice.
Then a knock came from behind a hidden wall.
Three taps.
Pause.
Two taps.
Dante raised his weapon.
“Who’s there?”
A woman’s voice answered.
“Luca said you would come eventually.”
Elena stopped breathing.
The hidden door opened.
An older woman stepped out.
Gray hair.
Thin face.
Tired eyes.
She looked directly at Elena.
“My child.”
Elena couldn't move.
“Mom?”
The woman began crying.
“Yes.”
Sofia Vitali reached for her.
Elena ran into her arms.
For the first time in 20 years, Elena heard the heartbeat she had never consciously remembered.
She cried.
Sofia cried.
Dante stood silently.
Then Sofia pulled away.
“We don't have much time.”
“Why?”
“Because they know you are alive.”
“Who?”
Sofia looked toward Dante.
“The people who killed your father.”
Dante's expression changed.
“Who?”
Sofia whispered:
“Your father didn't order Luca's death.”
Dante froze.
“My father?”
Sofia nodded.
“Someone inside the Moretti family did.”
Before anyone could ask another question, the front windows shattered.
Gunmen stormed the lodge.
Sofia screamed.
Dante pushed Elena behind a pillar.
Marco fired.
The room exploded into chaos.
Then Sofia shouted.
“Dante!”
He turned.
“There's a second floor!”
“Go!”
Elena grabbed Sofia’s hand.
They ran.
Behind them, a voice shouted:
“Don't let the girl escape!”
Elena looked back.
And suddenly she understood.
They weren't after Dante.
May you like
They weren't after Sofia.
They were after her.
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