Chapter 5 - The Heir They Wanted to Silence
Rico stopped trusting everyone.
Except Clara.
They moved through the city quietly.
No public events.
No unnecessary meetings.
Leo remained close to Clara.
He wouldn't sleep unless she was nearby.
For the first time, Rico began seeing something unexpected.
His son was healing.
Leo started speaking.
Small sentences.
Short words.
Then one morning, he pointed at Clara and said:
"Clara safe."
Rico looked at her.
The boy repeated it.
"Clara safe."
Rico smiled for the first time in weeks.
"Yes."
Then Leo looked at him.
"Daddy safe too."
Rico's eyes burned.
He picked up his son.
"Always."
Meanwhile, Dante traced Salvatore.
He found him in a warehouse outside Queens.
Rico went personally.
Clara wanted to stay behind.
But Rico refused.
"I need you there."
"Why?"
"Because this started with you."
When they reached the warehouse, Salvatore was waiting.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Still terrifying.
He smiled.
"My nephew."
Rico raised his weapon.
"You killed Elena."
Salvatore laughed.
"She chose her side."
"You poisoned my son."
"I made him weak."
Clara stepped forward.
"Why?"
Salvatore looked at her.
"You."
"What?"
"You were supposed to disappear."
Clara froze.
"Why?"
"Because Elena found out who your father really was."
Clara whispered, "You."
Salvatore smiled.
"No."
He pointed at Rico.
"Your father."
Rico's face changed.
"You're lying."
"I watched your father replace one child with another."
Clara didn't understand.
Salvatore explained.
Rico's father had feared Clara would inherit part of the family empire.
He removed her from the family records.
Melissa Vance raised her.
Then Elena discovered the truth years later.
She began secretly protecting Clara.
That was why Elena had become a target.
Rico looked broken.
"My father killed her."
Salvatore shook his head.
"No."
"Then who?"
Anthony Bellini stepped from the shadows.
Clara recognized the name.
He smiled.
"Me."
Gunfire erupted.
Dante fought the guards.
Rico pulled Clara behind a concrete pillar.
Anthony ran.
Salvatore remained behind.
Rico confronted him.
"Where is Sofia?"
Salvatore laughed.
"Alive."
"Where?"
"With Elena."
Rico stopped.
"What?"
Salvatore revealed the final secret.
Elena had known an attack was coming.
She had staged part of her death.
The body identified as Elena wasn't hers.
The woman killed in the car was another person.
Elena had survived.
Rico could barely breathe.
"You saw her?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"Mexico."
Rico's world turned upside down.
His wife might still be alive.
The mother Leo had been crying for.
The woman everyone believed dead.
And Clara's connection to Elena suddenly became even more important.
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Because Elena hadn't just protected Clara.
She had prepared Clara for the day she would return.
