Chapter 3 - Lorenzo Tried to Convince Me Beatrice Was a Criminal, but I Secretly Followed Him and Discovered He Had Been Erasing Evidence of My Family for Twelve YearsI didn't confront Lorenzo.
Not yet.
I needed proof.
So I did something I had learned from my father.
I pretended not to know.
The next morning, I called Lorenzo into my study.
He walked in casually.
“Morning, boss.”
I stared at him.
“Beatrice is involved in something.”
He smiled.
“I knew it.”
“What do you know?”
“She takes food.”
“Yes.”
“She meets people outside.”
“Yes.”
“She has been communicating with someone.”
“Who?”
He shrugged.
“That's what I'm trying to find.”
I studied him.
“Beatrice mentioned Claire.”
His face didn't move.
Good.
Too good.
“Claire?”
I nodded.
“My aunt.”
Lorenzo laughed.
“She died twelve years ago.”
“I know.”
“Then why would Beatrice mention her?”
“I don't know.”
He leaned forward.
“Maybe she's unstable.”
“Maybe.”
He smiled.
“I'll take care of it.”
I didn't answer.
He left.
That night, I followed him.
He drove to an office building downtown.
Entered through a private elevator.
I watched through a window across the street.
He met with three men.
One was a lawyer.
One was a banker.
The third was someone I had never seen.
They placed a folder on the table.
Lorenzo opened it.
Photographs.
Claire.
Beatrice.
Nora.
My blood went cold.
Then another photograph appeared.
Me.
Taken outside my mansion.
Another.
My father.
Another.
A baby.
Nora.
Lorenzo said:
“The trust requires two bloodlines.”
The lawyer nodded.
“Adrian controls the corporate side.”
“And the child controls the legacy side.”
“So kill Adrian?”
“No.”
Lorenzo shook his head.
“Not yet.”
“Then what?”
“Make him sign.”
“What about the aunt?”
“Claire dies last.”
I recorded everything.
Then Lorenzo said something that made me freeze.
“She knows about the night Claire's son died.”
The lawyer looked nervous.
Lorenzo continued:
“That's why she can identify me.”
My heart stopped.
The night Michael died.
The death had been ruled accidental.
But Lorenzo was talking about it like a murder.
I needed more.
Then the door opened.
A guard entered.
“Someone's outside.”
Lorenzo looked toward the window.
I moved.
I escaped.
But I knew the truth now.
Lorenzo wasn't simply stealing.
He was trying to control the entire Moretti inheritance.
And the key was Nora.
I returned to the mansion.
Claire was awake.
She looked at me.
“You found something.”
“Yes.”
I told her.
She nodded.
“I knew it.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I needed you to discover it yourself.”
“That cost me twelve years.”
“It kept you alive.”
I hated hearing that.
But I understood.
Then Beatrice entered.
She held a small box.
“I found this in the old pantry.”
Inside was a letter.
My father's handwriting.
To me.
Adrian,
If you ever find Claire, trust her.
Trust Beatrice.
And protect the child.
I stared.
“Why Beatrice?”
Claire answered:
“She was your mother's nurse.”
I looked at Beatrice.
She nodded.
“Your mother trusted me.”
“Then why did you become a maid?”
“Because it was the only way to stay close without being noticed.”
My entire understanding of the past shifted.
Beatrice hadn't been stealing.
She had been protecting.
For years.
And I had nearly punished her for it.
Then Nora walked into the room.
She looked at me.
“Are you angry?”
“No.”
“At Mommy?”
“No.”
“At Aunt Bea?”
I shook my head.
“Why?”
“Because they were protecting you.”
Nora smiled.
Then quietly said:
“Grandma said you would.”
I froze.
“What?”
“She said Uncle Adrian would come.”
I looked at Claire.
She was crying.
Then the mansion lights went out.
Gunfire erupted.
May you like
Someone had breached the security perimeter.
Lorenzo had stopped waiting.
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