Chapter 8 - Beneath My Father's Oak Tree, We Found the Ledger Everyone Had Killed ForWe dug beneath the oak.
The metal box was still there.
Inside was the ledger.
Hundreds of names.
Payments.
Bribes.
Murders.
And one final page.
My father's handwriting.
The betrayal came from within.
Below it was Matteo's name.
But there was another.
My own.
I stared.
My mother gasped.
“That isn't possible.”
Then I understood.
My father had written my name because Matteo intended to use me.
Not because I was involved.
The ledger contained evidence that Matteo had planned my father's murder and intended to make me inherit the organization.
He wanted me to become the perfect puppet.
I closed the book.
Then footsteps sounded behind us.
Matteo stepped from the darkness.
He held a gun against my mother's head.
“You finally found it.”
I raised my weapon.
“Let her go.”
He smiled.
“Give me the ledger.”
Sofia stepped forward.
“Uncle Matteo.”
He looked at her.
“Hello, little one.”
She stared at him.
“You're the bad man.”
He laughed.
Then Sofia said:
“Mommy said Grandpa hated you.”
Matteo's smile vanished.
“What?”
“My grandpa knew you.”
She pointed at the ledger.
“He wrote your name.”
Matteo fired.
I moved.
The bullet struck my shoulder.
The guards opened fire.
Matteo escaped.
But he left one thing behind.
A phone.
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And on it was a video.
My father's final message.
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