Chapter 2 - The Ledger Hidden Beneath the Christmas TreeLorenzo spent the next three hours searching his father's old records.
He had believed his father had left behind an ordinary business empire.
Trucking.
Restaurants.
Construction.
Clubs.
Shipping.
But beneath it was something else.
A hidden financial system.
Money moved through charitable foundations.
Properties bought under false names.
Private trusts.
Accounts no legitimate lawyer could explain.
Ella sat in the corner of the study while Lorenzo worked.
She was exhausted.
Still wearing her uniform.
Still carrying the smell of kitchen smoke.
Lorenzo looked at her.
“You should go home.”
She shook her head.
“Not until I know the children are safe.”
“You don't owe us that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
She looked at him.
“Because your father once saved my mother's life.”
Lorenzo froze.
“What?”
Ella explained.
Twenty years earlier, her mother had worked for the Moretti family.
A young secretary.
She had seen something she should not have seen.
A ledger.
A payment list.
Names of people who had betrayed Vittorio Moretti.
Her mother had tried to report it.
Vittorio protected her.
He sent her away.
But the people who wanted the ledger never stopped looking.
Years later, Ella's grandmother had hidden the original records.
Then she died.
Ella inherited the key.
She had never known exactly what it opened.
Until tonight.
Lorenzo took the key.
They searched the old mansion.
At 4:18 a.m., they found a hidden door behind the library.
The key opened it.
Inside was a small room.
One chair.
One desk.
One safe.
And a Christmas tree.
Ella frowned.
“Your father kept a Christmas tree down here?”
“No.”
Lorenzo stepped closer.
The tree was artificial.
Old.
Dusty.
There was only one ornament.
A silver angel.
He pulled it down.
Inside was a tiny key.
Another drawer opened.
Inside were three ledgers.
Lorenzo opened the first.
Payment records.
The second.
Property transfers.
The third.
Names.
His father's handwriting appeared on the first page.
If Lorenzo ever sees this, then I failed.
Lorenzo stopped.
Ella watched him.
He continued.
The woman he trusts will betray him.
The next line was worse.
The children are not safe with Isabella.
Lorenzo closed the book.
“Why didn't he tell me?”
Ella answered:
“Because he knew you wouldn't believe him.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
She looked down.
“I trusted Isabella too.”
Lorenzo stared.
“You knew her?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“She visited my apartment.”
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“Why?”
Ella took a breath.
“She offered me money.”
Lorenzo went silent.
“How much?”
“Twenty thousand dollars.”
“For what?”
“To leave.”
“Why would she want you gone?”
Ella looked at him.
“Because I had started asking questions.”
“What questions?”
“Why did your son have nightmares every night after Isabella moved in?”
Lorenzo froze.
“Leo has nightmares?”
“Not at first.”
Ella explained.
Leo had begun waking every night.
He would say someone was standing outside his room.
Sometimes he cried that “the lady with the cold hands” had come.
Lorenzo had assumed it was childish imagination.
Ella had believed otherwise.
Then Mia began refusing to sleep alone.
She would say:
“She doesn't like when Daddy hugs us.”
Lorenzo's hands tightened.
“Why didn't anyone tell me?”
“Because Isabella told the staff not to.”
Rocco entered the room.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We searched the security archive.”
“And?”
“We found erased footage.”
“Can you restore it?”
“Yes.”
Rocco placed a tablet on the desk.
Video appeared.
Isabella speaking with Lorenzo's father years earlier.
They were arguing.
Then Vittorio said:
“You will not touch my grandchildren.”
Isabella replied:
“They're not even born yet.”
Lorenzo stopped breathing.
The date was fourteen years earlier.
Long before he met Isabella.
Before Leo was born.
Before Lorenzo and Isabella even became engaged.
Ella stared.
“How could she know about your future children?”
Lorenzo shook his head.
“I don't know.”
The video continued.
Vittorio said:
“If anything happens to me, the children belong under Lorenzo's control.”
Isabella smiled.
“Unless Lorenzo dies.”
The screen went black.
Lorenzo stood.
“She planned this before she met me.”
Rocco nodded.
“I think so.”
Then the study doors opened.
A woman entered.
Lorenzo's aunt.
Marina Moretti.
She had not spoken to Lorenzo in six years.
“What are you doing here?”
She looked at Ella.
Then at the ledger.
“I came because the time has come.”
“What time?”
Marina sat.
“Your father wasn't killed in a car accident.”
Lorenzo froze.
“What?”
“He was murdered.”
“By Isabella?”
“No.”
“Who?”
Marina looked at the ledger.
“Your own grandfather.”
Lorenzo stared.
“That isn't possible.”
“Your grandfather wanted control of the Moretti trust.”
“What does that have to do with my father?”
“Your father discovered the plan.”
“And?”
“He tried to stop it.”
Marina looked toward Ella.
“Then he hid the children.”
Lorenzo stared.
“What children?”
Marina whispered:
“Your father's first family.”
Silence.
“First family?”
“Your father had another son.”
Lorenzo's face went pale.
“Where?”
“Dead.”
“Another daughter?”
“Alive.”
He stared.
“Who?”
May you like
Marina looked at Ella.
“Her.”
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