Chapter 5 - The Maid Revealed Why She Had Really Come to the Mafia Estate
The private vault was empty.
Voss had escaped.
But he left something behind.
A phone.
On it were photographs of Tessa.
Her apartment.
Her workplace.
Her sister.
Even Damian.
Tessa stared at the screen.
“They've been following me for months.”
Damian's jaw tightened.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I didn't know who I could trust.”
“You could have told me.”
“I was terrified.”
He looked at her.
“You never seem terrified.”
“I am.”
She held the phone tighter.
“I just don't let fear decide what I do.”
Damian understood that more than he wanted to.
Then Paul discovered something worse.
Voss had accessed the family trust.
Millions had been transferred.
Damian's entire legitimate business empire was at risk.
But there was another account.
One Antonio had hidden.
A dormant account containing nearly $80 million.
The password required a blood relative and a second authorization.
Beatrice.
Damian.
Both.
Which meant Voss needed Beatrice alive.
For the first time, Damian understood why the doctors had never truly improved her condition.
They had been keeping her alive.
And confused.
So she could never reveal what she knew.
He returned to the mansion.
Tessa stood beside Beatrice's bed.
“I need to tell you something,” she said.
“What?”
“I lied to you.”
Damian's heart sank.
“About what?”
“Why I applied here.”
She reached into her bag.
She took out a photograph of her sister.
On the back was a message.
“Find Beatrice Costa.”
Damian stared.
“She wrote this?”
“No.”
“Who?”
“My sister received it before she died.”
“Why did she send you here?”
“She believed your mother was trying to expose Voss.”
Damian looked at Tessa.
“You came to spy on us.”
“At first.”
“And now?”
“Now I don't care about the money.”
“What do you care about?”
Tessa looked at Beatrice.
“Truth.”
Damian was silent.
Then he said:
“Thank you for telling me.”
Tessa blinked.
“You're not angry?”
“I am.”
She looked down.
“But I'd rather be angry at the truth than comfortable with a lie.”
Tessa's eyes filled with tears.
Damian stepped closer.
He reached for her hand.
She hesitated.
Then let him take it.
It was the first time Damian had voluntarily touched anyone in years without expecting something in return.
Tessa's fingers were warm.
Small.
Human.
He held them carefully.
“Don't leave,” he said.
She looked at him.
“I wasn't planning to.”
That night, the mansion was attacked.
Shots cracked through the courtyard.
Guards rushed toward the gates.
Damian pulled Tessa behind a concrete pillar.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Tessa.”
“I can help.”
“You aren't trained.”
“Neither was your mother.”
Damian stared.
She had a point.
They moved toward Beatrice's room.
Voss's men had entered through the west wing.
One reached the hallway.
Damian stopped him.
Within seconds, the threat was gone.
But one attacker carried a photograph.
Voss.
With a handwritten message.
THE ORIGINAL LEDGER IS STILL IN THE HOUSE.
Damian immediately understood.
The red room.
He and Tessa returned there.
They searched every cabinet.
Finally, Tessa noticed the desk had two bottoms.
She tapped beneath it.
“Damian.”
He opened it.
A hidden compartment.
Inside was a ledger.
Names.
Payments.
Politicians.
Police commanders.
Judges.
Doctors.
And next to some names were initials.
Among them:
D.C.
Damian stared.
“That's me.”
“No,” Tessa whispered.
“What?”
“It says you were listed as the future successor.”
Damian looked closer.
The ledger was dated twenty years earlier.
His father had been preparing Damian to inherit the criminal network.
But then another note appeared.
“Only after Voss is removed.”
Damian's breathing changed.
Voss hadn't betrayed his father.
Voss had been waiting for Damian.
He had spent twenty years manipulating the family.
And now he wanted control of everything.
A noise came from the hallway.
Tessa grabbed Damian's arm.
Someone was there.
The door opened.
It was Evelyn Costa.
Damian's aunt.
His father's sister.
She smiled.
“You finally found it.”
Damian raised his gun.
“What do you want?”
Evelyn's smile disappeared.
“What I've always wanted.”
“The empire?”
“No.”
May you like
She looked at Tessa.
“Revenge.”
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