Chapter 3 - The Woman Matteo Trusted Had Been Watching His ChildrenThe next morning, Matteo moved Elena and the children to a secure residence.
Elena protested.
Matteo ignored her.
“You don't trust me.”
“No.”
“You trusted me enough to marry me.”
“That was before.”
He nodded.
Fair.
The children adapted quickly.
Nico wanted to see the security system.
Lia wanted to know why the kitchen had six refrigerators.
Theo wanted to know whether the house had a piano.
Matteo watched them interact and wondered how three people so small could occupy so much space inside his mind.
At breakfast, Nico asked:
“Did you really build skyscrapers?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“Seventeen.”
“That's a lot.”
“It is.”
Lia looked at him.
“Do you own them?”
“Some.”
“Are you rich?”
Elena nearly choked on her coffee.
Matteo smiled.
“Yes.”
“How rich?”
“Lia.”
“What?”
“That's rude.”
Lia shrugged.
“I was curious.”
Matteo laughed.
“Very.”
The children laughed too.
Elena watched from across the table.
For the first time since the gala, she smiled.
Just a little.
Matteo noticed.
He had spent nine years pretending he had forgotten everything about her.
He remembered everything.
The way she pushed hair behind her ear.
The way she laughed silently before actually laughing.
The way she drank coffee too strong.
He had missed all of it.
Then his investigator called.
Matteo stepped outside.
“What did you find?”
A pause.
“Sabrina had a connection to your father's private office.”
Matteo's face hardened.
“What kind?”
“Payments.”
“To whom?”
“Several people connected to Elena.”
His heart stopped.
“Explain.”
“Your father paid security contractors to monitor Elena for years.”
“Why?”
“We're still digging.”
“And Sabrina?”
“She had access to the reports.”
Matteo closed his eyes.
His wife knew.
How much?
He returned inside.
Elena was in the living room.
He showed her the file.
She read it.
Her face became pale.
“I knew your father watched us.”
“But you knew Sabrina knew?”
“No.”
Matteo sat.
“Someone wanted you monitored.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I told you. I don't know.”
“What did they think you had?”
Elena looked away.
“My father's documents.”
“What documents?”
“You're starting to sound like your father.”
Matteo stared.
“Elena.”
She sighed.
“When I was pregnant, I discovered something about the Salerno family business.”
“What?”
“Money was being diverted through charities.”
He frowned.
“Which charities?”
“One of them became my foundation.”
Matteo's eyes widened.
“You built the Kane Foundation with stolen money?”
“No.”
Elena shook her head.
“I discovered money had been routed through organizations without their knowledge.”
“Your foundation received any?”
“Never.”
“Then why were you monitored?”
“Because I found the pattern.”
“What pattern?”
She looked at him.
“Someone was using your family's companies to move money into political campaigns.”
Matteo stood.
“That makes no sense.”
“It did to me too.”
“Who?”
“I never identified the final person.”
His investigator called again.
Matteo answered.
“Tell me.”
“We found the connection.”
“To?”
“Sabrina.”
Matteo frowned.
“She was connected to a lobbying firm.”
“Which one?”
“Vale Strategic.”
Matteo froze.
Marcus Vale.
A rival businessman.
A man who had tried to buy Salerno assets years ago.
“What does Vale have to do with Sabrina?”
“We don't know.”
Matteo looked at Elena.
She understood immediately.
“Marcus Vale.”
“Yes.”
“You know him?”
“My father did.”
“What did he want?”
“My family company.”
“Why?”
“He said Salerno Logistics was undervalued.”
Elena smiled bitterly.
“He wasn't interested in the company.”
Matteo looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“He wanted something inside it.”
“What?”
“Your father.”
The conversation was interrupted by a scream.
Lia.
Matteo ran upstairs.
She was standing in the hallway.
A man was at the end of it.
Security tackled him.
Matteo grabbed Lia.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded.
The man had entered through a service door.
He had a camera.
No weapon.
They searched him.
He carried photographs.
Pictures of the children.
At school.
At the park.
At Elena's house.
Matteo's blood turned cold.
He showed them to Elena.
She closed her eyes.
“This has been happening for years.”
“How long?”
“Since they were babies.”
“And you never told me.”
“You weren't there.”
He had no defense.
The investigator returned.
The intruder was working for a private surveillance company.
That company had been paid by a shell corporation.
The shell corporation belonged to Vale Strategic.
And Vale Strategic had received financing from a company partly owned by Sabrina.
Matteo felt betrayed.
Not by Elena.
By the woman he had trusted for years.
He drove to Sabrina's penthouse.
She was waiting.
“You're angry.”
Matteo stared.
“You knew about my children.”
Her face went still.
“What?”
“You knew about Elena.”
“No.”
“Don't lie.”
“I didn't.”
“What did you know?”
She sat.
“I knew your father believed Elena had information.”
“What information?”
“I don't know.”
“You monitored her.”
“No.”
“You paid someone who did.”
Sabrina began crying.
“I was trying to protect you.”
He stared.
“You've been watching my children.”
“I never harmed them.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“I didn't know they were yours.”
He froze.
“You knew about the surveillance but didn't know they were my children?”
She looked down.
“I knew Elena had children.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“How many?”
“I didn't know.”
Matteo felt sick.
“Why?”
“Your father asked me to find out what she knew.”
“And you did.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted to help you.”
He shook his head.
“You married me.”
“Yes.”
“Did you love me?”
She looked at him.
“I still do.”
Matteo closed his eyes.
The answer no longer mattered.
“I don't.”
Sabrina broke down.
He walked away.
When he returned to the secure house, Elena was waiting.
“You left me again.”
He stopped.
“I know.”
“You should be with your wife.”
“She isn't my wife anymore.”
Elena stared.
“What happened?”
“She knew.”
“About me?”
“About everything.”
He looked at her.
“I want a divorce.”
Elena said nothing.
“And after that,” he continued, “I want to know my children.”
She looked toward the hallway.
Nico was listening.
Matteo walked over.
“Can I be your dad?”
Nico considered him.
“You already are.”
May you like
Matteo smiled.
This time, he cried.
Related Stories
