Chapter 4 - The Secret Hidden in Vincenzo Moretti's Last Letter
Leo needed answers.
He and Leora traveled toward the Moretti family's secondary estate.
The property was abandoned years earlier.
It had belonged to Leo's mother.
They entered through a broken rear door.
Inside, dust covered everything.
Leora looked around.
“This place feels sad.”
“It was.”
Leo walked to a portrait.
His mother.
Beautiful.
Smiling.
He stared at her for a long time.
Then he noticed the frame.
A hidden latch.
He opened it.
A compartment appeared.
Inside was a letter.
His father's handwriting.
Leo unfolded it.
My son,
If you are reading this, then I have failed to protect you.
Leora stepped closer.
Leo continued.
Your mother died because of the organization.
But it was not the attack they told you about.
She died because she discovered the truth.
She discovered that someone within our own family was selling us.
Leo stopped reading.
His hands shook.
The letter named Samuel.
But there was more.
Samuel had not acted alone.
Someone in the family had ordered him to betray Leo.
The name was missing.
The page had been torn.
Leora stared.
“Who would tear it?”
“Someone who knew where the letter was.”
Leo looked around.
“Someone who had access to this house.”
Then they heard footsteps.
Leora grabbed his arm.
A woman entered.
She was older.
Elegant.
Calm.
And Leo knew her.
“Maria.”
His aunt.
She smiled.
“You found it.”
Leo's face hardened.
“You knew.”
“I knew enough.”
“Who ordered Samuel?”
She looked at Leora.
“The maid?”
Leora said nothing.
Maria laughed.
“Still protective.”
Leo stepped forward.
“Answer me.”
Maria's expression changed.
“It wasn't your father.”
“Then who?”
“Your grandfather.”
Leo froze.
“My grandfather died.”
“People can die and still leave orders.”
Maria told them the truth.
The Moretti family had been fighting an internal war for years.
Leo's father had tried to dismantle the criminal side.
His grandfather resisted.
Samuel was loyal to the old network.
Leo's father had discovered the betrayal.
But he never signed Leo's death order.
The papers were fabricated.
Leo stared.
“So my father didn't want me dead.”
“No.”
“Then why did he hate me?”
“Because he blamed himself.”
Maria handed him another letter.
Your mother died because I failed to protect her.
I could not bear looking at my son because his face reminded me of what I had lost.
Leo started crying.
Quietly.
Maria left.
Leora stood beside him.
“You were never the reason.”
Leo shook his head.
“I don't know how to believe that.”
“Then borrow my belief until you can.”
He looked at her.
She smiled.
“You can do that.”
That night, they returned to Blackwood.
The estate was almost empty.
Samuel's men had abandoned it.
Leora found a locked office.
Inside were financial records.
The truth was enormous.
Money had been moved through medical companies.
Shipping corporations.
Construction projects.
Political donations.
But one account stood out.
A medical trust.
Its beneficiary was Sophie Higgins.
Leora froze.
“What?”
Leo looked at the document.
“Sophie.”
Her sister.
The account contained $150,000.
Enough to cover treatment.
“Who opened this?”
Leo looked at the signature.
His father's.
Leora began to cry.
“He knew.”
Leo nodded.
“Apparently.”
“He knew about her illness.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
A second document answered that.
Vincenzo had secretly funded medical treatment for dozens of employees and their families.
He had helped people quietly.
Never publicly.
The man everyone feared had been paying hospital bills for people who couldn't afford them.
Leora looked at Leo.
“Your father was different from what I thought.”
“So was mine.”
They laughed sadly.
Then the office door opened.
A man stood there.
Samuel.
He raised a gun.
“Step away from the desk.”
Leo moved in front of Leora.
Samuel smiled.
“You always were stupid.”
Leo's voice was cold.
“You're finished.”
“Not yet.”
Samuel looked at Leora.
“You know what happens if you stay?”
She stared back.
“I know.”
He aimed at Leo.
“Move.”
Leora did something unexpected.
She stepped in front of Leo.
Samuel hesitated.
“You'll kill her?”
Leo's voice was quiet.
“Then you'll have to kill me too.”
Samuel laughed.
“That's the point.”
Before he fired, the lights went out.
Gunfire erupted.
Men stormed the room.
But they were not Samuel's men.
They were federal agents.
Samuel was arrested.
Leo was safe.
And the final document on the desk revealed something worse.
The true mastermind was still free.
Leo's grandfather was dead.
Samuel was captured.
Maria was innocent.
But one name appeared on every transfer.
Damian Moretti.
May you like
Leo's cousin.
The man who had always called him brother.
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