Chapter 4: Sofia’s Last Secret
Three knocks sounded from the front hall.
Vittorio left the kitchen.
Emma followed with Lucy.
Marcus and Bianca stayed behind until Vittorio looked back.
“Everyone comes.””
Bianca shook her head.
“I’m not standing in the same room with her.””
“You don't get to choose anymore.””
Vittorio opened the front door.
A woman stood beneath the porch light.
She was perhaps forty.
Dark hair.
Gray coat.
A small leather suitcase rested beside her.
But it was her face that made Vittorio forget how to breathe.
Not because she looked exactly like Sofia.
She didn't.
The resemblance lived in smaller things.
The shape of her eyes.
The slight tilt of her mouth.
The way she tucked loose hair behind her left ear.
Sofia had done that constantly.
The woman looked past Vittorio.
Her eyes found Lucy.
She covered her mouth.
“Oh, God.””
Lucy stepped behind Emma.
Elena immediately lowered her hands.
“I’m sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you.””
Vittorio blocked the doorway.
“Why are you here?””
Elena looked at him.
“Because your daughter is in danger.””
Bianca laughed from behind him.
“Convenient.””
Elena's expression changed instantly.
“You.””
“You seem disappointed to see me.””
“I was told you'd been arrested.””
Vittorio looked at Bianca.
“For what?””
Elena stepped inside without waiting for permission.
“For attempting to abduct Lucy.””
Lucy grabbed Vittorio's hand.
He squeezed gently.
Elena saw it.
“I didn't.””
“Then why were you outside her school?””
Elena looked at Lucy.
“To warn her.””
“About what?””
“Bianca.””
Bianca scoffed.
“This woman is insane.””
Elena opened her suitcase.
Vittorio tensed.
“Slowly.””
“I understand.””
She removed a thick envelope.
Then a small wooden box.
“I flew from Switzerland this morning because Charles contacted me.””
Marcus swore.
Bianca spun toward him.
“You said Charles was loyal.””
“I thought he was!””
Elena looked between them.
“So it's true.””
“What is?”” Vittorio asked.
“They were working together.””
Vittorio's patience snapped.
“Someone is going to explain this clearly.””
Elena nodded.
“Your wife contacted me six months before she died.””
The room fell silent.
Vittorio stared at her.
“Sofia died in a car accident four years ago.””
“I know.””
“You hadn't seen her in years.””
“Seventeen years.””
“Then why would she contact you?””
Elena placed the wooden box on the console table.
“Because she discovered someone had been stealing from Lucy's trust.””
Vittorio frowned.
“Lucy didn't have a trust then.””
“Yes, she did.””
“No.””
Elena looked genuinely surprised.
“Sofia never told you?””
“Told me what?””
Elena glanced at Lucy.
“Maybe she shouldn't hear this.””
Lucy immediately protested.
“I want to stay.””
Vittorio crouched.
“Emma will take you upstairs.””
“But—”
“I'll tell you everything you need to know. I promise.””
Lucy looked at Elena.
“Did you know my mommy?””
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.””
“Did she like you?””
Elena smiled painfully.
“She loved me. We were just bad at being sisters.””
Lucy considered that.
Then she handed Elena the old photograph.
“I kept this safe.””
Elena's composure broke.
She pressed the photograph to her chest.
“Thank you.””
Emma led Lucy upstairs.
When they were gone, Vittorio turned back.
“Now talk.””
Elena opened the wooden box.
Inside were letters.
Dozens of them.
All addressed in Sofia's handwriting.
Vittorio recognized it instantly.
His knees nearly weakened.
“Elena…”
“She sent these to me.””
“Why didn't I know?””
“She made me promise.””
“Why?””
“Because she didn't know who she could trust.””
That hurt.
“Not even me?””
Elena looked at him.
“Especially you.””
Bianca smiled.
Vittorio ignored her.
“Explain.””
Elena removed a letter.
“Sofia inherited money from her grandfather. Not a small amount.””
“How much?””
“Thirty-two million dollars.””
Marcus inhaled sharply.
Bianca stared at the floor.
Vittorio noticed both reactions.
“Sofia never told me.””
“She didn't want the money.””
“Then where is it?””
“Protected for Lucy.””
Elena paused.
“Or it was supposed to be.””
Vittorio looked toward Bianca.
“How much is left?””
Elena's silence answered first.
“Fourteen million.””
Marcus whispered, “Jesus.””
Vittorio turned sharply.
“How did you know it wasn't all there?””
Marcus said nothing.
Elena continued.
“Sofia discovered withdrawals shortly before her death.””
“Who had access?””
“Three people.””
She placed a document on the table.
“Sofia.””
Another page.
“Charles.””
Then the third.
Elena didn't need to say the name.
Vittorio read it.
*Bianca Russo.*
He looked up slowly.
Bianca's eyes burned.
“Sofia trusted you?””
Bianca laughed.
“No. Sofia used me.””
Elena shook her head.
“She hired you.””
Vittorio stared at Bianca.
“For what?””
Elena answered.
“To manage the foundation attached to Lucy's trust.””
Pieces began rearranging themselves inside Vittorio's mind.
Bianca had met Sofia before her death.
Bianca had known Lucy before claiming otherwise.
Bianca had entered Vittorio's life eighteen months after Sofia's funeral.
None of it had been coincidence.
“You didn't meet me at that charity dinner by accident.””
Bianca's silence confirmed it.
Marcus stepped backward.
“I'm done.””
Vittorio caught his shoulder.
“No.””
Marcus shoved his hand away.
“I didn't know about Sofia.””
“You knew about the money.””
“I knew Bianca had access to a trust.””
“How much did she give you?””
Marcus looked toward his sister.
“Answer me.””
“Two hundred thousand.””
Bianca laughed bitterly.
“More.””
Marcus glared at her.
“Shut up.””
“How much?”” Vittorio repeated.
Marcus swallowed.
“Eight hundred.””
Elena closed her eyes.
Vittorio felt strangely calm now.
“What was supposed to happen tomorrow?””
Marcus said nothing.
Bianca said nothing.
Elena reached into her coat.
“Charles gave me this.””
A flash drive.
“He said if anything happened to him, I should give it directly to you.””
“Anything happened?””
Elena's expression darkened.
“He called me from the airport six hours ago.””
“What did he say?””
“That he'd discovered the original trust documents had been replaced.””
Vittorio looked at Bianca.
“And?””
“He said Bianca wasn't the person he was afraid of anymore.””
Marcus's face changed.
Vittorio caught it.
“Who?””
Elena connected the flash drive to Emma's laptop on the hall desk.
One video file appeared.
Charles sat inside what looked like an airport lounge.
His face was pale.
“If Vittorio is watching this, then I failed to reach him.””
He glanced behind him.
“Bianca's fraud is real. But she didn't design it.””
Bianca whispered, “Turn it off.””
Vittorio didn't move.
Charles continued.
“The person who recruited Bianca had access to Sofia before the accident.””
Vittorio's blood chilled.
Charles leaned toward the camera.
“Sofia's death was not random.””
Bianca suddenly rushed toward the laptop.
Elena blocked her.
Vittorio caught Bianca's arm.
Onscreen, Charles lifted a photograph.
A man stood beside Sofia's wrecked car.
Vittorio recognized him.
Marcus.
But Charles wasn't pointing at Marcus.
He was pointing at the second man beside him.
A man Vittorio had trusted since childhood.
May you like
Charles spoke his name.
“Vittorio, the person behind this is your brother, Alessandro.””
