Chapter 13 - My Mother’s Confession
We gathered in the library after the girls fell asleep beside Elena.
My mother sat near the fireplace.
Isabella rested on a sofa with a bandage around her head. Marcus, Rosa, Agent Cross, and I remained close.
For several minutes, Sofia said nothing.
Then she looked at Isabella.
“I believed you died because of me.”
Isabella’s face tightened.
“What happened that night?”
My mother folded her hands.
“Your father discovered Samuel was stealing, but that was not the only reason they fought. Samuel had evidence linking your father to judges, officials, and violent men. Your father intended to kill him.”
The Moretti empire had never been clean.
My father built wealth through shipping, construction, and political influence. As a child, I saw expensive suits and closed-door meetings. I did not ask what happened to people who crossed him.
Sofia continued.
“I wanted to leave. I planned to take both of you.”
“Why didn’t you?” I asked.
“Your father found out.”
Her voice weakened.
“He locked me in the summer house and sent you back to the city with a driver. Isabella was still there.”
Isabella stared at her.
“I remember shouting.”
“I tried to reach you. Your father and Samuel were arguing in the study. There was a gun.”
My mother closed her eyes.
“I knocked over a lamp during the struggle. The curtains caught fire.”
“You started it accidentally,” Rosa said.
“Yes. But Samuel used the chaos. He took Isabella through the cellar tunnel.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” I demanded.
“Your father found me outside. He said Isabella was dead. He told me the explosion was my fault.”
“So you left us.”
“I was injured. Terrified. He said if I ever returned, he would tell Gabriel I killed his sister. He said he would put me in prison and raise you to hate me.”
My anger came quickly.
“You believed him?”
“I had just watched my daughter disappear into a burning house.”
“And you left your son with the man who threatened you.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I have regretted it every day.”
Isabella spoke quietly.
“Samuel told me you chose Gabriel.”
Sofia covered her mouth.
“He told me Gabriel and Father were happier without me,” Isabella continued. “He showed me photographs of both of you living normally.”
“We were not normal,” I said.
No one in that family had been normal after the fire.
We had simply become skilled at silence.
Agent Cross placed a folder on the table.
“Samuel’s body has not been recovered.”
I looked at her.
“He fell into the fire.”
“The lower floor opened into an old drainage tunnel. Fire crews found blood leading toward the marsh road.”
Samuel might still be alive.
“He won’t stop,” Isabella said.
“No,” Evelyn replied. “But he has fewer resources now.”
Victor was in custody.
Patricia faced charges for kidnapping, attempted murder, conspiracy, and abuse.
Nolan had agreed to cooperate in exchange for consideration.
Most of Samuel’s accounts were frozen.
A wounded man could still be dangerous, especially when he had nothing left to preserve.
Elena appeared in the doorway.
She wore one of Rosa’s robes.
Her steps were uncertain, but her eyes were clearer.
“Samuel always had a final plan,” she said.
We turned.
She entered and sat beside me.
“What do you remember?” I asked.
“Pieces.”
“Take your time.”
“He said if the trust failed, the company would destroy itself.”
Marcus frowned.
“How?”
Elena pressed her fingers to her temple.
“There was a file. Something called Meridian.”
I knew the name.
Project Meridian was an automated financial system Victor introduced three years ago. It controlled transfers, payroll, loan payments, and vendor accounts across Moretti Holdings.
“What about it?”
“Samuel said he built a death switch.”
Marcus stood immediately.
“A dead man’s protocol.”
Elena nodded.
“If he failed to enter a code, information would be released.”
“To whom?” Evelyn asked.
“Regulators. Journalists. Criminal groups. Everyone.”
Samuel had hidden evidence of legitimate crimes among forged documents implicating innocent employees and board members.
If released, the files could destroy the company, trigger prosecutions, and endanger thousands of workers.
“When does it activate?” I asked.
Elena closed her eyes, searching her memory.
“The wedding.”
Patricia and I were supposed to marry in two days.
Samuel planned to seize control through the trust on that date.
If he failed, Meridian would release everything.
Marcus checked the system.
“There is encrypted activity scheduled for Saturday at noon.”
Forty-two hours.
“Can you stop it?”
“Maybe, but Victor designed most of the architecture.”
“Victor is in federal custody.”
Evelyn stood.
“I’ll arrange an interview.”
Victor refused at first.
Then Agent Cross showed him photographs from Blackwater House.
Samuel’s files included instructions to eliminate Victor after the trust transfer.
Victor had believed he was a partner.
He was only another disposable piece.
By midnight, Victor agreed to help disable Meridian in exchange for protection and a reduced sentence recommendation.
He gave us three possible server locations.
One was beneath Moretti Tower.
One was inside Samuel’s law office.
The third was unknown.
“The system requires three physical keys,” Victor said through the secure video feed. “I had one. Samuel had one. Patricia had one.”
Patricia’s key was found inside her ring.
Victor’s was seized from his apartment.
Samuel still had the third.
“Can two keys stop the release?” Marcus asked.
“No.”
“Can we destroy the servers?”
“The files will transmit automatically through external backups.”
“Then we need Samuel.”
Victor looked uneasy.
“He won’t come to you.”
“He will if he wants something.”
“What does he want now?”
I looked through the glass toward my family.
Elena.
Isabella.
Sofia.
My daughters.
Samuel had spent decades controlling us by convincing each person that the others had abandoned them.
Now we were together.
That was what he hated most.
“He wants to finish what he started,” I said.
I instructed Marcus to release one controlled piece of information to the press.
Gabriel Moretti to Proceed With Saturday Wedding Ceremony Despite Scandal.
The article claimed Patricia would be released temporarily due to procedural failures and that the ceremony would continue privately at the estate.
It was absurd.
It was also irresistible.
At 3:12 in the morning, an encrypted message arrived.
Samuel had taken the bait.
Wear the suit you wore to Elena’s funeral.
May you like
I will bring the final key.
Only one bride will leave the chapel alive.
