Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN IN THE RED COAT
The warehouse fire made the news.
Officials called it an accident.
Alessandro knew better.
So did Elizabeth.
Three days later, Victoria Vitali invited Elizabeth to lunch.
She arrived wearing a red coat and a smile that never reached her eyes.
“You look tired.”
Elizabeth touched her stomach.
“I'm pregnant.”
“I know.”
The answer came too quickly.
Elizabeth froze.
Victoria smiled.
“Alessandro told me.”
“He didn't.”
Victoria's expression shifted.
That tiny mistake told Elizabeth everything.
Victoria knew more than she should.
“Your father was a complicated man,” Victoria said.
“My father was murdered.”
Victoria stirred her coffee.
“That's a strong accusation.”
“You were there.”
Victoria looked up.
For the first time, her mask disappeared.
“You don't know what you're talking about.”
“I know about the ledger.”
Victoria's fingers stopped.
Then she leaned closer.
“Listen carefully. Your father didn't discover corruption.”
“Then what did he discover?”
“He discovered who was controlling it.”
“Who?”
Victoria smiled.
“Ask your mother.”
Elizabeth's blood froze.
“My mother is dead.”
“No.”
Victoria stood.
“She isn't.”
Then she walked away.
Elizabeth remained frozen.
That evening, Alessandro found her sitting in the library.
“What happened?”
She looked up.
“Your stepmother says my mother is alive.”
His face changed.
“We need to verify that.”
They searched hospital records.
Death certificates.
Insurance documents.
Nothing.
Then Marcus found an old rehabilitation facility in Wisconsin.
A patient had been admitted nineteen years earlier under the name Helen Ward.
No photograph.
No family contacts.
But the admission record contained one emergency contact.
Daniel Hart.
Elizabeth's father.
They drove through the night.
At dawn, they arrived.
The woman in room 214 was seventy years old.
Thin.
Gray-haired.
Her eyes were closed.
Elizabeth stepped into the room.
“Mom?”
The woman's eyes opened.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then the woman whispered:
“Lizzie.”
Elizabeth broke.
She ran forward.
Her mother held her face.
“My baby.”
“You're alive.”
“I tried to come for you.”
“Why didn't you?”
Her mother looked toward Alessandro.
Fear appeared.
“Because they would have killed you.”
“Who?”
Her mother whispered:
“The man who ordered the fire.”
Alessandro stepped closer.
“Who was it?”
Her mother stared at him.
“Your father.”
Alessandro went completely still.
“No.”
“He ordered Daniel's death.”
Elizabeth looked between them.
Her mother continued.
“But Matteo wasn't the mastermind.”
“Then who?”
Her mother closed her eyes.
“Victoria.”
Silence.
Then the hospital lights went out.
A scream came from the hallway.
Security rushed in.
Someone had cut the power.
Alessandro grabbed Elizabeth.
“Stay behind me.”
A gunshot echoed.
The hospital erupted into chaos.
When emergency lights returned, Elizabeth's mother was gone.
Only one thing remained on the bed.
May you like
A red coat.
Victoria's coat.
