Chapter 9 - THE LETTER
The letter was twenty years old.
The paper had yellowed.
Elizabeth opened it with trembling hands.
Her father's handwriting appeared.
My Lizzie,
If you're reading this, then I failed to protect you.
She covered her mouth.
There are people who believe our family is connected to the Vitalis because of money. That isn't true.
Your mother and I discovered something years ago.
The Vitali empire was built on legitimate businesses, but someone has been secretly using those businesses to move money for powerful people. Politicians. Judges. Corporate executives.
Matteo knows part of it. Victoria knows more.
Elizabeth looked at Alessandro.
He continued reading.
But neither of them is the person I'm most afraid of.
The next line changed everything.
The person behind the network is someone who has been pretending to protect the Vitali family.
Alessandro's face hardened.
“Who?”
The final page had been torn away.
Only one sentence remained.
Look at the person who has been beside Alessandro since childhood.
They both went silent.
Marcus.
Elizabeth shook her head.
“No.”
Alessandro looked stunned.
Marcus had saved his life twice.
He had been loyal for twenty years.
But loyalty could be an illusion.
They investigated quietly.
They discovered shell companies.
Private accounts.
Secret meetings.
Marcus had been moving money for years.
But the strangest discovery came from an old photograph.
Marcus wasn't the mastermind.
He had been working for someone else.
Someone whose name made Alessandro's blood run cold.
Sofia.
His own sister.
Elizabeth refused to believe it.
“She wouldn't.”
“She might have been forced.”
They confronted Sofia.
She broke down.
“I didn't choose this.”
“Who forced you?”
She looked at them.
“My husband.”
Her husband, Daniel Cross, had been dead for three years.
Or so everyone believed.
Sofia revealed the truth.
Daniel had survived the boating accident.
He had staged his death and built a secret network using Vitali money.
Victoria had worked for him.
Marcus had worked for him.
The entire conspiracy had been bigger than anyone knew.
And now Daniel wanted Elizabeth's father's evidence.
Because it could expose everything.
Before they could react, the mansion's alarm sounded.
Someone had entered.
A message appeared on the security monitor.
BRING THE LEDGER TO THE OLD UNION STATION.
COME ALONE.
Then another message appeared.
OR THE WOMAN YOU LOVE DIES.
Alessandro turned toward Elizabeth.
“No.”
She grabbed his hand.
“We go together.”
“It's too dangerous.”
“So is losing you.”
He stared at her.
Then nodded.
At midnight, they entered the abandoned station.
A man stepped from the darkness.
Daniel Cross.
Alive.
And holding a gun.
Behind him stood Victoria.
She had escaped custody.
Daniel smiled.
“You finally brought the Hart girl.”
Elizabeth stepped forward.
“You killed my father.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
He smiled.
May you like
“Your father is the reason I'm alive.”
Then the lights went out.
