Chapter 12 - A Mother's Intuition
The sprawling library of the Moretti estate had been converted into Clara’s personal financial command center. Sunlight streamed through the massive bay windows, illuminating stacks of ancient ledgers and modern digital tablets. Clara loved the logic of numbers. Numbers never lied; they always balanced, and they always told a story if you knew how to read them. However, as she cross-referenced the family’s old shell companies from two years ago, a jarring inconsistency caught her sharp eyes.
There was a massive, unexplained hemorrhage of funds from a subsidiary account directly overseen by Giorgio. The dates instantly made Clara’s breath hitch in her throat. The transfers had occurred exactly three days before the scaffolding collapsed in Queens. The money was wired to an offshore account registered to a private demolition firm, one that specialized in industrial sabotage. Clara stared at the glowing screen of her laptop, her heart hammering wildly against her ribs. She tried to tell herself it was a coincidence. Giorgio was a criminal; he paid off shady companies all the time. But a cold, maternal instinct whispered that the universe did not work in such neat coincidences.
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She left the library and walked down the grand hallway, finding Isabella polishing the antique silver in the dining room. Clara kept her tone casual, asking the head housekeeper if Giorgio had ever been involved in the real estate developments in Queens. Isabella stopped polishing, her posture stiffening immediately. The older woman refused to make eye contact, softly warning Clara that digging up the past only resulted in dirty hands. Isabella’s evasiveness was all the confirmation Clara needed.
That evening, Clara watched Mia play on the plush rug of their luxurious suite. The little girl was humming her favorite sunshine song, completely oblivious to her mother’s silent turmoil. Clara had promised James on his grave that she would always protect their daughter. She had thought Lorenzo’s protection was their salvation, but a terrifying seed of doubt had been planted in her mind. If the Moretti family had something to do with James’s death, she was currently raising his daughter in the den of the lions who killed him. Clara waited until the estate fell asleep, determined to find the truth herself.
