Chapter 6 - THE BROTHER WHO DISAPPEARED
Luca stared at Damian as if the past had suddenly walked into the room.
“You're alive.”
Damian gave a bitter smile.
“So are you.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I needed you to believe it.”
“Why?”
“Because our father was still watching.”
Luca stepped forward.
“You could have told me.”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“More times than you know.”
I stood between them.
“What happened to Chloe?”
Damian looked at me.
“She survived.”
My heart stopped.
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
Luca's expression hardened.
“You said she survived.”
“She did.”
“When did you last see her?”
“Six years ago.”
“Where?”
“Chicago.”
The same city as the train ticket.
I felt my hands go cold.
“What happened after that?”
Damian looked toward the old desk.
“Chloe discovered the money trail.”
“We know.”
“No.”
His voice was quiet.
“You know about the money.”
He pointed toward the blue folder.
“You don't know what the money was for.”
Luca frowned.
Damian continued.
“Our father wasn't simply stealing.”
“What was he doing?”
“Paying people.”
“For what?”
“To keep them silent.”
“About what?”
Damian looked at me.
“People died.”
The room became silent.
“Workers,” he said.
“Years ago, a warehouse fire killed eleven people.”
Luca looked stunned.
“Our father claimed it was an accident.”
“It wasn't.”
“Who caused it?”
Damian shook his head.
“He didn't start the fire.”
That surprised me.
“Then what happened?”
“The warehouse had illegal electrical work.”
“Your father knew?”
“Yes.”
“And covered it up?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because exposing it would have destroyed the company.”
I looked at the floor.
“So the money was compensation.”
“Some of it.”
“And the rest?”
Damian's expression darkened.
“Someone was stealing from the fund.”
“Who?”
“I never found out.”
Luca stared at him.
“You disappeared because of this?”
“I disappeared because I found out our father had ordered someone to scare Chloe.”
“Scare her?”
“She wasn't supposed to die.”
“But she disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“Who took her?”
“I don't know.”
The same answer again.
But Damian's face told me he was telling the truth.
Then he looked at me.
“Nora.”
I frowned.
“Who is Nora?”
“A woman who worked in the accounting office.”
“What does she have to do with Chloe?”
“She found the missing records.”
I looked at Luca.
“Where is she now?”
Damian gave a strange smile.
“You already know her.”
My heart dropped.
“Who?”
He didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at the drawing Fiona had made.
“The little girl.”
I stared.
“Fiona?”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“Her mother.”
I remembered the name on one of the old receipts.
Nora Hale.
A woman who had worked for the Moretti company.
A woman who had disappeared around the same time as Chloe.
“Where is Nora?”
Damian looked directly at Luca.
“In your house.”
Luca went still.
“My house?”
“Yes.”
“Who is she?”
“Your wife.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
Damian looked at me.
“Ellie, your name isn't Nora.”
“No.”
“But you are the woman who married Luca.”
He shook his head.
“Nora Hale is someone else.”
I exhaled.
For a moment, I thought the mystery had become even more complicated.
Then Damian smiled sadly.
“I meant the woman you're protecting.”
Luca understood first.
“Fiona's mother.”
“Nora.”
“Yes.”
“She works for me.”
“She has been working for you for four months.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because she had nowhere else to go.”
“And you knew?”
“No.”
Damian shook his head.
“Luca didn't know.”
“Then why did you?”
“Because I was the one who arranged the job.”
Luca's eyes hardened.
“You put her in my house?”
“To keep her alive.”
“From whom?”
Damian looked at the door.
“Victor.”
The name changed the air.
“Victor has been searching for the missing ledger.”
“What ledger?”
“The original.”
“Where is it?”
Damian pointed toward the wall.
I followed his finger.
Behind the photograph.
Luca removed the frame.
A narrow compartment appeared.
Inside was a small black notebook.
He opened it.
Pages of numbers.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
Then one name appeared again and again.
VICTOR MORETTI.
Luca looked sick.
“Uncle Victor.”
Damian nodded.
“He took money from the employee fund.”
“How much?”
“Enough to bankrupt it.”
I turned the page.
There was another name.
VIVIAN REYES.
I looked at Luca.
His face changed.
“Who is she?”
“My fiancée.”
I stared at him.
“You mean your former fiancée.”
He nodded slowly.
Damian spoke quietly.
“Victor used Vivian's father as a middleman.”
“Why?”
“Debt.”
Luca closed the notebook.
“So Vivian knew.”
“She knew enough.”
“And she threatened Nora.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To keep her from talking.”
The pieces finally connected.
But one question remained.
“Why did Damian tell me not to trust the man beside me?”
Luca looked at him.
Damian's expression softened.
“I didn't.”
I froze.
“You did.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“I told Chloe not to trust Luca's father.”
I remembered Fiona's words.
Mr. Damian said Daddy didn't know the whole secret.
Then Damian looked at me.
“Someone has been pretending to be me.”
Luca stared.
“Then who was watching Fiona?”
Damian pointed toward the window.
“The same man who has been following Nora.”
We looked outside.
A black sedan sat across the street.
The driver's door opened.
A man stepped out.
Luca recognized him.
“Victor.”
Then Damian grabbed my arm.
“Don't let him see the ledger.”
But it was too late.
May you like
Victor looked directly toward the window.
And smiled.
