Chapter 7 - THE MOTHER WHO KNEW WHICH SON SURVIVED
Teresa Moretti was alive.
Vincent’s mother.
Eighty-three.
Sharp-minded.
Mean at cards.
Apparently entirely unimpressed by her billionaire son.
We reached the lake house with police.
Paul was gone.
Teresa sat in the kitchen drinking tea.
No fear.
Vincent stormed inside.
“Where is Paul?”
She looked up.
“You still enter rooms like doors insulted you.”
“Mother.”
“Vincent.”
“Anthony is alive.”
Her teacup stopped.
One second.
That was all.
Then she put it down.
“You finally figured it out.”
Vincent froze.
Luca stared.
I looked between them.
“You knew?”
Teresa sighed.
“For nineteen years.”
Vincent looked like a child for the first time.
“You knew my brother was alive.”
“Yes.”
“And said nothing.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he threatened Luca.”
Silence.
Luca went still.
“What?”
Teresa looked at her grandson.
“You were eight.”
Anthony had survived the staged death.
He contacted Teresa.
Said if she revealed him, Luca would disappear next.
Teresa believed him.
So she stayed silent.
Again.
Fear protecting family through secrecy.
Same pattern.
Different generation.
Vincent laughed bitterly.
“Everyone in this family thinks lying is love.”
Teresa looked at him.
“You taught us it worked.”
That landed.
Then she turned to me.
“You’re Helen’s daughter.”
“Yes.”
“She was better than all of us.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“Where is my mother?”
Teresa’s face softened.
“I don’t know.”
“Did Anthony take her?”
“Probably.”
“Why now?”
“Because she found Mara.”
Vincent froze.
“Mara is dead.”
Teresa looked at him.
“No.”
Of course.
I actually laughed.
Everyone stared.
“Sorry.”
I wiped my face.
“This family has an unusual relationship with death certificates.”
Teresa almost smiled.
Then explained.
Mara survived the house fire.
Badly burned.
She disappeared into medical care under another identity.
Teresa helped her.
Why?
Because Mara confessed.
She had helped Anthony steal foundation money.
But she did not kill Elena.
“She tried to stop him.”
Vincent’s eyes narrowed.
“Where is she?”
“South Shore Rehabilitation Center.”
Under the name:
Maria Velez.
Luca frowned.
“Velez?”
Teresa nodded.
“She married a physician who helped hide her.”
Anthony hunted her for years.
Recently, Helen found her.
That was why the old foundation files were accessed.
My mother had not been reopening the conspiracy alone.
She and Mara had been building a final case.
Then Teresa said:
“Helen called me three nights ago.”
My heart stopped.
“What did she say?”
“That Anthony knew.”
“Then why didn’t you warn me?”
Teresa looked ashamed.
“She asked me not to.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
Then Teresa added:
“She told me one more thing.”
I waited.
“She said if Anthony took her, he would bring her to the place where your father died.”
My body went cold.
Dad’s highway crash site.
Except Teresa shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“Thomas did not die on the highway.”
Vincent went still.
May you like
Teresa looked at me.
“Your father died beneath Moretti Warehouse Seven.”
