Chapter 5 - UNCLE MATTEO
Matteo agreed to meet.
Too easily.
Elina refused Luca’s mansion.
They met at attorney’s office.
Neutral.
Recorded with consent.
Matteo arrived in charcoal suit.
Sixty-two.
Elegant.
Warm smile.
He looked at Elina and went pale.
“Sofia.”
“No.”
Elina held his gaze.
“Try again.”
Something flickered.
“Elena.”
That name.
Not Elina.
Her birth name.
He knew.
Luca leaned forward.
“How long?”
Matteo sighed.
“Twenty-seven years.”
Silence.
Elina’s hands went cold.
“Tell me.”
Matteo claimed Teresa Bellandi experienced severe hemorrhage during twin delivery.
One baby—Elena—was born with breathing problems.
Doctor believed she might not survive.
Antonio Bellandi panicked.
Their marriage was already unstable.
He wanted one heir.
Not two?
Strange.
Then Matteo said Vincent arranged temporary foster placement while parents stabilized.
Rosa became permanent adoptive mother after Bellandis decided not to reclaim.
Elina stared.
“Then why mark me dead?”
Matteo’s mouth tightened.
“Estate planning.”
There it was.
Fraud.
He claimed Antonio ordered it.
Why?
To avoid split inheritance.
Sofia remained sole heir.
Elina would be raised privately with money sent indirectly.
Except no money ever reached Rosa.
“Where was my support?”
Matteo said nothing.
Good question.
Luca’s attorney produced ledger.
A supposed annual support fund for Elena.
Twenty-five thousand per year.
For eighteen years.
Total:
$450,000 plus investment growth.
Recipient trust:
EMB Custodial.
Who controlled it?
Matteo.
Where did money go?
“Expenses.”
“For who?”
Silence.
Then Elina said:
“You stole it.”
Matteo’s face hardened.
“I kept family assets stable.”
Classic.
“You stole from a baby.”
“I preserved Sofia’s inheritance.”
“No.”
Elina leaned forward.
“You preserved your control.”
Luca watched.
Then Matteo switched strategy.
“Sofia knew about you for years.”
Elina froze.
“That’s a lie.”
“Is it?”
He claimed Sofia discovered trust anomaly at twenty-one.
Did nothing.
Why?
“Because she liked being sole heir.”
Luca’s face changed.
Elina remembered Sofia’s letter:
He will tell you I wanted your money.
Predicted.
Good.
“Proof?”
Matteo had none.
Then he smiled.
“Sofia wasn’t a saint.”
“No one said she was.”
That answer unsettled him.
Then Luca asked:
“Did my father know?”
Matteo looked at him.
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Everything.”
Luca’s face went hard.
“And my mother?”
“No.”
Good.
Then:
“Did Sofia confront you?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Two weeks before Noah was born.”
“What did she want?”
Matteo looked toward Elina.
“She wanted trust split.”
There.
She intended to restore Elina’s rights.
“Did you agree?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because proof wasn’t final.”
Lie.
Then Matteo said:
“She threatened to go public.”
Luca’s fists clenched.
Elina noticed.
He kept them on table.
Progress.
Then:
“Did you hurt her?”
Matteo looked offended.
“No.”
Medical death supported.
He may be criminal without murderer.
Then he said something unexpected:
“I loved Sofia.”
Maybe.
Love does not prevent exploitation.
Then:
“And I tried to keep you alive.”
Elina stared.
“From who?”
Matteo leaned back.
“Your father.”
Antonio Bellandi.
Supposedly wanted second twin erased permanently.
Matteo claimed adoption saved her.
If true, he both saved and stole from her.
Morality became messy.
Then attorney entered with new records.
Antonio Bellandi died in boating accident when Sofia was twelve.
Accident investigation reopened years later?
No.
But his personal letters survived.
One addressed to Vincent Moretti:
Bring Elena back.
I made a terrible mistake.
Matteo went completely still.
May you like
Antonio had changed his mind.
And someone ignored him.
