Chapter 5 - THE BROTHER WHO WANTED EVERYTHING
The memory card contained 1,842 files.
Payroll records.
Bank transfers.
Photographs.
Audio recordings.
Scanned signatures.
Insurance policies.
And one video.
Miguel Delgado had recorded himself three days before his death.
Alessandro watched it inside his study at 4:17 a.m.
Miguel appeared exhausted.
“If anyone finds this, my name is Miguel Delgado.”
He looked directly into the camera.
“I discovered Moretti-controlled companies have been taking unauthorized insurance policies on employees.”
Miguel listed names.
Then he said something Alessandro never expected.
“Matteo Moretti offered me two hundred thousand dollars to disappear.”
Alessandro paused the video.
Marco stood behind him.
“Keep playing.”
Miguel continued.
“I refused.”
He swallowed.
“Tonight Matteo told me I should think about my wife and daughter.”
Alessandro closed his eyes.
Emma had been an infant.
Miguel continued:
“If something happens to me, it wasn’t an accident.”
The video ended.
Nobody spoke.
Finally Marco asked:
“What do you want to do?”
“Find Rosa.”
They traced Matteo’s vehicle to an industrial property in New Jersey.
The warehouse belonged to another shell company.
Alessandro arrived with Marco and two trusted security officers.
Inside, Rosa was tied to a chair.
Matteo stood nearby.
He held no weapon.
He looked exhausted.
“Don’t come closer.”
Alessandro stopped.
“Let her go.”
“I need the card.”
“No.”
“Then everything collapses.”
“It should.”
Matteo laughed bitterly.
“You think you’re different from us?”
“Yes.”
“You run the same empire.”
“Not anymore.”
“You’ve benefited from it your entire life!”
That struck deeper because it was true.
Alessandro had inherited wealth without questioning every foundation beneath it.
Matteo stepped closer.
“Give me the card.”
“Did you kill Miguel?”
Matteo’s face changed.
“Who told you?”
“Miguel.”
Matteo went pale.
“He recorded you.”
Silence.
Rosa watched him.
“Tell him.”
Matteo looked toward her.
“Shut up.”
“Tell your brother what happened.”
Matteo suddenly shouted:
“I DIDN’T MEAN TO KILL HIM!”
The words echoed.
Alessandro stared.
Matteo’s shoulders collapsed.
“I sent two men to scare him.”
“You threatened his family.”
“He was going to destroy us.”
“He was going to expose thieves.”
“Dad built that system!”
“Dad was dead!”
“And Mother said keeping it alive was my responsibility!”
Alessandro looked at his brother.
For years Matteo had lived in his shadow.
Always wanting approval.
Always wanting control.
Their mother had apparently given him both.
“What happened to Miguel?”
“The men followed him.”
Matteo’s voice cracked.
“They forced his truck toward the barrier. They were supposed to make him stop.”
“But he went through it.”
“Yes.”
“And you covered it up.”
Matteo looked down.
“Yes.”
Rosa whispered:
“Tell him the rest.”
Matteo closed his eyes.
Alessandro’s stomach tightened.
“What rest?”
Rosa looked at Alessandro.
“Your mother didn’t protect Matteo because he was her son.”
“Why, then?”
“Because Miguel discovered something about Alessandro.”
Matteo shouted:
“Rosa!”
Too late.
Alessandro stared.
“About me?”
Rosa nodded.
“Your father left you controlling ownership of the legitimate Moretti companies.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Rosa shook her head.
“You don’t.”
She explained that Vittorio had secretly amended his estate shortly before his death.
If evidence ever emerged connecting Moretti companies to organized criminal activity, Alessandro’s controlling shares would automatically transfer to a protected charitable trust.
The family would lose billions.
“Who knew?”
“Isabella. Matteo. Miguel.”
Alessandro understood.
Miguel had not merely threatened criminal exposure.
He threatened the family fortune.
Matteo began crying.
“Mother said everything would disappear.”
“And Sophia?”
“I hired her.”
Alessandro stared.
“What?”
“After Miguel died, Mother wanted to know whether he had left evidence.”
“So you brought his widow into my house.”
Matteo nodded.
“Close enough to watch.”
The cruelty was breathtaking.
Sophia had believed employment saved her.
In reality, she had been placed inside the home of the people responsible for her husband’s death.
“And stealing her wages?”
Matteo whispered:
“Mother wanted her dependent.”
Alessandro turned away.
For the first time that night, rage almost overwhelmed him.
Then Rosa said:
“There’s more.”
Alessandro laughed once without humor.
“Of course there is.”
“Emma wasn’t supposed to exist.”
He turned sharply.
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing happened to her,” Rosa quickly clarified. “But after Miguel died, Isabella learned Sophia was considering leaving New York with Emma.”
“So?”
“She blocked every opportunity.”
Jobs disappeared.
Apartment applications were rejected.
Loans were denied.
Sophia believed she was unlucky.”
Alessandro stared at Matteo.
“You trapped them here.”
Matteo said nothing.
“So you could watch them.”
“Yes.”
Alessandro approached his brother.
Matteo stepped backward.
“You want to hit me?”
“No.”
Alessandro’s voice was cold.
“That would be too easy.”
Sirens sounded outside.
Matteo’s eyes widened.
“You called police?”
“Federal investigators.”
“You can’t.”
“I already did.”
“You’ll destroy the family.”
“No.”
Alessandro looked at him.
“You did that seven years ago.”
Agents entered.
Matteo did not resist.
As they led him away, he turned toward Alessandro.
“Ask Mother about your father.”
Alessandro frowned.
“What?”
Matteo smiled bitterly.
“You think Miguel was the first death she covered up?”
Isabella had always told her sons Vittorio died of a heart attack.
May you like
Matteo’s final words before entering the federal vehicle were:
“Ask her why there was no autopsy.”
