Chapter 5 - THE DEATH I HAD NEVER QUESTIONED
Elena Marino had died of pancreatic cancer.
That was what every doctor had said.
What Sofia had believed for eleven years.
Valentina shook her head.
“Gabriel says the cancer was real.”
Sofia stared.
“Then what does he mean?”
“The final week.”
Alessandro’s face changed.
“What happened the final week?”
Valentina looked frightened.
“Someone accelerated her death.”
Sofia felt the warehouse tilt.
“No.”
“Sofia—”
“No.”
Her mother had suffered badly.
Morphine.
Pain.
Sleepless nights.
But Sofia had been there.
Alessandro had been there.
Nurses had been there.
“Who?”
Valentina swallowed.
“Gabriel claims Vittorio Moretti ordered it.”
Alessandro went white.
“My father?”
“He thought Elena was going to expose the Covenant Fund.”
Sofia backed away.
Alessandro reached for her.
She jerked away.
“Don’t touch me.”
He stopped instantly.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Did your father ever tell you anything?”
“No.”
“You expect me to trust that?”
“No.”
Again.
No excuses.
No demands.
Only the truth as far as he knew it.
That somehow hurt more.
Back at the mansion, Sofia opened every letter from her mother.
The final one was dated eight days before her death.
Vittorio knows I plan to give Sofia control.
Sofia covered her mouth.
Alessandro stood across the room.
Elena had written that Vittorio wanted the Covenant Fund destroyed.
She feared he would come for her.
But there was another name.
Dr. Samuel Pierce.
Her mother’s private physician.
Sofia remembered him.
Kind.
White-haired.
Soft voice.
He had been present the night Elena died.
“He gave her the final injection.”
Alessandro’s expression hardened.
“Where is he?”
Marco answered from the doorway.
“Retired in Wisconsin.”
They drove there before dawn.
Dr. Pierce opened the door and immediately tried to close it.
Alessandro stopped him.
“No violence,” Sofia said.
Alessandro looked at her.
Then removed his hand.
Inside, Pierce began crying before they asked the first question.
“Yes.”
Sofia’s body went cold.
“Yes what?”
“I gave Elena a larger dose.”
“Why?”
“She asked me to.”
Sofia froze.
“What?”
Pierce explained.
Elena was dying.
Hours, perhaps a day.
The pain medication no longer worked.
She asked for enough medication to sleep.
Vittorio had not ordered her death.
But he had come to the house.
He had threatened her.
And Elena had made a final decision.
Sofia sat silently.
“My mother chose?”
Pierce nodded.
“I stayed with her afterward.”
Tears filled Sofia’s eyes.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“She made me promise.”
Another promise.
Another man deciding silence was protection.
Sofia looked at Alessandro.
He understood what she was thinking.
Pierce then stood.
“There is something else.”
He retrieved an old envelope.
“Elena left this for you, but Vittorio threatened my family if I delivered it.”
Sofia opened it.
Inside was a bank document.
The Covenant Fund was not worth millions.
It was worth nearly three hundred million dollars.
But the money belonged to more than Sofia.
Half had been placed in trust for a child.
Name:
MATTEO MORETTI.
Sofia stopped breathing.
Alessandro stared.
May you like
Their son Matteo had died twelve years earlier.
At least, that was what they had been told.
