Chapter 10 - VINCENT'S WIFE CHOSE A SIDE
Sofia Moretti had lived separately from Vincent for twelve years.
Publicly, they remained married.
Privately, everyone knew they barely spoke.
What nobody knew was why.
Sofia contacted Dominic before they could reach her.
One message:
SAFE HOUSE. NO PHONES.
Then an address in Staten Island.
Dominic brought Emily.
Marco.
No one else.
Sofia opened the door herself.
Inside, Thomas Carter sat at a kitchen table.
Emily stopped in the doorway.
Seventeen years vanished and remained simultaneously.
Thomas looked older than the photograph.
Thin.
White hair.
One hand trembled.
But his eyes were Emily’s.
Gray-green.
He stood too quickly.
“Emily.”
She slapped him.
Hard.
Dominic looked away.
Marco did not.
Thomas accepted it.
Emily’s voice broke.
“You were alive.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me grow up from a distance?”
“Yes.”
“You came to Grandma’s funeral.”
“Yes.”
“You met my daughter.”
“Yes.”
“And you still didn’t speak to me.”
Thomas started crying.
“Yes.”
Emily slapped him again.
Less hard.
Then she collapsed into his arms.
Not forgiveness.
Grief.
Dominic understood the difference.
After several minutes, Emily stepped back.
“You don’t get forgiven today.”
“I know.”
“Maybe ever.”
“I know.”
“Good.”
Thomas sat.
Then told the full story.
Vincent discovered the pension diversion because he created it.
Thomas threatened exposure.
Vincent’s men attacked him.
Thomas could not prove Vincent ordered it.
Antonio believed he did.
So Antonio created the disappearance.
Temporary.
Supposed to last months.
Then Vincent threatened Sarah and baby Emily indirectly through financial surveillance.
Thomas panicked.
He stayed away.
Sarah became ill.
By the time she died, Thomas believed returning would only create danger.
He made choice after choice from fear.
Each one easier than admitting the previous one was wrong.
“Why come back now?” Emily asked.
“Margaret died.”
“That was eight months ago.”
“I know.”
“So?”
“I was ashamed.”
Honest.
Ugly.
Real.
Then Thomas looked at Dominic.
“Vincent found the trust.”
“We know.”
“He wants the original control agreement.”
“Why?”
“Because it proves Emily’s ownership.”
Sofia answered.
“And it proves Vincent stole from Antonio too.”
Everyone turned.
The trust did more than hold Carter assets.
Antonio had placed a percentage of his own Moretti Plaza shares into the trust as compensation for Thomas protecting the company.
Not charity.
Payment.
Vincent knew.
If activated, Emily’s combined interest could equal fourteen percent of Moretti Plaza’s parent company.
Enough to affect board control.
Dominic finally understood.
“This isn’t just money.”
“No,” Sofia said.
“It’s votes.”
Vincent feared Emily could align with Dominic and permanently eliminate his remaining influence.
Then Marco asked Sofia:
“Why are you helping us?”
Her face changed.
“Because I helped my husband once.”
Silence.
“What did you do?”
“Eight years ago, Vincent asked me where Carlo Bellini kept copies of his security records.”
Marco froze.
“I told him.”
Sofia’s eyes filled.
“Carlo died the next day.”
She did not claim Vincent killed him.
She did not need to.
Guilt had lived there for eight years.
Then Thomas placed a flash drive on the table.
“Carlo gave this to me before he died.”
Marco stared.
“What’s on it?”
“Security audio.”
“Of Vincent?”
“Yes.”
Dominic inserted the drive.
One recording.
Vincent’s voice.
Carlo’s voice.
Vincent said:
If the Carter girl ever comes inside this company, remove her.
Carlo answered:
She’s a child.
Vincent:
Children grow up.
The recording was dated sixteen years earlier.
Emily had been twenty-two.
Already in college.
Then Vincent said the sentence that made Dominic lose color.
Antonio should have dealt with Thomas permanently.
Carlo replied:
You mean kill him?
Vincent paused.
Then:
I mean stop pretending family loyalty makes him untouchable.
Not a confession.
But enough to show intent.
Then another file loaded automatically.
A newer recording.
Only eight years old.
Carlo said:
If anything happens to me, Dominic gets everything.
Vincent answered:
Only if Dominic knows where to look.
Marco stared at the screen.
Then whispered:
May you like
“My father knew he was in danger.”
And somewhere in Carlo’s old security archive was the evidence he had intended for Dominic.
