Chapter 7 - SOFIA
Gabriel refused to believe Sofia was involved.
That was the first time I saw denial beat instinct.
“My sister doesn’t know anything about this.”
Luca said:
“Her name is on the account.”
“Then someone used it.”
“Possible.”
“It’s what happened.”
I interrupted.
“We don’t know.”
Gabriel looked at me sharply.
“Choose your next words carefully.”
“No.”
His eyebrows lifted.
I continued:
“You hired me because you supposedly value people who don’t look away.”
Silence.
“So don’t ask me to pretend evidence disappears because you love your sister.”
His expression hardened.
Then softened by a fraction.
“Fine.”
Luca almost smiled.
He enjoyed watching someone else say what he could not.
Sofia Moretti arrived in Chicago that evening under escort.
Thirty-four.
Elegant.
Controlled.
The moment she entered ICU and saw Gabriel unable to stand, she burst into tears.
Real tears.
Or excellent acting.
I stayed skeptical.
She hugged him carefully.
Gabriel let her.
Then she looked at me.
“You’re Elena.”
“How do you know?”
Her eyes shifted.
Mistake.
Gabriel noticed.
“Sofia.”
She closed her eyes.
“I knew about the trust candidates.”
“How?”
“Your attorney showed me last year.”
“Why?”
“Because you asked me to review succession contingencies.”
Gabriel frowned.
“I asked you to review corporate contingencies. Not medical.”
Sofia sat.
“I found the medical section.”
Luca asked:
“What about the telemetry account?”
She looked confused.
“What telemetry account?”
We showed her.
Her face changed.
“That company is mine.”
Gabriel’s voice went cold.
“What does it do?”
“Private medical logistics. Flights. Home nursing. Equipment.”
“Did you authorize Vincent?”
“No.”
“Vale?”
“No.”
“Any device monitoring?”
“No.”
She pulled out her phone.
Called her CFO.
Within twenty minutes, another problem appeared.
Sofia’s company had paid a vendor:
Aster Biomedical Consulting.
$180,000.
Approval credential:
Sofia Moretti.
She insisted she never approved it.
Digital token authentication came from a device in Chicago.
Sofia had been in London.
Possible compromise.
Then Luca asked:
“Who manages your Chicago access?”
Sofia went pale.
“My husband.”
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed.
“Ethan?”
Sofia nodded.
Ethan Ward.
Investment banker.
Married to Sofia five years.
Soft-spoken.
Polished.
No criminal family history.
Exactly the kind of man everyone considered harmless.
Luca immediately sent people to locate him.
His Chicago condo was empty.
Office too.
Then Sofia’s phone rang.
Ethan.
She answered.
Speaker.
“Where are you?”
His voice was calm.
“Safe.”
Gabriel’s expression darkened.
Sofia whispered:
“What did you do?”
A pause.
Then Ethan said:
“I tried to protect you.”
“From what?”
“Your brother.”
Gabriel almost laughed.
Ethan continued:
“If Gabriel dissolved the family structure, your inheritance disappeared.”
Sofia stared.
“What inheritance?”
Silence.
Then Ethan realized he had said too much.
Gabriel asked:
“What did Vincent promise you?”
Ethan laughed softly.
“Vincent promised nothing.”
That changed everything.
“What?”
Ethan continued:
“He was useful.”
Gabriel went completely still.
Sofia whispered:
“Ethan.”
Then he said:
“You’re all still thinking Vincent planned this.”
Luca looked at Gabriel.
Ethan’s voice became almost gentle.
“He didn’t.”
Sofia started crying.
“Then who did?”
May you like
Her husband answered:
“I did.”
