Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN WHO WAS MY SISTER
Anna Morelli was my half-sister.
The woman I found dying behind my warehouse.
The mother of my brother’s children.
The wife of my enemy.
My father’s daughter.
I laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because sometimes the truth becomes so impossible your body chooses the wrong response.
Anna stared at Marco.
“You’re lying.”
“I wish I were.”
She looked toward me.
I didn’t know what expression was on my face.
Probably nothing.
That was how I survived most shocks.
“Proof.”
Marco nodded.
“Luca found DNA records.”
Anna shook her head.
“My father was Anthony Russo.”
“Your legal father.”
Marco continued.
“Your mother worked for Victor Vance before she married Russo.”
My father.
A man who had never once mentioned another daughter.
Anna’s face crumpled.
Then she whispered:
“My mother died when I was five.”
Marco nodded.
“After Victor arranged financial support through Marcus Drake.”
I understood.
Marcus knew Anna existed.
That was the leverage.
My father couldn’t openly move against him without risking exposure that could destroy his marriage, political relationships, and succession plans.
Cowardice dressed as strategy.
I suddenly hated a dead man.
Anna looked at me.
“You knew nothing?”
“No.”
“Luca?”
“Apparently more than me.”
Her eyes filled.
Then she laughed bitterly.
“So your brother fell in love with his half-niece?”
“No.”
Reeves interrupted quickly.
“Luca and Anna are not biologically related.”
We all turned.
He continued.
“Victor Vance was Elias’s biological father. Luca was adopted as an infant after Victor’s sister died.”
My head snapped toward him.
“What?”
Reeves looked almost apologetic.
“The sealed records surfaced during the federal investigation.”
I stared.
Luca was my cousin by birth, raised as my brother.
Anna was my half-sister.
The twins were not born from close biological relatives.
That mattered medically.
Emotionally, it was still chaos.
I rubbed both hands over my face.
“My family needs charts.”
Marco actually laughed.
Then Anna started crying.
I moved closer.
Stopped.
Then asked:
“May I?”
She looked at me.
Slowly nodded.
I sat beside her.
For the first time, I saw something familiar in her face.
Our father’s eyes.
I hated that I hadn’t noticed.
Then Agent Reeves spoke.
“We still need to focus on Lucia.”
I nodded.
“Where is Vincent now?”
Marco pointed toward a map.
“He took her to a medical property outside Joliet.”
Anna went pale.
“Saint Helena?”
“No.”
Marco looked toward her.
“A private residence owned by Marcus Drake.”
The dead accountant.
The man who knew our family’s secrets.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message from Vincent.
A photograph of Lucia sleeping safely inside a bassinet.
Relief almost destroyed my knees.
Beneath it:
MIDNIGHT. BRING ANNA AND THE ORIGINAL VANCE LEDGER.
I stared.
“What ledger?”
Marco went still.
“You don’t know?”
“No.”
He looked toward the portrait of my father hanging over the fireplace.
“Victor kept a handwritten ledger containing every payoff, every hidden partner, every protected official.”
My jaw tightened.
“Where?”
Marco slowly pointed toward the nursery.
“The twins’ crib.”
I stared.
“What?”
“The old wooden crib you ordered brought out of storage?”
“Yes.”
“It belonged to your father.”
My blood ran cold.
May you like
Marco continued:
“Luca chose that crib because he knew the ledger was hidden inside it.”
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