Chapter 3 - The Lie That Built My Empire
For twenty-three years, I'd believed my mother was murdered by enemies of the Vale family.
Now I was holding a letter claiming my own father ordered her death.
I stared at Nora.
"This isn't possible."
She lowered the paper.
"I'm sorry."
Dominic moved toward me.
"Arthur, we need to verify the letter."
I nodded.
For once, my underboss was right.
My father, Vincent Vale, had died six years earlier.
He'd been ruthless.
Controlling.
A man who believed affection was weakness.
But even he couldn't have murdered my mother.
Could he?
I remembered their final argument.
I was fourteen.
My mother stood in the library, shouting that she wouldn't let Vincent use me to continue his criminal empire.
My father told her to lower her voice.
She refused.
That night, she disappeared.
Two days later, police found her body.
And my father told me everything was the fault of a rival family.
I spent years believing him.
I built my reputation around avenging her.
I ordered violence in her name.
And now the foundation beneath my entire life was cracking.
Nora quietly collected the spaghetti bowl.
I caught her wrist before she could leave.
She stopped.
I immediately released her.
"I'm sorry."
Her expression softened.
"What?"
"For grabbing you."
She nodded.
"Thank you."
I looked at the letter again.
"Why did your grandmother wait so long?"
Nora hesitated.
"She was afraid."
"Of my father?"
"Of someone else."
My stomach tightened.
"Who?"
Nora looked toward Dominic.
Then back at me.
"Grandma said your mother's death wasn't the only secret."
Dominic's expression changed.
"What secret?"
Nora swallowed.
"She said the Vale family had been stealing money from ordinary workers for decades."
I stared at her.
"Through what?"
"Shipping contracts. Pension accounts. Insurance funds."
My chest tightened.
Those were businesses I controlled.
Nora continued.
"Grandma said she hid the original records before she escaped."
"Where?"
"She wouldn't tell me."
Dominic crossed his arms.
"Convenient."
Nora looked at him sharply.
"I'm not here to entertain you, Mr. Dominic. I'm telling you what she told me."
For the first time that evening, I almost laughed.
Then Nora reached into her pocket again.
She placed a small brass key on the table.
"She left this too."
I recognized the engraving.
A tiny letter V.
My father's private safe had the same symbol.
But that safe had been empty when he died.
I picked up the key.
"Where did Evelyn tell you to use this?"
Nora looked toward the floor.
"She said it opens something underneath your mother's old bedroom."
I went cold.
That room had been locked for twenty-three years.
May you like
And only one person besides me still possessed a key.
Dominic.
