Chapter 12 - THE RECORDING BENEATH THE FLOOR
The recording was hidden beneath a second compartment in Sophia's bedroom.
Isabella had found the first compartment.
But Anthony Romano had concealed another one deeper inside the floor.
Dante returned to the estate that evening after police detained Isabella and Marcus.
Sophia went with him.
She hadn't agreed to return permanently.
She had come for answers.
Dante understood the difference.
They entered the west bedroom together.
The bed had been remade.
Her bookshelves were empty.
The little ceramic bird still stood on the dresser.
Sophia looked at it.
Dante followed her gaze.
"I kept it."
She nodded.
"I noticed."
He knelt beside the radiator and removed the floor panel.
Inside the second compartment was a metal case.
Rebecca opened it using instructions recovered from Anthony's letter.
A small digital recorder lay inside.
They played the recording in Dante's study.
Anthony Romano's voice filled the room.
"If you're hearing this, then the Conti inheritance dispute has returned."
Sophia sat rigidly.
The recording continued.
"Clara Conti was placed under false medical guardianship after refusing to surrender her daughter's trust."
Sophia covered her mouth.
Anthony described how Marcus Vale had arranged forged medical evaluations to keep Clara isolated.
The same scheme had been used against other heirs and business partners.
Then Anthony revealed why he had hidden the evidence.
He had discovered Marcus was diverting millions from Romano-controlled companies.
Anthony planned to expose him.
But before he could, someone sabotaged his car.
The crash that killed him had never been an accident.
Dante gripped the edge of the desk.
"My father was murdered."
Rebecca paused the recording.
"There's more."
She pressed play.
Anthony continued.
"If I die before these records reach the authorities, understand that Marcus did not act alone."
A second voice appeared.
A woman.
Calm.
Familiar.
Dante stared.
"That's impossible."
Sophia looked at him.
"Who is it?"
He didn't answer.
The recording continued.
The woman discussed payments, forged documents, and the transfer of Clara Conti.
Then she mentioned the Romano inheritance.
Dante's face drained of color.
Sophia touched his arm.
"Dante?"
He turned toward her.
"My mother."
Sophia stared.
Dante's mother, Victoria Romano, had supposedly died eight years earlier.
But the voice on the recording was unmistakable.
Rebecca examined the file metadata.
Then she found another document attached to Anthony's archive.
A recent travel record.
Victoria Romano had entered the United States under an assumed name three weeks earlier.
The same day Isabella contacted Dante.
Sophia looked at the woman in the passport photograph.
Her stomach dropped.
She recognized her.
The woman had visited the lake house.
May you like
She had introduced herself as Evelyn Brooks.
The elderly nurse protecting Sophia was actually Dante's mother.
