Chapter 9 - THE LAST THING MY FATHER BEGGED FOR
Carlo's final sentence haunted me.
He begged me not to involve you.
If true, my father had known exactly who threatened him.
And he'd tried to protect me with silence.
It was the same mistake I'd made with Alessandro.
Leaving without telling him the truth.
Running because I believed secrecy could keep someone safe.
For the first time, I understood my father in a way I wished I didn't.
Lucia obtained another recorded statement from Dr. Ricci.
He remembered Paolo arguing with Carlo.
Paolo said:
You can take the company. Leave Serena out of it.
Carlo answered:
She owns the shares. She is already in it.
My eyes filled.
Dad knew.
He'd been fighting for me before I was old enough to understand.
Then investigators found Paolo's private journal inside an old Bellini warehouse.
One entry changed everything.
Alessandro is young, but he is not his father. Serena trusts him. Perhaps one day that will matter.
I smiled through tears.
Dad had seen something in Alessandro before I did.
But the next page was more troubling.
Alessandro's father wants Serena protected if the partnership collapses. Carlo thinks attachment makes both children weak.
Both children.
I frowned.
“Who is the other child?”
Lucia turned another page.
A name appeared.
Bianca Moretti.
My stomach tightened.
My father had known Bianca as a child too.
Then the truth emerged.
Years ago, Paolo Bellini and Alessandro's father had quietly helped Bianca's mother escape Vittorio Moretti after years of abuse.
Bianca had been returned to Vittorio after a custody battle.
Her mother died soon afterward.
From that point forward, Vittorio raised Bianca to believe loyalty meant obedience.
No wonder she'd spent her adult life desperate for his approval.
It didn't excuse what she did.
But it explained why he could use her.
Then Bianca gave investigators one final piece of evidence.
A voice message from Vittorio.
Keep Alessandro distracted. Carlo will handle Serena.
I listened twice.
Then a second message.
If the wedding happens, use the honeymoon plan.
My stomach tightened.
There it was.
Not rumor.
Not speculation.
A direct instruction.
Bianca had kept the messages because part of her had been afraid.
For the first time, she wasn't protecting her father.
She was helping expose him.
Then she looked at me.
“I don't expect you to forgive me.”
I appreciated that.
“I don't.”
She nodded.
“But I hope someday you believe I regret it.”
I looked toward her.
“Regret is a beginning.”
Tears filled her eyes.
Then my phone rang.
Alessandro.
His voice was urgent.
“Serena, where are you?”
“With Lucia.”
“Stay there.”
My stomach tightened.
“What happened?”
He took a breath.
“Carlo left his villa.”
“So?”
“He took a private car toward Rome.”
My heart pounded.
Then Alessandro said:
“He has your father's original journal with him.”
I stared.
“How do you know?”
“Because he called me.”
Silence.
“And he says he'll trade it.”
“For what?”
May you like
Alessandro's voice turned cold.
“For the antique watch.”
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