Chapter 4 - THE SISTER WHO CAME HOME
The woman at the gate looked nothing like a Moretti.
That was Vincent's first thought.
She was in her early fifties, with graying brown hair, a weathered face, and the cautious eyes of someone who had spent decades expecting doors to slam behind her.
She introduced herself as Rebecca Hale.
Vincent brought her into the library.
Isabella refused to come downstairs.
Mara stood near the windows.
Anthony remained beside the fireplace.
Rebecca placed three photographs on the table.
The first showed Isabella leaving a church in South Boston.
The second showed Sarah Bennett getting into Isabella's car.
The third showed the two women embracing.
Vincent looked at Mara.
Mara looked as stunned as he felt.
“My mother told me she hadn't seen Isabella Moretti in twenty-eight years.”
Rebecca nodded.
“She lied.”
“Who are you?” Vincent asked.
Rebecca looked at Isabella's sons.
Then she reached into her purse and removed a folded birth certificate.
ROSE ELIZABETH HARPER.
Mother: Isabella Harper.
Father: Thomas Hale.
Vincent stopped breathing.
Rebecca said, “My name was Rose.”
Anthony whispered something that sounded like a prayer.
Vincent studied her face again.
This time he saw it.
Isabella's eyes.
His mother's chin.
Anthony's expression when angry.
“You're our sister,” Vincent said.
“Half-sister.”
“Where have you been?”
“Alive.”
The answer was sharp enough to silence him.
Rebecca turned toward Mara.
“Your mother saved my life.”
Mara's lips parted.
Rebecca explained.
When Salvatore discovered six-year-old Rose wasn't his biological daughter, he became obsessed with removing what he called another man's blood from his family.
At first, Isabella resisted him.
Then she became afraid.
Sarah, still a teenager, had discovered Rose locked inside the old cellar after wandering downstairs one evening.
She started bringing the child food.
Eventually, she found a way to help Rose escape.
Rebecca's voice trembled as she described it.
“Sarah hid me inside a laundry truck.”
Mara covered her mouth.
“She was seventeen,” Rebecca continued. “Terrified. Pregnant. But she got me out.”
“What happened afterward?” Anthony asked.
“I was placed with distant relatives under another name.”
“Why didn't Mother bring you home after Dad died?”
Rebecca looked toward the ceiling.
“Because your mother wasn't only protecting me from Salvatore.”
Vincent's stomach tightened.
“What did she do?”
Rebecca slid another photograph across the table.
It showed Isabella, younger, standing beside a man Vincent recognized.
Frank Costello.
For thirty years, Frank had been the Moretti family's attorney, fixer, and closest adviser.
Vincent had called him Uncle Frank as a child.
“He helped your mother hide me,” Rebecca said. “And he made her pay for it.”
“How?”
“Money. Property. Silence.”
Vincent understood immediately.
“Blackmail.”
Rebecca nodded.
“He had evidence tying Isabella to crimes Salvatore committed. After your father died, Frank kept controlling her.”
Anthony cursed.
“And Mara?”
Rebecca looked at Mara.
“That is why Sarah returned.”
Mara shook her head.
“No. My mother came back because she wanted justice.”
“She came back because Frank contacted her.”
The color vanished from Mara's face.
Rebecca continued.
“Frank told Sarah he had proof of everything that happened twenty-eight years ago. She agreed to meet Isabella secretly.”
Mara looked down at the photographs.
“Three days ago.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't Mom tell me?”
“Because she was trying to get you out before Frank realized who you were.”
Vincent suddenly remembered the text.
STOP ASKING ABOUT HER BRUISES.
“Frank has access to this mansion.”
Anthony nodded grimly.
“He practically designed our security contracts.”
Vincent turned toward Daniel.
“Find him.”
Daniel reached for his phone.
Before he could dial, the lights went out.
The mansion fell into darkness.
A scream echoed upstairs.
Vincent drew his weapon and ran.
They reached Isabella's bedroom less than a minute later.
The door was open.
The bed was empty.
The balcony doors swung in the wind.
On Isabella's pillow lay a black glove.
Mara's glove.
And beneath it was a note.
Vincent picked it up.
YOUR MOTHER KEPT ONE SECRET EVEN FROM SARAH.
ASK HER WHICH MORETTI CHILD REALLY BELONGED TO SALVATORE.
Anthony read over his shoulder.
Then slowly looked at Vincent.
Neither brother spoke.
May you like
Because suddenly the question wasn't whether Rebecca belonged in their family.
The question was whether Vincent and Anthony did.
