Chapter 7 - SEVEN NUMBERS AND A LOCKED DOOR
“Four. Nine. Two. Seven. One. Six. Three.”
Aurora whispered the numbers aloud.
Dante entered them into his notes.
“Are you certain?”
“Absolutely. Mom made me repeat them every birthday.”
“Did she ever explain?”
“She said every good baker needs to remember the measurements that matter.”
Dante considered the sequence.
Seven digits.
Possibly a password.
Possibly a vault code.
Or something entirely different.
He contacted a forensic accountant, Evelyn Brooks, and sent her the sequence along with the Northstar Capital records.
Within twenty minutes, Evelyn called.
“I found something.”
Dante activated the speaker.
“Go ahead.”
“Northstar maintained private safe-deposit facilities. Each client had a seven-digit access identifier.”
Aurora gripped the table.
“And those numbers?”
“They match a deposit registered to Elena Reyes.”
For the first time, hope flickered through Aurora's fear.
Her mother had left something behind.
Something Richard Whitlock had never obtained.
But reaching it would be dangerous.
The deposit was located inside a private bank controlled by one of Victor Moretti's business associates.
Dante immediately made arrangements through an independent attorney.
By evening, Aurora and Dante were escorted into a secure room at a Manhattan bank.
A manager brought out a narrow steel box.
Aurora's hands shook as she opened it.
Inside lay a sealed envelope, a small silver necklace, and a digital storage device.
On the envelope, her mother's handwriting read:
For Aurora, when you are old enough to know the truth.
Aurora began crying.
She opened it carefully.
The first sentence made her stop breathing.
My darling daughter, if you're reading this, then Richard Whitlock has lied to you about who your father really is.
Aurora looked up.
Dante stared at the letter.
May you like
Because the next name written on the page was one he knew better than almost anyone.
Lorenzo Moretti.
