Chapter 10 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW WHY SOFIA DIED
Elena Rossi had met Sofia Moretti at a clinic six years earlier.
Sofia had been searching for information about the baby she believed had died.
A nurse secretly told her records had been altered.
Sofia followed the money.
It led to Salvatore.
Then to Ruth.
And eventually to my father.
Michael agreed to protect Leo because he already understood what Salvatore could do.
“Why didn’t Sofia tell Dante?” I asked.
Elena looked at him.
“Because she found evidence that someone inside his closest circle was working with Salvatore.”
Anthony Greco.
Sofia planned to move Leo somewhere safer first.
She never got the chance.
Her car went through a barrier after leaving a meeting with Elena.
Mechanical failure.
No witnesses.
The same pattern.
Dante sat absolutely still.
“How many people died because I trusted the wrong men?”
Elena answered quietly.
“That question will destroy you if you let it.”
His eyes turned toward her.
“Then what question should I ask?”
“What do you do now that you know?”
For once, Dante had no answer.
Elena showed us a recording Sofia had left with her.
Sofia appeared on the screen.
Alive.
Smiling weakly.
“If Dante ever sees this, it means I failed.”
Dante’s face broke.
I looked away.
Some grief deserved privacy even in a crowded room.
Sofia continued.
“Leo is alive. I wanted to bring him home. But home wasn’t safe yet.”
She explained that Salvatore wanted to keep Dante isolated.
Anthony helped because he expected to inherit greater control if Dante died without an heir.
Matteo discovered part of the plan.
Michael discovered the rest.
Then Sofia looked directly toward the camera.
“Dante, if you find our son, don’t make him prove he belongs to you.”
Dante covered his mouth.
“Let him choose you.”
The recording ended.
No one spoke.
Then Elena handed me a smaller envelope.
“For you.”
My name was written in Dad’s handwriting.
Inside was one line.
If you ever meet Dante Moretti, judge him by what he does after the truth—not by what men like me hid from him.
I read it twice.
Then my phone rang.
The veterinarian.
Orion was awake.
The bullet had passed through muscle without hitting bone or major vessels.
He would recover.
For the first time in days, I laughed.
Dante looked at me.
Then something softer passed between us.
Not romance exactly.
Not yet.
Relief.
Trust.
Choice.
Then Elena said:
“There’s still one problem.”
We turned.
“Anthony wasn’t the last person helping Salvatore.”
Dante’s expression hardened.
“Who?”
Elena looked directly at me.
“Someone at the restaurant knew Olivia would be working table twelve that night.”
My pulse stopped.
May you like
The restaurant manager had assigned me that table at the last minute.
And suddenly the night Orion chose me no longer felt like an accident.
