Chapter 7 - THE BRIDE WHO MARRIED FOR REVENGE
The wedding had been planned for eighteen months.
Three hundred guests.
A multimillion-dollar estate.
A marriage between the Vale and Moretti families.
But now Matteo understood something terrifying.
The bride hadn't simply married into Richard Vale's family.
She had entered it with a secret agenda.
"Who is Sophia Moretti?" Isabella asked.
Matteo opened her background file.
"Thirty years old. Investment executive. Educated in Switzerland. Daughter of the late businessman Antonio Moretti."
Gabriel frowned.
"Her father's death was ruled a suicide."
Matteo looked at the date.
"October 2015."
Isabella felt cold.
"The same month our fathers disappeared."
"Yes."
Gabriel opened another document.
"Antonio Moretti worked with Lorenzo Rossi on several financial investigations."
Matteo stared.
Three fathers.
One conspiracy.
One month.
And now their children had been brought together at a wedding.
Isabella looked toward the ballroom.
"What if Sophia isn't working with Richard Vale?"
Matteo turned.
"Explain."
"What if she's trying to expose him?"
Gabriel nodded thoughtfully.
"The marriage might give her access to his financial records."
Matteo considered it.
Then he remembered the secret agreement.
"Or she's using the marriage to gain control of my companies."
Neither possibility was comforting.
They found Sophia in a private dressing suite.
She stood before a mirror removing her diamond earrings.
Her wedding gown glittered beneath the lights.
When Matteo entered, she didn't appear surprised.
"I wondered how long it would take you."
Matteo stopped.
"You expected me?"
Sophia looked at Isabella.
"And you must be Daniel Bennett's daughter."
Isabella froze.
"You knew my father?"
Sophia's expression softened.
"He saved my life once."
Matteo narrowed his eyes.
"Tell us what you're doing."
Sophia turned toward him.
"I married Nicholas Vale because his father destroyed my family."
Isabella stared.
"You're seeking revenge?"
"I'm seeking evidence."
Sophia opened a drawer.
Inside was a collection of documents and encrypted drives.
"Richard Vale controls Meridian Capital. But the money doesn't belong to him."
"Whose is it?" Matteo asked.
Sophia looked directly at him.
"Your father's."
Silence.
"Lorenzo Rossi discovered the fraud and tried to recover the stolen assets. Vale imprisoned him before he could finish."
Matteo's chest tightened.
"Where is he?"
Sophia hesitated.
"I don't know the exact location."
"Then how did you know he was alive?"
"Because I've been receiving messages from someone inside the facility."
Isabella stepped forward.
"Who?"
Sophia opened her phone.
A photograph appeared.
It showed Lorenzo Rossi seated in a wheelchair.
Beside him stood another man.
Daniel Bennett.
Both alive.
Both visibly weakened.
Isabella began crying.
"That's my dad."
Sophia nodded.
"I know."
Then she looked at Matteo.
"There's something you need to understand."
Matteo waited.
Sophia's voice dropped.
"The person feeding Richard Vale information from your family isn't Alessandro."
Matteo went still.
"It's someone you trust even more."
A moment passed.
May you like
Then Sophia whispered the name.
"Gabriel Torres."
