Chapter 8 - THE WIFE WHO NEVER LEFT HIM
Gabriel Rossi had never spoken about his first wife.
Not to employees.
Not to business partners.
Not even to the few people he trusted.
Her name was Elena Rossi.
She died eight years earlier.
A terrible car accident.
A rainy highway.
A vehicle that lost control.
Gabriel had spent years believing her death was random.
Now his mother was telling him something else.
“What do you mean?” he whispered.
Isabella looked toward the door.
“Your wife discovered Adrian's financial scheme.”
Gabriel went still.
“Elena?”
His mother nodded.
“She found the medical transfers.”
Norah watched quietly.
The pain in Gabriel's face was unmistakable.
He'd already lost his wife.
His mother.
And much of his family to secrets he never understood.
Now he was discovering those losses might be connected.
Isabella continued.
“Elena wanted to report what she found.”
Gabriel's voice tightened.
“To whom?”
“Federal investigators.”
He closed his eyes.
Elena had always been compassionate.
She volunteered at hospitals.
Supported families with sick children.
Believed the Rossi family could use its wealth for something better.
He remembered her arguing with Salvatore.
“You can't call yourself generous while people are suffering because of your businesses.”
Salvatore had laughed.
Gabriel had remained silent.
Now that silence felt unbearable.
Isabella took his hand.
“Elena was preparing to leave the organization behind.”
Gabriel frowned.
“Why didn't she tell me?”
“She tried.”
His mother looked down.
“But you were angry.”
A memory returned.
Elena standing in his office.
Holding a folder.
Begging him to listen.
Gabriel saying:
“Not tonight.”
Then leaving for a meeting.
He had never seen her alive again.
His knees weakened.
Norah gently touched his shoulder.
Gabriel looked toward her.
For the first time, she saw tears in his eyes.
Isabella continued.
“Adrian arranged the accident.”
Gabriel stopped breathing.
His own brother.
The man he'd protected.
Promoted.
Trusted.
Had allegedly caused his wife's death.
“Do you have proof?” he asked.
His mother nodded.
“Thomas found records.”
Norah looked toward her father.
Thomas lowered his head.
“I copied them.”
Gabriel turned.
“Where?”
Thomas hesitated.
“Your father's private archive.”
Gabriel frowned.
“The archive has been searched.”
Thomas shook his head.
“Not the hidden compartment.”
Silence.
Then he continued.
“Salvatore kept a second set of records.”
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
Thomas smiled bitterly.
“Your father trusted nobody.”
Norah looked down.
That sounded exactly like the world Gabriel had inherited.
Thomas continued.
“The files include correspondence between Adrian and Leonard Mercer.”
Gabriel's expression darkened.
“And Elena?”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“Her name appears in the records.”
Then Isabella spoke quietly.
“Gabriel, there's something else.”
He turned.
“What?”
She hesitated.
“Elena was pregnant when she died.”
The world stopped.
Gabriel stared.
“What?”
His mother began crying.
“She was carrying your child.”
Gabriel couldn't breathe.
For eight years, he'd believed he lost his wife.
Now he was learning he'd lost a baby too.
But Isabella wasn't finished.
She looked toward Norah.
May you like
Then whispered:
“And the hospital records suggest the child may have been delivered alive before Elena died.”
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