Chapter 5 - The Aunt Who Sold My Future
Aunt Celeste had taken forty-eight thousand dollars from my mother's education account.
That was the amount I'd spent years trying to forget.
Forty-eight thousand dollars.
Two years of university tuition.
A chance to finish my degree.
A future that disappeared while I worked two cleaning jobs and watched debt collectors call my phone.
Now I was discovering Celeste might've been paid to steal it.
Adrian sat opposite me in the study.
"Do you know where she is?"
I shook my head.
"Last I heard, she was living somewhere in Florida."
"Do you want help finding her?"
I hesitated.
"What would happen if you found her?"
Adrian's expression changed.
Then he answered carefully.
"I'd give the information to your attorney and the investigators."
I studied him.
That wasn't the answer I'd expected from a mafia boss.
He noticed.
"You're surprised."
"A little."
He gave a tired smile.
"I've spent most of my adult life solving problems badly."
I didn't know what to say.
Then Gabriel entered with a financial report.
The bank transfers had been traced.
Celeste received sixty thousand dollars shortly before emptying my education account.
The sender was a consulting company controlled by Vincent Moretti.
I stared at the statement.
"She was paid sixty thousand to steal forty-eight thousand from me?"
Gabriel nodded.
"That's what the records suggest."
My stomach turned.
For years, I'd believed Celeste stole because she was desperate.
Now I understood someone had wanted me broke.
Someone had wanted me desperate enough to stop asking questions.
Then Gabriel opened another file.
An employment recommendation.
It had been submitted to the Vescari estate eight months earlier.
My name appeared at the top.
MARA VALE.
At the bottom was Vincent's authorization.
I felt as though the floor had shifted.
"Vincent hired me?"
Gabriel nodded.
"He approved your application personally."
I stared at Adrian.
"Did you know?"
He shook his head.
"No."
For eight months, I'd believed getting a job at the estate was a lucky break.
Now I realized Vincent had placed me inside the house of a dangerous man.
Not to help me.
To keep me close.
Adrian looked toward Gabriel.
"Why?"
Gabriel opened the final attachment.
An internal note.
Maintain Vale employment until Marseille negotiations conclude.
Beneath it was another line.
Confirm whether she knows the location of the ledger.
I covered my mouth.
Vincent had been watching me.
My language skills.
My habits.
My movements.
Even the way I handled old documents in the library.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A woman's voice spoke.
"Mara?"
My hands trembled.
"Aunt Celeste?"
She began crying.
"I'm sorry."
I closed my eyes.
"For what?"
"For everything."
Her voice shook.
"They told me if I didn't take the money, they'd kill your mother."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
Celeste sobbed.
"I thought I was protecting her."
I looked toward Adrian.
Then whispered:
"Who told you that?"
A long silence.
Then Celeste answered.
"Vincent Moretti."
And before the call ended, she revealed the secret that shattered everything I believed about my childhood.
May you like
"Mara, your father didn't abandon you."
"He left Marseille because someone had already ordered your murder."
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