Chapter 9 - The Death That Was Never an Accident
Lorenzo Vescari had died nine years earlier after collapsing inside his private office.
The doctors called it heart failure.
The family buried him beneath a marble monument.
And Vincent Moretti stood beside Adrian throughout the funeral, promising loyalty.
Now the black ledger suggested Vincent had helped conceal the true circumstances of Lorenzo's death.
Adrian sat alone in the library.
I found him staring at an old photograph.
His father stood between two young boys.
Matteo and Adrian.
Both smiling.
Both unaware of what their family would become.
"May I come in?" I asked.
Adrian nodded.
I placed a cup of coffee beside him.
He looked at it.
Then whispered, "I hated Matteo for leaving me."
I sat across from him.
"Because you thought he abandoned you?"
"Yes."
His voice broke.
"And I admired my father for holding the family together."
I said nothing.
Adrian continued.
"What if everything I believed about them was wrong?"
I thought about Dad.
A man I believed had abandoned me.
A man who'd apparently sacrificed his freedom to keep me alive.
"Then you start with what you know now."
Adrian looked up.
For several seconds, he studied me.
Then nodded.
"You're right."
The investigation into Lorenzo's death reopened.
Medical records were reviewed.
Former employees were interviewed.
Financial transfers from the weeks preceding his death were examined.
The investigators found that Lorenzo had arranged a private meeting with an attorney shortly before he collapsed.
He'd also requested the original port trust documents.
The attorney confirmed that Lorenzo intended to discuss self-reporting the fraud and returning disputed assets.
But the meeting never occurred.
Instead, Vincent took control of the financial records.
And Lorenzo died three days later.
Then a former household nurse provided a statement.
She remembered Vincent entering Lorenzo's office shortly before his collapse.
She also remembered a disagreement about medication.
The evidence didn't yet establish exactly what happened.
But it raised enough concerns for a formal review.
Adrian listened without interrupting.
For once, he didn't demand a quick answer.
Then Gabriel entered.
"Boss, investigators located Trevor Hall."
My heart tightened.
The translator who had deliberately mistranslated Lucien's threats.
"Where?" Adrian asked.
"At a hotel outside Newark."
"Is he cooperating?"
Gabriel hesitated.
"He says Vincent threatened his younger sister."
I felt sick.
Another family.
Another threat.
Another person forced to choose between the truth and someone they loved.
Then Gabriel opened a recording Trevor had provided.
Vincent's voice filled the room.
You will translate exactly what I tell you.
Trevor answered:
And if Adrian realizes?
Vincent laughed.
He'll be too busy fighting the French to notice I've already taken his company.
Adrian closed his eyes.
But the recording continued.
Trevor asked:
What about Mara Vale?
Vincent replied:
She's the last loose end.
My stomach dropped.
Then came the sentence that changed everything.
Once Mara signs the inheritance waiver, the Marchand trust becomes mine.
I stared at Adrian.
"An inheritance waiver?"
Gabriel nodded grimly.
May you like
Someone had prepared a document that would transfer whatever rights I'd inherited from my grandfather.
And the forged paperwork was already waiting in Vincent's office.
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