Chapter 6 - THE VISITOR FROM CHIARA'S PAST
Chiara took Mia into the guest room while Alessandro studied the drawing.
When she returned, she looked as though she had aged ten years.
“Her name was Elena,” Chiara explained. “She knew my husband, Marco. They worked together before he died.”
“How did he die?”
“A car accident. At least, that's what I was told.”
Alessandro went still.
Chiara explained that Marco had worked as a driver for a company connected to the Vieri family's legitimate shipping business. He had been involved in a serious incident on a night shift and was killed shortly afterward. The company paid for his funeral, and she had been advised not to ask questions.
She had accepted the explanation because she was pregnant and desperate to protect her unborn child.
“Did Marco ever mention my father?” Alessandro asked.
“Once. He told me that if anything happened to him, I should look after a small silver key he had hidden. He said it would help Mia someday.”
Chiara had kept the key for years, never knowing what it opened. She had sewn it into the lining of an old winter coat, which she had left in a storage unit after moving into the estate.
Nico retrieved the coat that afternoon.
The key was still there.
It matched a small lock on an old document box recovered from the storage unit. Inside lay photographs, handwritten notes, and a sealed envelope bearing the initials of Alessandro's father.
The letter described a plan to transfer control of the family's legitimate businesses into a trust that would protect employees and relatives from criminal interference.
But the final page was missing.
In its place was a brief note written by Marco.
If they force the wedding, the original beneficiary will lose everything.
Alessandro looked at Chiara.
“Who was the original beneficiary?”
Before she could answer, Nico opened a second envelope.
Inside was a birth certificate.
May you like
The name of the child listed beneath the mother's details was not Mia Rossi.
It was Mia Vieri.
