Chapter 8 - THE FATHER WHO DIED FOR THE WRONG REASON
Roman Moretti had spent fifteen years believing his father died of heart failure.
Now Elena was claiming Victor Bellini murdered him.
And planned to kill Roman too.
I watched Roman stare at the phone.
His expression didn't change.
That frightened me more than anger would have.
“Elena,” he said quietly, “what proof do you have?”
A pause.
Then her voice trembled.
“Father left a recording.”
Roman closed his eyes.
“Where?”
“In the Albany house.”
“Where exactly?”
She hesitated.
“Behind the portrait in the library.”
Then the call ended.
Roman stared at the screen.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Finally, he looked toward Detective Bennett.
“You have my permission to access the property and review the records.”
She nodded.
“We'll proceed through the legal process.”
Roman turned toward me.
“Nora, you should go somewhere safe.”
I stared at him.
“There it is.”
He frowned.
“What?”
“The man who decides what happens to everyone.”
His expression changed.
I continued.
“You don't get to tell me where to go.”
He lowered his eyes.
“You're right.”
I blinked.
That was new.
Roman took a breath.
“I'm asking you to consider staying somewhere secure while investigators handle this.”
I studied him.
The difference mattered.
Not because he had suddenly become harmless.
But because he'd finally begun recognizing that love and control were not the same thing.
I nodded.
“I'll consider it.”
That evening, the Albany property was searched under a warrant.
Investigators recovered financial records, identity documents, and a locked cabinet behind the library portrait.
Inside was a small recording device.
And a handwritten letter.
Roman's name appeared across the front.
The recording contained Vittorio Moretti's voice.
“I've made mistakes that my children should never have to pay for.”
Roman stopped breathing.
His father continued.
“Victor has been using the family accounts to finance criminal operations I never authorized.”
Then came the terrible confession.
“I helped build a system that gave men like Victor power. Now I intend to dismantle it.”
Roman covered his face.
The recording continued.
“If anything happens to me, my children must know I tried to change.”
I looked toward Roman.
Tears were streaming down his cheeks.
For years, he'd believed his father wanted him to rule through fear.
Now he was discovering that his father had tried to leave that world behind.
Then the recording reached its final sentence.
A sentence that made Roman go completely still.
“If Roman refuses to cooperate with Victor, the man will use Nora Bennett to control him.”
I stared at the speaker.
My name.
Spoken by a man who had died fifteen years earlier.
Impossible.
Then Detective Bennett checked the recording's date.
It had been created three years ago.
Roman looked up slowly.
May you like
His voice broke.
“My father was alive when Nora disappeared.”
