Chapter 4 - THE BROTHER WHO BURIED THE TRUTH
Dante Moretti had faced armed enemies without blinking.
But the moment he saw his brother's name inside Sophia's notebook, something inside him went dangerously still.
"Adrian," he whispered.
Elena stepped closer.
"Your brother?"
Dante nodded.
"He handled my mother's recovery after the warehouse fire. He also supervised the investigation into Sophia's disappearance."
"And he told you she died?"
"He showed me a death certificate."
Elena stared at him.
"Then either he was fooled, or he knew."
Dante closed the notebook.
"That's what we're going to find out."
At seven the next morning, Adrian Moretti arrived at his private medical office expecting an ordinary Wednesday.
Instead, he found Dante sitting behind his desk.
Elena stood near the window.
Adrian stopped.
"What is this?"
Dante placed Sophia's photograph on the desk.
"Tell me why a dead woman was receiving medical treatment in your hospital."
Adrian looked at the photograph.
His expression barely changed.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Dante laid the visitor schedule beside it.
"You signed her transfer authorization."
A long silence followed.
Then Adrian closed the office door.
"You're making a mistake."
"Then correct me."
Adrian turned toward Elena.
"You look like her."
Elena felt a chill.
"You knew my mother?"
"Yes."
"Did you know she was alive?"
He looked away.
That was enough.
"You let me believe she abandoned me," Elena whispered.
Adrian rubbed his forehead.
"Your mother wasn't safe. Neither were you."
"Then why didn't anyone tell me?"
"Because children talk. And some secrets were too dangerous to survive being spoken."
Dante stood.
"Who were you protecting?"
Adrian's voice hardened.
"Your mother, Dante."
The words stopped him.
Adrian opened a locked cabinet and removed an old medical file.
"After the warehouse fire, someone tried to kill Sophia. She survived, but the attack left her with a serious brain injury. She developed periods of confusion and memory loss."
Elena struggled to breathe.
"Then why keep her from me?"
"Because the person responsible threatened you. Every time Sophia began remembering what happened, that person moved her somewhere else."
Dante stepped forward.
"And you allowed it?"
"I was trying to keep both of them alive!"
Adrian slammed the file onto the desk.
For a moment, the two brothers stared at each other like strangers.
Then Adrian lowered his voice.
"I've been collecting evidence for twelve years. I was finally close enough to expose the entire operation."
"What operation?" Elena asked.
Adrian opened the file.
Inside was an old photograph from the warehouse.
Sophia stood beside Dante's mother and a third woman.
Caroline Whitmore.
Only Caroline hadn't been introduced as Sophia's sister that night.
She had been identified as a senior financial officer for the Belandi family.
Adrian pointed to a signature beneath the photograph.
"Your aunt was managing the money that disappeared."
Dante examined the document.
Then he noticed something Adrian hadn't explained.
At the bottom was the authorization for Sophia's original medical transfer.
It bore Adrian's signature.
And another signature.
Dante's own.
Dante stared at it.
"I never signed this."
Adrian went pale.
"Then someone inside our family forged your name."
Elena turned the page.
The money transferred after Sophia's disappearance had gone into a private trust.
A trust created for one beneficiary.
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Elena Sophia Marlo.
Its current estimated value was $286 million.
