Chapter 11 - THE INHERITANCE HIDDEN IN MY MOTHER'S NAME
The DeLuca family fortune was worth more than Isabella could imagine.
Hotels.
Restaurants.
Commercial properties.
Shipping interests.
And a charitable trust established decades earlier.
But the original documents revealed something surprising.
Rosa DeLuca's family had contributed significant assets to the trust.
Those assets were supposed to benefit Lucia Romano's descendants as well.
Including Isabella.
Marco examined the recovered records with an independent attorney.
The lawyer explained that the documents could support substantial claims on Isabella's behalf.
But they would need to be authenticated.
Court proceedings would likely follow.
And the outcome wasn't guaranteed.
Isabella barely cared about the money.
She cared about the lies.
“My mother knew?” she asked.
Rosa nodded.
“She knew part of the truth.”
“Then why didn't she tell me?”
“Because she was trying to protect you.”
Isabella looked toward the window.
For years, she'd believed wealth belonged to other people.
People who were born lucky.
People who never worried about rent.
People who didn't have to choose between tuition and groceries.
Now she was discovering that the people who took her savings might have been hiding far more from her.
Then Marco's phone rang.
His investigator had located Marietta.
She was at the Romano family home.
Preparing to leave.
Police were already moving to question her.
Marco looked toward Isabella.
“You don't need to go.”
She nodded.
“I know.”
She took a breath.
“But I want to see the truth with my own eyes.”
Marco studied her.
Then said quietly:
“Then we'll make sure you're safe.”
Investigators recovered several boxes of financial documents from the house.
They also found a locked cabinet containing old trust agreements.
Some documents had been damaged.
Others were missing.
But enough remained to identify years of questionable transfers.
One account had been used to move money into Nico's trucking business.
Another paid for Marietta's luxury purchases.
And a third contained recurring payments to a private medical facility.
Isabella frowned.
“Why a medical facility?”
The investigator examined the records.
“That's what we're trying to determine.”
Rosa's expression changed.
“What facility?”
“Lakeview Rehabilitation Center.”
The elderly woman went pale.
Marco noticed.
“Mamma?”
Rosa gripped the chair.
“That was where Adriana was taken after the accident.”
Isabella stopped breathing.
“What?”
Rosa looked at her.
“Your mother didn't die at the scene.”
Isabella stared.
Her father had told her Adriana was killed instantly.
That there had been nothing anyone could do.
But now the documents suggested she had survived long enough to reach a medical facility.
The investigator opened another file.
A patient transfer record.
Name: Adriana Romano.
Status: Critical but conscious.
Isabella covered her mouth.
Then came another document.
A discharge authorization signed four days later.
Her hands began shaking.
“Discharged?”
Marco stared at the record.
The investigator looked equally stunned.
Then he read the destination.
A private long-term care facility in Wisconsin.
May you like
And beneath the transfer details was a note.
“Patient identity changed at family's request.”
