Chapter 10 - The Letter From Her Mother
The letter had been hidden inside Sofia’s personal safe for nine years.
Alessia nearly walked out when she learned that.
“You had a letter from my mother for nine years?”
Sofia stood beside the safe, suddenly looking older than seventy.
“She asked me to give it to you if anything happened to her company shares.”
“Something did happen.”
“Yes.”
“And you kept it.”
“I was afraid of what it would do.”
Alessia laughed bitterly. “To whom?”
Sofia did not answer.
Valerio did.
“To the family.”
Sofia flinched.
Alessia opened the envelope with shaking hands.
Her mother’s handwriting filled three pages.
She wrote about pressure from Cesare to merge Bellini Maritime with Rinaldi-controlled shipping companies. She described fake consulting fees, shell vendors, and threats disguised as business advice.
Then came the final paragraph.
If I am gone and Cesare still has access to the Rinaldi accounts, do not let Alessia sign away her voting rights. He will not stop at business. He believes ownership is inherited by men and borrowed by women.
Alessia read it twice.
Valerio stared at the floor.
Sofia whispered, “I thought Cesare changed after your father died.”
“No,” Alessia said. “You hoped silence would change him.”
A knock sounded at the door.
Marco entered.
“We found Heller.”
Nathan stepped forward.
“Where?”
“Abandoned clinic near the river. Alive. Beaten, dehydrated.”
Alessia closed her eyes briefly.
“Veronica?”
“Gone.”
Marco looked at Valerio.
“But Heller talked.”
They reached the clinic thirty minutes later.
Heller lay on a hospital cot with a bandage over one eyebrow.
“I signed the competency letter,” he admitted.
Valerio’s expression darkened.
Heller lifted a trembling hand.
“Not willingly. They had photographs of my daughter. Her school. Her apartment.”
“Who?” Alessia asked.
“Veronica brought the papers. Cesare gave the instructions.”
Nathan asked, “What about the medication?”
Heller looked ashamed.
“I approved a harmless supplement. Someone substituted the capsules after delivery.”
Alessia’s throat tightened.
“How long?”
“Maybe five months.”
Valerio turned away.
Heller grabbed Alessia’s wrist.
“There’s more.”
She looked down at him.
“The medication wasn’t meant to permanently damage you.”
“Then what was it meant to do?”
“To make your decline look believable before the vote.”
May you like
He swallowed.
“And the chair at the wedding was supposed to be the final proof.”
