Chapter 4 - My Father's Last SecretThe next morning, Victor arrived at Ravenwood.
He was calm.
As always.
“What's wrong?”
I poured two glasses of whiskey.
“You tell me.”
He smiled.
“Wedding stress?”
“Vivien.”
His expression didn't change.
“What about her?”
“She used to be Evelyn Vale.”
Silence.
Only for a second.
But I noticed.
“You knew.”
Victor sighed.
“She came to me.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“Why?”
“She needed help.”
“What kind?”
“Protection.”
I laughed.
“From whom?”
Victor didn't answer.
“Victor.”
He looked at me.
“Your father.”
I stared.
“What?”
“Your father wasn't the man you thought.”
“I know.”
“He had enemies.”
“Everyone knows that.”
“Not these enemies.”
Victor leaned forward.
“There was a group inside the family.”
“A group?”
“People who believed the Moretti and Duca empires should never have been separated.”
My stomach tightened.
“My father refused.”
“So they turned against him.”
“Who?”
Victor looked toward the window.
“Your mother.”
I froze.
“My mother?”
“She discovered what they were doing.”
“And?”
“They killed her.”
My hands tightened.
“My mother died of cancer.”
Victor looked at me.
“That is what the family was told.”
I stared at him.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
He stood.
“I expect you to investigate.”
Then he left.
That afternoon, Mara found another document.
My mother's death certificate had been altered.
The original listed the cause of death as trauma.
Not cancer.
She had been murdered.
Three days before her death, she had transferred ownership of a private storage facility to a company connected to Evelyn Vale.
Vivien.
I confronted her that evening.
She didn't deny it.
“You killed my mother?”
“No.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
She cried.
“I loved your mother.”
“Then why did you lie?”
“Because she asked me to.”
“Why?”
“Because she knew what was coming.”
I stared at her.
“She gave me the blue box.”
“Where is it?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
Vivien looked at me.
“You opened it.”
“Yes.”
“Then you know.”
“I know enough.”
She stepped closer.
“Lorenzo, listen to me.”
“No.”
She grabbed my hand.
“Your wedding is not the danger.”
“What is?”
“Your wedding is the trigger.”
My blood ran cold.
“For what?”
“To activate the network your father spent years hiding.”
I stepped back.
“What network?”
“The people who still control the city.”
“And Victor?”
“He is one of them.”
“Who else?”
She whispered:
“Your wedding planner.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“He isn't a planner.”
“Then who is he?”
Vivien looked terrified.
“He's the man who ordered your mother's death.”
Before I could ask anything else, the lights went out.
May you like
A gunshot cracked through the house.
Vivien fell.
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