Chương 13 - Twenty-Four Hours
Evelyn gave them a list.
Original records.
Witness statements.
Proof of Alina’s relationship to Sofia.
A safe location for Leo.
No public accusations.
No contact with Carlo.
Alina wrote everything down.
Then she asked, “What can I do?”
“Find the missing link between those foundation payments and the guardianship.”
She spread the old statements across Rosa’s kitchen table.
Dates appeared in pairs.
A payment.
A change of address.
Another payment.
A new school.
Sofia’s life had been managed like an account.
Alina built a timeline.
At ten that night, she found a payment issued three days before Sofia met Dante.
“Rosa.”
The older woman came over.
“How did they meet?”
“At a foundation dinner.
She worked for the event planner.”
“Who hired the planner?”
Rosa didn’t know.
Dante did.
“Carlo recommended the company.”
Alina turned the statement toward him.
“They put her in your path.”
Dante read it.
The muscles in his face tightened.
“Why?”
“She was asking questions.
They needed her close enough to watch.
And attached to someone she would be afraid to hurt.”
“They used me.”
“You helped them without knowing.”
He nodded.
The distinction didn’t spare him.
Meanwhile, Nico found the bank account that had received the final payments.
It belonged to a consulting company linked to Vittorio.
Evelyn brought in an accountant who could explain the records without guessing.
At two in the morning, Alina finally sat beside Leo’s crib.
He slept with one hand open against the sheet.
She studied his face.
Sofia’s son.
Her nephew.
A child who had already lost the person who loved him most.
“You’re not a bank account,” she whispered.
“You’re not anybody’s leverage.”
Downstairs, Dante signed a sworn statement admitting what he had known, what he had ignored, and which records were genuine.
Nico left to deliver the originals.
Twenty minutes later, his phone went straight to voicemail.
Then Alina received a photograph.
May you like
Nico’s car stood beside the road.
Its driver’s door was open.
