Chapter 6 - Isabella’s Last Recording
The recording was hidden in the old hospital chapel.
Behind a wooden statue of Saint Michael was a small steel compartment.
Inside were two cassette tapes.
A photograph.
And a sealed envelope with my name.
My hands shook when I opened it.
The letter contained only four words.
BELIEVE WHAT YOU HEAR.
Elena found an old recorder.
The tape clicked.
Static filled the chapel.
Then Isabella’s voice came through the speaker.
Weak.
Breathless.
But unmistakable.
“If you are hearing this, Matteo found me.”
Nobody moved.
Valentina looked like she might collapse.
The recording continued.
“Matteo Rossi is not Vittorio Rossi’s biological son.”
“My husband discovered this three days ago.”
“I discovered it two months ago.”
“I had the test repeated twice.”
I closed my eyes.
Isabella took a shaky breath on the recording.
“Vittorio knew.”
“He raised Matteo anyway.”
“He loved him anyway.”
“But Matteo found out by listening outside Vittorio’s study.”
“He became convinced everyone would abandon him.”
“That was when he changed.”
The tape clicked.
Then Isabella said my name.
“If anything happens to me, protect your son.”
My heart twisted.
“Matteo believes your child is the only thing standing between him and permanent control of the Rossi companies.”
I turned toward Valentina.
She could not look at me.
“He needs your signature.”
“He needs your death.”
“And if your son lives, the trust passes to him.”
I remembered the inheritance papers on my desk.
The papers Matteo had pushed for months.
The documents I had almost signed.
Isabella continued.
“Valentina is helping him.”
Valentina made a broken sound.
“No.”
But the tape kept playing.
“I do not know whether she understands what he intends to do.”
“But she gave him access to the maternity floor.”
“She changed the nurse schedule.”
“She gave him the master key.”
I stared at the woman I had slept beside for fifteen years.
She sank onto the pew.
“I didn’t know about the fire.”
I said nothing.
Isabella’s voice weakened.
“My sons are innocent.”
“Both of them.”
“If one survives, do not punish him for Matteo’s blood.”
That sentence stayed with me.
Because somewhere in my mansion, another innocent baby was sleeping.
Matteo’s newborn son.
The recording continued.
“Elena knows the escape route.”
“She has your baby.”
“She has my younger twin.”
“I told her to run.”
“Matteo thinks one child died.”
“He is wrong.”
Valentina looked up.
Elena closed her eyes.
I turned to her.
“You saved two babies.”
“Yes.”
“Nico and Isabella’s son.”
“Yes.”
“What was his name?”
“Marco.”
“Where is Marco now?”
Elena hesitated.
My stomach tightened.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“Six months ago, Matteo found the cottage where we were hiding.”
“He took me.”
“What about Marco?”
“He escaped.”
“And Nico?”
“I moved Nico into the chapel before Matteo arrived.”
“Where did Marco go?”
“I don’t know.”
I stared at her.
“He has been alone for six months?”
“He knows how to survive.”
“He also has something Matteo wants.”
“What?”
“The second half of Isabella’s evidence.”
The tape suddenly changed.
A man’s voice appeared in the background.
Matteo.
“Isabella?”
She whispered.
“Oh God.”
A door crashed open.
Matteo shouted.
“What did you do?”
The recording became chaotic.
Isabella screamed.
Then another voice.
Valentina.
“Matteo, stop.”
Valentina stood so quickly the pew scraped across the floor.
“That isn’t possible.”
I stared at her.
“That is your voice.”
She shook her head.
“I left before the fire.”
The tape continued.
Matteo was shouting.
“You should have kept your mouth shut.”
Then glass broke.
Isabella cried out.
The recording ended.
Silence filled the chapel.
I looked at Valentina.
“You were there.”
Her face had gone completely pale.
“I was there for part of it.”
“You watched him attack his wife?”
“No.”
“I heard them arguing.”
“I ran.”
“You ran.”
“Yes.”
“And left Isabella with him.”
Valentina began crying.
“I was afraid.”
“So was my son.”
She had no answer.
My phone vibrated.
A message from the mansion.
It contained a photograph.
Nico’s empty medical room.
Broken window.
Blood on the curtain.
May you like
And three words written across the wall.
SIGN THE PAPERS.
