Chapter 12 - THE ORIGINAL WAS A COPY
The apartment became a crime scene.
Luca survived.
The bullet had passed through his side.
At the hospital, I sat beside his bed.
He looked pale.
Still irritatingly composed.
“You ripped up a billion-dollar trust document.”
“I panicked.”
“You smiled while doing it.”
“I panicked creatively.”
He laughed.
Then winced.
I looked at him.
“Was it really the original?”
“No.”
I stared.
“What?”
“My father never stored originals in paper.”
My mouth dropped open.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“So I destroyed a copy?”
“Yes.”
I hit his arm.
He winced again.
“You deserved that.”
“Probably.”
“Where’s the real one?”
He looked toward my mother.
She stood near the window.
She smiled faintly.
“In the music box.”
I frowned.
“We opened it.”
“The document wasn’t the secret.”
She picked up the broken ballerina figure.
Inside was a tiny memory card.
I stared.
“Sofia recorded everything.”
Luca’s face changed.
My mother inserted the card into a secure laptop.
A video appeared.
Sofia.
Alive.
Young.
Terrified.
My throat closed.
She looked directly into the camera.
“If you’re seeing this, Antonio found me.”
Luca’s hands tightened.
Sofia continued.
“Matteo has been laundering company money through shell corporations.”
Luca looked stunned.
“And Antonio knows.”
She held up documents.
“The trust was changed because Matteo threatened him.”
My mother whispered, “There.”
Sofia continued.
“Luca is not part of this.”
His eyes closed.
“He tried to protect me.”
Then she said the words that changed everything.
“My baby is alive.”
I stopped breathing.
“I gave him to someone I trust.”
Luca sat upright despite the pain.
Sofia looked into the camera.
“His name is Daniel.”
My mother gasped.
I looked at her.
“What?”
May you like
She covered her mouth.
“Daniel was Derek’s birth name.”
