Chapter 14 - SOFIA’S SIGNATURE
The document was found inside Bellamy’s files.
Sofia’s signature appeared at the bottom.
Authorization for an internal investigation into Anthony’s offshore accounts.
Dated four days before Michael died.
Vincent stared at it.
Sofia sat in a hospital room with her shoulder bandaged.
“I signed it.”
Dominic looked at her.
“My father died because of this?”
“No.”
“But Anthony found out Michael was helping you.”
“Yes.”
Dominic’s face twisted.
“So if you hadn’t started digging—”
“Dominic,” Vincent warned.
“No.”
Dominic turned toward Sofia.
“My father is dead. My mother spent years waiting for a man who was buried twenty miles away. I deserve the truth.”
Sofia nodded.
“You do.”
She looked him directly in the eye.
“I asked Michael for help.”
Dominic swallowed.
“He knew the risk?”
“Yes.”
“And you let him do it?”
“He insisted.”
Dominic looked away.
Sofia’s eyes filled.
“The night before he died, I told him to stop.”
Dominic said nothing.
“He told me something I never forgot.”
“What?”
Sofia’s voice broke.
“He said, ‘If men like Anthony survive because everyone is scared to speak, then silence is just another kind of weapon.’”
Dominic closed his eyes.
Vincent watched the anger leave his cousin slowly.
Not forgiveness.
Not yet.
Just understanding.
A few hours later, Anthony died during surgery.
Bellamy survived.
He faced enough federal and state charges to spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Isabella agreed to testify.
Her brother was found alive in a safe house in New Jersey.
He had spent almost three years believing Isabella had abandoned him.
Another lie.
Another family torn apart by Anthony and Bellamy.
The real shock came when Grace’s identity was legally confirmed.
Elena Moretti.
Vincent’s sister.
They sat together in Sofia’s hospital room after everyone else left.
Vincent looked at Grace.
“So you cleaned my coffee cups for ten years.”
Grace smiled weakly.
“You leave coffee cups everywhere.”
“You could’ve told me.”
“And risk Anthony finding me?”
“You knew he was alive?”
“Not until Sofia came to me.”
Vincent shook his head.
“Everybody knew something except me.”
Sofia raised an eyebrow.
“You weren’t exactly famous for listening.”
Vincent looked at her.
For the first time in three years, something almost normal passed between them.
Then he became serious.
“Why didn’t you come back after you escaped?”
Sofia looked toward the window.
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Fourteen months ago.”
Vincent froze.
“I reached the south gate.”
Grace looked at her.
“You never told me that.”
“I saw Vincent through the window.”
Vincent waited.
“And?”
Sofia looked at him.
“You were with Isabella.”
His face tightened.
“You thought I had moved on.”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“I saw Rafael stop a car outside the gate. Two men were watching the house.”
She swallowed.
“I knew Anthony still had people around you.”
Vincent moved closer.
“You could’ve called.”
“I did.”
“When?”
“November 4th. 11:17 p.m.”
Vincent frowned.
His face slowly changed.
He remembered.
A blocked call.
No voice.
Just breathing.
He had hung up.
“That was you?”
Sofia nodded.
“I couldn’t speak.”
Vincent sat back.
Three years of anger suddenly seemed useless.
“So what happens now?”
Sofia looked at him.
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“On whether you’re asking as Vincent Moretti the husband…”
She paused.
“…or Vincent Moretti the man who still has one last secret to uncover.”
He frowned.
“What secret?”
Grace opened the door.
Emily stood behind her holding the cracked blue phone.
“It turned on again.”
Vincent stared.
Emily held it up.
One final scheduled message had appeared.
It was addressed to Sofia.
May you like
And the sender’s name was:
LORENZO MORETTI.
