Chapter 10 - THE THEATER OF LIES
Teatro Valenti had been abandoned for twenty-three years.
Its gold balconies were coated in dust.
Its velvet seats had faded from red to brown.
The stage curtain remained intact, though water stains darkened the fabric.
At midnight, black vehicles filled the streets outside.
Representatives of eleven families entered through separate doors.
Each arrived armed.
Each expected betrayal.
Vivian had promised them proof that Alessandro Moretti created the Circle of Thorns.
She had also promised access to the stolen accounts.
Greed succeeded where trust failed.
Clara stood backstage wearing a black dress borrowed from one of Don Ricci’s guards.
A small microphone had been taped beneath the collar.
The damaged blue rabbit rested in her hands.
Emma was not with her.
At least, that was what Clara believed.
Alessandro had sent Emma with Daniel and six Ricci guards to a medical safe house outside the city.
Father Matteo had been placed in a locked transport van.
Don Ricci remained beneath the theater with the account seals.
Everything depended on Vivian believing otherwise.
“You do not have to go on stage,” Alessandro said.
Clara looked through a tear in the curtain.
Vivian stood beneath the center spotlight.
Her crimson gown had been replaced by white.
The color made her appear innocent from a distance.
Vittorio Romano sat in the first row.
Marco stood beside him.
Cesare Bellandi occupied the opposite aisle with his injured shoulder bandaged.
The other families filled the seats behind them.
“You need her to speak,” Clara said.
“I need you alive.”
“You also need your name cleared.”
“My name can survive.”
“Emma cannot survive if Vivian keeps hunting her.”
Alessandro looked at the rabbit.
“We can leave Italy.”
“And spend the rest of her childhood looking behind us?”
Clara shook her head.
“No.”
“We finish it tonight.”
Vivian stepped toward the front of the stage.
“Welcome.”
Her voice traveled through the theater.
“You were told the Circle of Thorns died with our grandfathers.”
“That was a lie.”
The families listened.
“You were told your sons, daughters, brothers, and wives died in accidents.”
“That was also a lie.”
Murmurs spread through the seats.
Vivian lifted a photograph.
It showed Alessandro beside Daniel.
“The Moretti family controlled the Circle.”
Alessandro remained hidden in the wings.
Clara watched his face.
Vivian continued.
“Alessandro’s father ordered removals for decades.”
“When he became ill, his sons inherited the system.”
“Luca Moretti resisted.”
“So Alessandro had him eliminated.”
Angry voices rose.
Alessandro did not move.
Clara felt the depth of the accusation.
Vivian had chosen Alessandro’s most painful loss and turned it into proof against him.
“She is good at this,” Clara whispered.
“She has practiced lying since childhood.”
“Why did you ever intend to marry her?”
Alessandro looked toward the stage.
“To stop our families from killing each other.”
“You would have married someone you hated?”
“I did not always hate her.”
Clara looked at him.
“Did you love her?”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly to be polite.
Before Clara could respond, Vivian spoke again.
“Daniel Bennett kept Alessandro’s accounts.”
“He scheduled deaths.”
“He falsified reports.”
“When he threatened to reveal the truth, Alessandro tried to kill him.”
Vittorio stood.
“Where is Bennett now?”
Vivian smiled.
“His widow will answer.”
A spotlight moved toward the curtain.
Clara’s cue.
Alessandro touched her wrist.
“Remember the exit behind the left balcony.”
“I remember.”
“If anything changes—”
“Everything has already changed.”
She stepped onto the stage.
The theater fell silent.
Vivian watched her approach.
“You cleaned up well.”
Clara stopped six feet away.
“You should try it.”
A few men in the audience smiled despite themselves.
Vivian’s expression tightened.
“Tell them your name.”
“Clara Bennett.”
“Your husband?”
“Daniel Bennett.”
“What was his occupation?”
“He lied about that.”
Vivian smiled.
“He worked for Alessandro Moretti.”
Clara looked toward the audience.
“Daniel worked for the Circle.”
A murmur spread through the seats.
Vivian’s smile widened.
“Under whose orders?”
“Vittorio Romano’s.”
The theater erupted.
Vittorio rose.
“Liar!”
Clara continued.
“Daniel calculated financial transfers.”
“He believed the information was being used for succession planning.”
“When he discovered the Romanos were using it to choose murder targets, he copied the records.”
Vivian stepped closer.
“That is not the confession we discussed.”
“We never discussed one.”
Vivian lowered her voice.
“Where is Emma?”
“Safe.”
“Wrong.”
A screen descended above the stage.
Video appeared.
Emma sat inside a small room holding the rabbit’s missing paw.
Daniel lay unconscious behind her.
Two armed men stood near the door.
Clara’s blood froze.
Alessandro moved in the wings.
Marco aimed a weapon toward the curtain.
“Stay where you are, Moretti.”
Alessandro stopped.
Vivian smiled at Clara.
“You trusted six Ricci guards.”
Don Ricci appeared beneath the right balcony.
His face changed as he saw the screen.
Vivian laughed.
“Two belonged to me.”
Clara struggled to breathe.
“What did you do to Daniel?”
“Nothing permanent.”
“Not yet.”
Vivian walked around her.
“You will read the confession on the stand.”
“Then Emma will be released.”
Clara stared at the screen.
Emma looked frightened but uninjured.
A small red light blinked behind her.
A live camera.
“Bring the statement.”
Marco carried a folder onto the stage.
He placed it on a wooden stand.
Clara opened it.
The document blamed Alessandro for thirty-one deaths.
It described Daniel as his accountant.
It claimed Clara had hidden evidence in Emma’s rabbit.
At the bottom was a place for her signature.
“You want the families to kill him,” Clara said.
“I want them to tear apart everything he owns.”
Vivian leaned closer.
“Then I will buy it from the banks for pennies.”
Clara looked toward Vittorio.
Vivian’s father showed no surprise.
He was part of the plan.
“You will steal the Circle accounts too.”
Vittorio smiled.
“Those accounts belong to the Romanos.”
Vivian turned toward her father.
“For now.”
The smile disappeared from Vittorio’s face.
He understood too late.
Vivian did not intend to share.
Clara looked at the screen again.
Emma hugged the rabbit’s paw.
Her lips moved.
She was humming.
The seven-note cipher.
Clara understood.
Emma knew the camera was listening.
She was sending the sequence to someone.
Daniel’s fingers moved behind her.
He was conscious.
He tapped the floor in rhythm.
Don Ricci touched his earpiece.
He had received it.
Vivian pointed toward the confession.
“Read.”
Clara placed both hands on the stand.
“My name is Clara Bennett.”
The families leaned forward.
“My husband worked for the Circle of Thorns.”
Vivian smiled.
“He calculated the value of human lives.”
Alessandro’s face remained unreadable.
Clara continued.
“He made terrible choices.”
“He lied to his wife.”
“He abandoned his child to protect her.”
Vivian’s smile faded.
“And when he tried to expose the truth, Vivian Romano ordered Marco Serra to kill him.”
The stage lights went out.
The screen changed.
Instead of Emma, Daniel Bennett appeared in a recorded interview.
His voice filled the theater.
“Vivian Romano personally authorized eleven removals.”
Documents appeared beside him.
Bank records.
Audio files.
Photographs.
Marco turned toward Vivian.
“You said the system was disconnected.”
She slapped him.
“Fix it!”
The families erupted.
Vittorio drew a pistol.
Alessandro stepped from the wings.
Gunmen appeared in every balcony.
Vivian seized Clara and pressed a blade against her throat.
“You ruined everything.”
Clara looked at the screen.
Emma’s room was now empty.
Then a small voice came through Clara’s hidden earpiece.
“Mommy?”
Clara’s knees nearly gave way.
Emma was safe.
Before she could answer, the theater floor exploded beneath the stage.
May you like
The wooden boards collapsed.
Clara and Vivian fell together into the darkness below.
