Chapter 6 - Caroline’s Last Secret
Nora had buried that ring with her mother.
She was certain of it.
Which meant somebody had opened Caroline’s grave—or the ring in the photograph was a copy.
Dr. Ward knew the answer.
“Caroline gave me the original before she died.”
Nora stared at him.
“Why?”
“She knew someone was watching the cemetery.”
He produced a sealed box.
Inside lay Caroline’s ring.
The photograph was staged.
Nico examined it.
“Then whoever sent this wants Nora to believe they have access to her mother’s things.”
Luca enlarged the image.
A reflection appeared on the metal chair behind Marco.
Warehouse windows.
Numbers painted backward.
Pier 19.
Police and federal agents moved first.
Nico hated waiting.
Nora hated it more.
Marco was found alive.
So was the stolen microSD card.
Too easily.
“It’s a trap,” Nora said.
Nico agreed.
The card contained corrupted files.
The original had been switched.
Marco remembered only one detail about his captor.
Perfume.
Gardenias.
Nico closed his eyes.
His mother’s perfume.
But Isabella had been under surveillance at Bellandi House.
“She has someone working for her,” Viviana said.
Someone close.
Suspicion fractured the group.
Luca suspected Vittorio.
Vittorio suspected Luca.
Viviana trusted neither.
Nora watched them and suddenly understood how Isabella had survived so long.
She made everyone suspicious of everyone else.
“Nobody leaves,” Nora said.
They looked at her.
“We stop accusing each other and find the person who benefits.”
Nico almost smiled.
“What?”
“You're terrifying when you're pregnant.”
“I'm terrifying because I haven't eaten.”
He immediately ordered food.
That annoyed her even more because it was exactly the correct response.
While eating cold pasta at two in the morning, Nora examined the copied financial records.
A name appeared repeatedly.
Eleanor Price.
She knew it.
Her mother’s lawyer.
The woman who had administered Caroline’s estate.
Nora called.
Disconnected.
They drove to Eleanor’s office with agents.
Empty.
On the desk sat a folder addressed to Nora.
Inside was a DNA report.
Nora read it.
Then sat down.
Nico took the page.
The report established that Daniel Ellis was not Nora’s biological father.
“What?”
Nora’s voice broke.
Her entire identity seemed to be dissolving piece by piece.
The biological father field had been redacted.
But a handwritten note from Caroline remained.
I loved Daniel. He was your father in every way that mattered. But your blood belongs to the family that hunted us.
Nico looked at Vittorio.
“No.”
Vittorio shook his head.
“Not me.”
Dr. Ward suddenly sat down.
Everyone turned.
Nora stared at him.
“You know.”
He nodded.
“Who?”
Ward looked at her.
“Salvatore Bellandi.”
Silence.
Nora felt nauseated.
Salvatore had murdered Daniel—the man who raised her—without knowing Daniel was raising his daughter.
Or perhaps he had known.
Nico looked stunned.
“That makes Nora my cousin.”
“Second cousin by blood,” Ward said. “Salvatore was your grandfather’s brother.”
Nora covered her face.
“This family needs a diagram.”
Viviana laughed helplessly.
It broke the tension.
Then Ward explained the final truth.
Caroline had escaped Salvatore after a brief abusive relationship. Daniel protected her, married her, and raised Nora as his own.
Salvatore discovered the truth years later.
Daniel’s murder had been personal as well as strategic.
Nora cried silently.
Nico sat beside her but did not touch her until she reached for his hand.
Then he held it.
No promises.
No demands.
Just warmth.
She had missed that most.
At dawn, Eleanor Price called from an unknown number.
She was alive.
Hiding.
And she possessed the original Meridian ledger.
“I’ll give it only to Nora.”
“Where?” Nora asked.
Eleanor named an abandoned courthouse.
Nico refused.
Nora went anyway—with federal agents hidden nearby.
The courthouse seemed empty.
She entered.
A folder waited on the witness stand.
Nora approached.
A voice came from behind her.
“You look exactly like Caroline when she was angry.”
Nora turned.
Isabella Bellandi stood ten feet away.
No guards.
No weapon visible.
Just a small black book in her hand.
The ledger.
“You want this?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell Nico the truth.”
“What truth?”
Isabella smiled.
“That you already knew about the pregnancy before he disappeared.”
Nora stared at her.
“I didn't.”
“Not that truth.”
Isabella placed another document beside the ledger.
An ultrasound.
Nora’s ultrasound.
Dated seven months earlier.
May you like
On the back was Nico’s handwriting.
I KNOW.
