Chapter 4 - My Sister's Name
I stared at my sister's name on the laptop screen.
Elias didn't touch the keyboard.
"Play it," I said.
The video opened.
Sofia appeared again.
"This is the part you're going to hate."
I already did.
"When I discovered I was pregnant with Dominic's daughter, I panicked. I wanted to disappear before you learned the truth. I believed telling you would destroy you."
She paused.
"Gianna found out first."
I felt something inside me go cold.
Sofia continued.
"She didn't threaten me. She begged me to leave."
That was different.
Not an order.
Not violence.
"She said your father had already damaged enough people. She said if the truth came out, you would spend your life protecting a child who was your sister and hating yourself for ever loving me."
I closed my eyes briefly.
I could imagine Gianna saying it.
Sofia's voice trembled.
"Gianna gave me money. Papers. A car. She arranged everything."
Then Sofia leaned closer.
"But someone learned what she was doing."
Anthony.
I knew before she said it.
"Anthony Marino discovered the plan."
Sofia explained that Anthony had been negotiating quietly with my father.
Control of shipping routes.
Joint construction projects.
Future consolidation.
A secret daughter could alter Dominic's estate.
Anthony sent men to stop Sofia from leaving.
But one of Gianna's people intervened.
There was a chase.
Sofia's car crashed near Montauk.
She survived.
Anthony's people believed she had gone into the ocean.
Gianna got her out.
Then made a decision.
She told everyone Sofia was dead.
Including me.
"Your sister saved me," Sofia said. "But she also decided you could never know."
I stared at the screen.
That distinction should have mattered.
In the moment, it didn't.
Gianna had watched me mourn.
She had held me at Sofia's memorial.
She had told me to let go.
For ten years.
Sofia continued.
"Don't hate her until you understand why."
Too late.
I closed the laptop.
Elias said nothing.
"Where's Gianna?"
"At Oyster Bay with Elena."
"Send security."
"To protect her?"
"To make sure she doesn't leave."
Elias hesitated.
"Boss—"
"Do it."
I drove there myself.
Gianna was in the kitchen making coffee when I entered.
She saw my face.
Then she saw the flash drive in my hand.
She knew.
"You opened the box."
"Ten years."
"Luca."
"Ten years."
She set down the cup.
"Mara told you?"
"Sofia told me."
Gianna closed her eyes.
I wanted to shout.
Instead, my voice became quieter.
"Look at me."
She did.
"Did you help Sofia disappear?"
"Yes."
"Did you let me think she was dead?"
"Yes."
"Did you know she was carrying our father's child?"
"Yes."
My jaw tightened.
"You watched me stand at an empty grave."
"I know."
"You watched me become what I became afterward."
Tears filled her eyes.
"Don't blame that on me."
"Why not?"
"Because you were already becoming him."
That hit harder than I expected.
"Who?"
"Dad."
She moved closer.
"Controlling everything. Trusting nobody. Treating every feeling like a liability."
"I buried someone I loved."
"And if you'd known the truth then, what would you have done?"
"I would've protected them."
"Exactly."
She laughed through tears.
"You were twenty-three, Luca. Dad was alive. Anthony was circling the companies. Sofia had no idea who she could trust. You would've started a war."
"Maybe."
"You absolutely would have."
"And that gave you the right to lie?"
"No."
Her answer stopped me.
Gianna wiped her face.
"It gave me an excuse. Not the right."
For a long moment, neither of us spoke.
Then she handed me an envelope.
"Sofia sent this two weeks ago."
I opened it.
A New York address.
Queens.
Apartment 6C.
"She's there?"
"I don't know."
"When did you last speak?"
"Six months ago."
"Why didn't you tell me Elena existed?"
"Because Sofia made me promise."
"Everyone seems very comfortable making promises with my life."
Gianna looked toward the living room, where Mara held Elena.
"She was terrified."
"Of Vanessa?"
"Of Anthony."
"Vanessa knew enough to follow Mara."
"Then you need to find out how much."
I turned toward the door.
Gianna called my name.
"Luca."
I stopped.
"There's something else."
I looked back.
"Eva contacted Vanessa before she died."
Every muscle in my body went still.
"What?"
"Eva wanted recognition. She wanted her inheritance."
"Why Vanessa?"
"Because Vanessa had begun handling Marino legal affairs."
"Did they meet?"
"I don't know."
I called Elias immediately.
"Find every contact between Eva Moretti and Vanessa Marino."
"On it."
"And pull Eva's accident report."
"Already requested."
Gianna whispered, "You think it wasn't an accident."
"I don't think anything yet."
But I did.
Eva had reached out to Vanessa.
Nine months later, she was dead.
Now Vanessa was having Mara followed.
And in forty-eight hours, I was supposed to marry her.
I returned to the estate before noon.
Wedding preparations had accelerated.
Florists covered the staircase in white roses.
Staff assembled gifts for guests.
Vanessa stood in the ballroom arguing with the planner.
She smiled when she saw me.
"Where were you?"
"Bank."
"For what?"
"Business."
She studied my expression.
"You're doing it again."
"Doing what?"
"Shutting me out."
I walked closer.
"Did you know a woman named Eva Moretti?"
The color drained from her face.
Barely.
But I saw it.
She recovered quickly.
"No."
"Think carefully."
"I don't know anyone by that name."
"You handle legal matters for your father."
"I handle some."
"Did someone ever contact you claiming to be Dominic Moretti's daughter?"
Vanessa's eyes hardened.
"Where is this coming from?"
"Answer."
"Not here."
She took my arm and led me into the library.
Once the door closed, she turned.
"Who told you about Eva?"
There it was.
Not who is Eva?
Who told you.
"You lied."
"So did you."
"About what?"
"Don't insult me."
Her voice dropped.
"You're investigating my family two days before our wedding."
"I'm investigating a dead woman."
Vanessa flinched.
"Dead?"
Interesting.
"You didn't know?"
She looked away.
"How did she die?"
"Car accident."
Vanessa sat down.
For the first time, her fear appeared genuine.
"Oh God."
"You met her."
She nodded slowly.
"Once."
"When?"
"Eleven months ago."
"Why?"
"She wanted money."
"Her inheritance."
"She called it that."
"Because legally, it probably was."
Vanessa looked at me.
"You think I had something to do with her death."
"I haven't decided."
"Then decide now."
"I don't work that way."
"You know me."
"I thought I did."
Vanessa stood.
"Eva came to me because she was afraid of my father."
"Why?"
"Because she had proof."
"What proof?"
Vanessa opened her mouth.
Then stopped.
I stepped closer.
"What did Eva have?"
Before she could answer, my phone rang.
Elias.
I answered.
"Talk."
"We got Eva's accident file."
"And?"
"Brake line was damaged."
Vanessa heard him.
Her face went white.
Elias continued.
"Police ruled it road debris."
"Do you believe that?"
"No."
"Anything else?"
"Yes."
Paper rustled on his end.
"Eva made one call twelve minutes before the crash."
"To who?"
"Vanessa Marino."
I looked at her.
She slowly backed away.
"Luca, listen to me."
I ended the call.
"What did she say?"
Vanessa shook her head.
"It wasn't what you think."
"Tell me."
"She was scared."
"Of your father?"
Vanessa's eyes filled.
"No."
"Then who?"
She whispered, "Your father."
"My father had been dead for years."
"I know."
"Then that makes no sense."
Vanessa looked toward the library door.
"Because Eva wasn't afraid of Dominic."
She turned back to me.
"She was afraid of what he left behind."
"What?"
"A ledger."
"What ledger?"
Vanessa took a slow breath.
"The one Anthony has spent ten years trying to find."
Before she could say more, the library door opened.
Anthony Marino stood there.
He held a pistol at his side.
May you like
And behind him was the wedding planner.
Crying.
