Chapter 4 - The Wife Who Came Back
Matteo didn't move.
The woman did.
She walked slowly down the corridor.
She was thirty-nine now.
Older than the woman in Matteo's photographs.
Thinner.
Her dark hair contained a few strands of silver.
But the crescent-shaped birthmark remained visible near the back of her neck.
Julian whispered, "Jesus."
Matteo said nothing.
Elena stopped several feet away.
"Hello, Matteo."
His face broke.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
Nine years of grief appeared in one second.
"You died."
Elena's eyes filled.
"No."
"You died."
"They told you I did."
"Who?"
She looked toward Julian.
Then Marianne.
Then Clara.
Finally back to Matteo.
"Your father."
Matteo gripped the bedrail.
"Why?"
"Because I knew what he'd done."
"To me?"
"To both of us."
Elena explained slowly.
Nine years earlier, after Matteo's surgery, she discovered Vittorio had secretly obtained copies of Matteo's medical records.
He planned to use them to convince the board that Matteo could never safely lead Bellandi International.
Elena threatened to expose him.
Vittorio retaliated.
Her car accident had been real.
But she survived.
While unconscious, she was transferred to a private clinic under another name.
When she woke, she was told Matteo had signed divorce papers and wanted no contact.
"I didn't believe them," she said.
"Then why didn't you come home?"
"I tried."
She opened her handbag and removed a stack of photocopies.
Letters.
Dozens.
All addressed to Matteo.
All returned.
Matteo touched one.
"I never saw these."
"I know now."
"Why stay gone for nine years?"
"Because Vittorio showed me documents proving that if I returned, he'd expose your condition and remove you from the company."
Matteo stared at her.
"So you sacrificed nine years?"
"No."
Her voice hardened.
"I was afraid."
The honesty silenced him.
"I told myself I was protecting you. Eventually I realized fear had become an excuse."
Clara watched Matteo absorb that.
Elena continued.
"Six months ago I discovered Vittorio was preparing to use your condition again."
"The acquisition."
She nodded.
"Novagen developed a treatment that could significantly reduce your risk."
Matteo looked stunned.
"Why wasn't I told?"
"Because the trial data was buried."
"By whom?"
"Someone connected to your father."
Julian cursed.
Elena looked at Clara.
"And then last night, someone triggered an episode."
"You know about that?"
"I've been watching him."
Matteo's expression hardened.
"Watching me?"
"I needed evidence before approaching you."
"Nine years, Elena."
"I know."
"You let me bury you."
Tears rolled down her face.
"I know."
He turned away.
Clara quietly left.
Some conversations didn't need witnesses.
Outside, Julian followed.
"That went well."
"Did you expect champagne?"
"No."
He rubbed his face.
"I watched him destroy himself after she died."
Clara looked through the glass.
"Then don't expect him to understand her survival immediately."
Marianne approached.
"We have another problem."
"When don't we?"
"The board scheduled an emergency vote tomorrow morning."
"Vittorio?"
"He's seeking temporary control."
Julian swore.
"Can Matteo stop it?"
"If he appears."
Clara looked toward the room.
"He can't."
Marianne nodded.
"That's exactly what Vittorio is counting on."
Matteo overheard.
"I'll appear."
Dr. Reeves refused.
Matteo negotiated.
Eventually they compromised.
Video appearance from the hospital.
The following morning, Bellandi International's board assembled.
Vittorio appeared from Milan.
Matteo appeared from his hospital room.
Clara intended to leave.
Matteo asked her to stay.
"Why?"
"Because you remind me when I'm being an idiot."
"That's an unusual corporate position."
"I'll create it."
She rolled her eyes.
The meeting began.
Vittorio spoke first.
"My son's courage is not in question. His judgment is."
Matteo remained expressionless.
Vittorio continued.
"He concealed a serious medical condition from this board."
Matteo responded.
"My physicians have never determined that my condition prevents me from fulfilling my responsibilities."
"You collapsed during a transaction."
"After an external substance appears to have triggered an episode."
That shook the board.
Vittorio paused.
"What are you implying?"
"Nothing."
Matteo leaned toward the camera.
"Yet."
The vote shifted.
Then Matteo presented evidence of Novagen's hidden research.
Board members became visibly unsettled.
"Someone interfered with information material to a Bellandi acquisition," Matteo said.
"Until we know who, removing the CEO investigating that interference would be reckless."
The vote was postponed.
Vittorio lost.
For now.
Afterward, Matteo leaned back.
Clara smiled.
"You enjoy winning."
"I enjoy my father losing."
"That's less healthy."
"Probably."
Elena had remained outside during the meeting.
When she returned, Matteo's expression cooled.
Their reunion remained unresolved.
But she brought something important.
A flash drive.
"What's on it?" Julian asked.
"Copies of Vittorio's communications with a Novagen executive."
"Which executive?"
"Chief scientific officer."
Marianne inserted the drive into an isolated computer.
Emails appeared.
Payments.
Instructions.
References to "MB risk profile."
Then one email stopped everyone.
ENSURE FRIDAY EXPOSURE PRODUCES A VISIBLE EVENT. NONLETHAL. WE NEED THE BOARD TO SEE HIM FAIL.
Clara felt sick.
Friday.
The restaurant.
Matteo's collapse.
"Your father ordered it," Julian said.
Elena shook her head.
"Read the sender."
They did.
The address wasn't Vittorio's.
It belonged to someone inside Bellandi International.
Marianne.
No one spoke.
Marianne stared at the screen.
"That's impossible."
Julian stepped away from her.
"Is it?"
"I didn't send that."
"It's your account."
"It was spoofed."
"Convenient."
Matteo watched her.
"Marianne."
She looked devastated.
"I have worked for you twelve years."
"Answer the question."
"I did not send it."
Security was called.
Marianne surrendered her phone and laptop voluntarily.
Before leaving, she looked at Clara.
"Don't trust the obvious answer."
Clara remembered the restaurant.
The disabled cameras.
Tyler disappearing.
The convenient leak.
Nothing had been obvious.
That afternoon, Clara finally went home.
Her apartment felt strangely silent after forty-eight hours of Bellandi chaos.
She showered.
Changed.
Made coffee.
Then noticed something beneath her door.
An envelope.
She froze.
No stamp.
No name.
Inside was a photograph.
Her father.
Taken fifteen years earlier.
He was standing beside a much younger Vittorio Bellandi.
Clara's hands began trembling.
She turned the photograph over.
One sentence had been written on the back.
ASK MATTEO WHAT HIS FATHER DID TO YOURS.
Her coffee cup slipped from her hand.
Then someone knocked.
Three slow knocks.
Clara approached the door.
"Who is it?"
No answer.
She looked through the peephole.
The hallway appeared empty.
Her phone rang.
Matteo.
"Clara, don't open your door."
Her hand stopped inches from the lock.
"How do you know?"
"Security found Tyler."
"Where?"
Matteo paused.
"In your building."
May you like
A shadow passed beneath Clara's door.
Then the doorknob began to turn.
