Chapter 4 - The Brother Who Never Forgave
Dominic Vale lifted both hands.
“Before anyone does something stupid, I’m unarmed.”
Marcus kept his gun trained on him.
Julian stared.
Dominic was sixty-two, broad-shouldered, gray-haired, and still carried the physical presence of the man who had once served as Antonio Vale’s closest lieutenant.
He was also the uncle who had helped raise Julian and Owen.
“You stole the letter,” Julian said.
Dominic looked at the paper fragment.
“Yes.”
“Give it back.”
“No.”
Julian stepped closer.
“Wrong answer.”
Dominic did not move.
“You haven’t changed as much as you think.”
“Neither have you.”
“No.”
Dominic looked toward Isabella.
“That’s why she never told you.”
Julian’s gaze moved between them.
“Told me what?”
Isabella closed her eyes.
Dominic sighed.
“Owen wasn’t investigating Richard Cross alone.”
Julian waited.
“He was working with me.”
Marcus lowered the gun slightly.
“On what?”
“Money laundering. Port theft. Bribed customs officers.”
Julian stared.
“Inside our companies?”
“Yes.”
“And you hid that from me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because one of the signatures authorizing the transfers was yours.”
Julian felt the words like a punch.
“That’s impossible.”
“I know.”
“You just said—”
“I said the signatures were yours. I didn’t say you signed them.”
Forgery.
Julian understood.
“Who?”
Dominic looked at Evelyn.
“Her father started it.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“My father never—”
“Richard Cross forged Julian’s approval on nineteen transfers.”
Dominic’s voice was flat.
“Owen discovered it. He came to me. We traced the money.”
“To where?”
“Vale subsidiaries.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It does when someone inside the family is helping.”
Julian stared at him.
“Who?”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“I didn’t know.”
“Did Owen?”
“He thought he did.”
“Who?”
Dominic looked at Isabella.
She whispered, “Dominic.”
Julian’s anger sharpened.
“Enough secrets.”
Dominic nodded.
“Owen believed your father had arranged the entire operation before he died.”
Antonio.
Julian almost laughed.
“Our father was dead two years before Owen’s accident.”
“Yes.”
“Then how?”
“Because someone continued the system after Antonio died.”
Julian looked at his mother.
She stared at the floor.
“You knew.”
“I knew Antonio had secret accounts.”
“Did you know about Cross?”
“No.”
Dominic spoke.
“Owen discovered Richard had inherited part of Antonio’s network.”
Julian looked toward Evelyn.
“And she?”
Dominic’s expression changed.
“Evelyn was Owen’s informant.”
Julian froze.
Evelyn’s eyes filled with tears.
“That’s enough.”
“No,” Dominic said. “It isn’t.”
Julian faced her.
“You were helping him?”
She nodded once.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because after Owen died, my father threatened my mother.”
Julian stared.
Evelyn continued.
“He told me if I ever talked about Owen, he would destroy everyone I cared about.”
“So you dated me?”
“At first, to get close.”
Maria looked at her with disgust.
Evelyn flinched.
Julian’s expression did not change.
“At first?”
“I fell in love with you.”
“No.”
“I did.”
“You tied Maria inside a tank.”
Evelyn broke.
“I was trying to find the letter before my father did!”
“You drowned her.”
“She wouldn’t tell me where it was!”
Maria stared.
Evelyn covered her face.
“I lost control.”
Julian looked away.
There it was.
Not innocence.
Not misunderstanding.
Even if Evelyn had been afraid of her father, she had chosen cruelty.
She had taken Maria’s life in her hands.
Julian could not excuse that.
Dominic reached inside his coat.
Marcus raised the gun again.
“Slow.”
Dominic removed an envelope.
He handed it to Julian.
Owen’s handwriting covered the front.
JULES.
Julian’s fingers tightened.
The letter was addressed to him.
Not Richard.
Not Evelyn.
Him.
He opened it.
Jules,
If you ever read this, then I failed to tell you myself.
I made the mistake that started all of this.
Julian continued.
Years ago, Owen had discovered irregularities in several accounts.
Instead of going to Julian, he had confronted Richard Cross.
Richard convinced him the scheme belonged to Antonio Vale and that exposing it would destroy their mother.
Owen agreed to remain silent temporarily.
Then money disappeared again.
Millions.
Owen realized Richard had manipulated him.
By then, Owen’s own signature appeared on documents.
He had been framed.
Julian read faster.
The final paragraph made him stop.
Richard knows Evelyn has been helping me. If something happens to me, protect her. She thinks her father still loves her. She is wrong.
Julian looked at Evelyn.
She was crying silently.
“You knew he wrote this?”
“I knew there was a letter.”
“You thought it protected you.”
“I thought it explained everything.”
“It doesn’t explain Maria.”
Her face collapsed.
“I know.”
Julian handed the letter to Marcus.
“Continue reading.”
Marcus did.
Then frowned.
“There’s another page missing.”
Dominic nodded.
“I took it.”
“Why?”
“Because Owen named the person who helped Richard.”
Julian stared at him.
“Who?”
Dominic’s eyes moved toward Isabella.
Isabella’s face changed.
Julian saw fear.
“Mother?”
She shook her head.
“Don’t.”
Dominic pulled a folded page from his pocket.
Julian took it.
He read one sentence.
Then another.
His hands went cold.
Owen had written:
Richard could never have moved Vale money without someone inside our home.
I finally know who gave him access.
Julian lowered the page.
The name beneath it had been blacked out.
“What did you do?”
Dominic said nothing.
“You destroyed the name?”
“I protected the family.”
Julian’s voice rose.
“From whom?”
Dominic looked toward Isabella.
“She already knows.”
Julian turned to his mother.
Tears had appeared in her eyes.
“Tell me.”
She whispered, “Your father had another son.”
Julian stared at her.
No one moved.
“What?”
“Before we married.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
Isabella continued.
“A boy. His mother died young. Antonio brought him into the business but never into the family.”
Julian’s heart pounded.
“What was his name?”
“Gabriel.”
“Where is he?”
Isabella looked terrified.
“We thought he was dead.”
A phone rang.
Not Julian’s.
Not Marcus’s.
Dominic slowly reached into his coat.
He looked at the screen.
The caller ID contained no name.
Only a photograph.
Owen.
Dominic answered.
A man’s voice came through the speaker.
May you like
“Hello, brother.”
Julian stopped breathing.
