Chapter 3 - The Symbol Left by the Dead
The symbol on the document was only three lines.
But Matteo Viscari looked at it like he had seen a ghost.
Clara watched him carefully.
For the first time since she met him, the man who could silence an entire room with a glance looked completely uncertain.
Not afraid of an enemy.
Not afraid of losing money.
Afraid of a memory.
“What is it?” Clara asked.
Matteo did not answer.
His eyes stayed fixed on the small mark in the corner of the scanned document.
Three thin lines crossing each other.
A symbol almost nobody would notice.
But Matteo knew it.
Because Leo had drawn it everywhere.
On napkins.
On meeting papers.
On the corner of newspapers.
On anything he could reach.
When they were children, Leo called it his signature.
Not his name.
Not his initials.
Just three lines.
A reminder.
A secret joke between brothers.
Clara lowered her voice.
“Matteo.”
He finally looked at her.
“Where did you find this?”
“It was attached to the termination order.”
“Who uploaded it?”
“I don’t know.”
Matteo took the mouse and opened the document history.
Nothing.
No user.
No timestamp.
No record.
Impossible.
Every action inside Viscari Holdings was tracked.
Every file.
Every change.
Every approval.
Except this one.
Clara noticed his silence.
“You know what it means.”
Matteo leaned back.
“It shouldn’t exist.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one I have.”
She crossed her arms.
“Then explain.”
Matteo looked toward Leo’s photograph.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he spoke.
“Leo created that symbol when we were kids.”
Clara listened.
“He said every family had a secret language.”
A small pause.
“He hated serious conversations.”
Clara smiled slightly.
“That sounds familiar.”
Matteo almost smiled back.
Almost.
“He used it whenever he wanted to tell me something without anyone else knowing.”
Clara looked at the document.
“So someone is sending you a message.”
Matteo’s expression hardened.
“Or pretending to be him.”
The words stayed in the room.
Because both possibilities were disturbing.
Leo was dead.
There was no changing that.
Nine years ago, an attack meant for Matteo had taken his brother instead.
The world had accepted it.
The Viscari family had buried him.
Matteo had carried the guilt.
But now someone was using Leo’s symbol.
Someone who knew their history.
Someone close enough to know things nobody else knew.
Clara closed the file.
“Who knew about this?”
“About the symbol?”
“Yes.”
Matteo looked away.
“Very few people.”
“Names.”
He looked at her.
“You always talk like you’re interrogating people.”
“You always answer like you’re hiding something.”
The room went silent.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then Matteo walked to the cabinet beside his desk.
He unlocked it.
Inside were old documents.
Photographs.
Personal belongings.
Things nobody at Viscari Holdings had ever seen.
He removed a small black notebook.
Clara recognized it immediately.
“Leo’s?”
Matteo nodded.
“He carried it everywhere.”
He opened the first page.
Most of it contained random notes.
Numbers.
Ideas.
Jokes.
Then Clara noticed the symbol.
Hundreds of times.
Everywhere.
“What was he writing?”
“Nothing important.”
She looked at him.
“Matteo.”
He sighed.
“He wrote things he noticed.”
“Like?”
“People.”
Clara frowned.
“People?”
“Leo believed everyone revealed themselves eventually.”
Matteo flipped through pages.
“He wrote down conversations. Reactions. Things people said when they thought nobody was listening.”
Clara looked at the notebook.
“Like an investigation?”
“No.”
A pause.
“Like curiosity.”
Then Matteo stopped.
His finger rested on one page.
The color disappeared from his face.
Clara noticed.
“What?”
He didn’t answer.
She stepped closer.
On the page was the symbol.
Below it were four words.
Clara read them.
“Trust no one inside.”
The room became completely silent.
She looked at Matteo.
“Inside what?”
Matteo stared at the handwriting.
“I don’t know.”
But Clara knew.
He was lying.
Not because he wanted to deceive her.
Because the answer scared him.
“You know something.”
Matteo closed the notebook.
“Enough.”
“No.”
Her voice was firm.
“You don’t get to ask me to help uncover a betrayal and then hide the most important information.”
His eyes moved to her.
“You should be careful.”
“About what?”
“Knowing too much.”
Clara stepped closer.
“That sounds like something someone says when they’re afraid the truth is worse than the lie.”
Matteo studied her.
Most people would have backed away.
Clara didn’t.
Finally, he spoke.
“Leo suspected someone in our organization was leaking information.”
“To who?”
“He never found out.”
“Or he did.”
Matteo’s eyes narrowed.
Clara continued.
“Maybe that’s why he died.”
The words hit harder than she expected.
Matteo looked away.
“That’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because I investigated everything.”
“And?”
“Nothing.”
Clara looked at the notebook.
“Maybe you investigated the wrong people.”
That sentence stayed with him.
Because deep down…
he had always wondered the same thing.
The next morning, Matteo called an emergency meeting.
Everyone important at Viscari Holdings gathered in the executive conference room.
Victor Hale sat at the table.
Calm.
Confident.
Like the previous night never happened.
Executives whispered quietly.
They all noticed Clara standing beside Matteo.
That alone was unusual.
Matteo never allowed anyone this close.
Not since Leo.
“Before we begin,” Matteo said.
The room became silent.
“I want answers about unauthorized executive decisions made under my name.”
Nobody moved.
Victor leaned forward.
“Matteo, if this is about yesterday—”
“It is.”
Victor stopped.
Matteo placed copies of the documents on the table.
Every executive received one.
“Someone inside this company has been creating false orders.”
The room reacted immediately.
Shock.
Confusion.
Fear.
Victor remained calm.
Too calm.
Clara noticed.
Again.
“You’re accusing someone here?”
One executive asked.
Matteo looked around.
“Yes.”
Nobody spoke.
Then Victor looked at Clara.
“Did your secretary discover this?”
The word secretary sounded intentional.
Like he wanted everyone to remember her position.
Matteo answered.
“She discovered the evidence.”
Victor smiled slightly.
“Interesting.”
“What is?”
“You usually don’t trust outsiders.”
The room became uncomfortable.
Victor continued.
“And now someone who has worked here less than a year is influencing your decisions.”
Clara looked at him.
There it was.
The attack.
Not against the evidence.
Against her.
Matteo’s expression changed.
“Be careful, Victor.”
The warning was clear.
Victor stopped smiling.
But only for a second.
Then the conference room doors opened.
A security officer entered.
“Mr. Viscari.”
Everyone turned.
The officer looked nervous.
“We found something.”
Matteo stood.
“What?”
The officer handed him a small envelope.
“No name.”
“No sender.”
“Found inside your private office.”
Clara watched Matteo open it.
Inside was a single photograph.
Old.
Damaged.
Matteo looked at it.
Then froze.
Clara moved closer.
“What is it?”
He slowly turned the photograph around.
It showed Matteo and Leo.
Nine years ago.
The night before Leo died.
But something was wrong.
Someone had written on the back.
Clara read the message.
Her heart stopped.
Because the handwriting was familiar.
It was Leo’s.
The message said:
“Matteo, if you are reading this, they already know I found out.”
Nobody spoke.
Because the dead man had just sent a warning.
May you like
And it meant one thing.
Leo Viscari had known he was going to die.
