Chapter 7 - The Locked Office
Sophia forgot to breathe.
Alessandro did not.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her through the fire door as security alarms echoed through the bank.
Daniel followed.
Vittorio did not chase them.
That frightened Sophia more.
He wanted her thinking.
They escaped through a service exit and entered Alessandro’s waiting vehicle.
Only after the doors locked did Sophia speak.
“My mother could be alive.”
Daniel stared out the window.
Alessandro said, “We don’t know that.”
“The photograph.”
“Could be manipulated.”
“The woman at the warehouse.”
“Could be Valentina.”
Sophia pressed her hands against her face.
She wanted certainty.
Instead, every answer created another question.
Back at the hotel, Alessandro connected the flash drive to an isolated laptop.
Encrypted.
Daniel watched from across the room.
“You won’t break it.”
Alessandro looked at him.
“You know the password?”
“No.”
Sophia unfolded her mother’s letter.
There were references to childhood memories.
A beach house.
A piano.
A phrase Isabella used whenever Sophia became frightened.
Count the quiet things.
Sophia typed it.
Wrong.
She tried Isabella’s birthday.
Wrong.
Then Elena’s.
Wrong.
Alessandro noticed the engraved key.
“Three-one-seven.”
Sophia typed it.
Wrong.
Daniel laughed softly.
“Mom loved riddles?”
“She wasn’t your mother.”
The words came out sharper than Sophia intended.
Daniel flinched.
She did not apologize.
Then she remembered something.
Isabella used to tell Sophia and Elena that three things mattered when they were frightened.
“One breath. Three truths. Seven seconds.”
Sophia typed 137.
The drive opened.
Hundreds of documents appeared.
Financial records.
Audio files.
Photographs.
Names.
Alessandro sat beside her.
Daniel moved closer.
Sophia opened the first folder.
CARLO.
The documents showed payments from Moretti companies to shell corporations controlled by Vittorio.
Then, abruptly, the payments stopped.
A scanned letter followed.
Carlo to Isabella.
I am prepared to testify.
Alessandro stared.
His father had been telling the truth.
Another folder.
VALENTINA.
Photographs of Isabella’s sister.
Sophia stared at a face almost identical to her mother’s.
Valentina had disappeared after Isabella’s supposed death.
Then Sophia opened an audio file.
Her mother’s voice filled the room.
“If Antonio is hearing this, I’m sorry.”
Sophia covered her mouth.
Eight years disappeared.
She was twenty again.
Standing in her mother’s kitchen.
“Vittorio knows I copied the records,” Isabella continued. “Carlo believes he can protect us. I don’t.”
A pause.
“If anything happens to me, protect the girls.”
Sophia cried silently.
Alessandro sat beside her without touching her.
She reached for his hand.
Only then did he close his fingers around hers.
Isabella’s recording continued.
“Valentina agreed to help me. She knows Vittorio better than anyone.”
Daniel stared at the laptop.
Then Isabella said:
“There is one thing Vittorio cannot learn. Daniel is his son.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“He believes Carlo stole his child. If he discovers Daniel knows the truth, he will use him.”
Daniel whispered, “Too late.”
The recording continued.
“Daniel is innocent. Whatever blood made him, he is still a child.”
Sophia looked at him.
For a second she saw the boy he must have been.
Then Isabella’s voice changed.
“And Sophia…”
Everyone went still.
“If you are hearing this, forgive me.”
Sophia squeezed Alessandro’s hand.
“I changed the trust because Vittorio discovered that Carlo and I were gathering evidence. The controlling shares of the original shipping company were transferred temporarily into the Bianchi trust.”
Alessandro looked at Sophia.
She understood.
She owned something.
Something enormous.
“The shares must never return to Vittorio.”
The recording ended.
Daniel whispered, “That’s why he wanted you.”
Sophia looked at him.
“And why you wanted me?”
Daniel lowered his head.
“Yes.”
Alessandro released Sophia’s hand and stood.
He walked toward the window.
Sophia watched him.
“What?”
He did not answer.
“Alessandro.”
“My father transferred company shares to your mother.”
“Yes.”
“He never recovered them.”
“So?”
Daniel understood first.
“Oh, God.”
Sophia looked between them.
“What?”
Daniel smiled bitterly.
“You don’t own part of the company.”
Alessandro turned.
“You own the controlling block.”
Sophia stared.
“No.”
“Moretti Maritime was reorganized, but the original shares converted during every restructuring.”
“How much?”
Alessandro’s answer was quiet.
“Potentially thirty-one percent.”
Daniel laughed.
“More than Alessandro.”
Sophia felt dizzy.
All this time, Daniel had believed marrying her would give him influence over Moretti Holdings.
Vittorio wanted the same.
And Alessandro?
She looked at him.
He knew what she was thinking.
“I didn’t know.”
“When did you suspect?”
“Tonight.”
“Before or after you offered me your hand?”
His face hardened.
“After.”
She believed him.
That frightened her.
Trust was returning too quickly.
A knock sounded.
Alessandro’s security chief entered.
“We located Vittorio’s temporary residence.”
“Where?”
The man hesitated.
“An old Moretti property outside Como.”
Alessandro frowned.
“That house was sealed.”
“Someone has been using it.”
Sophia stood.
“Mom?”
“We don’t know.”
Daniel moved toward the door.
“I’m coming.”
Alessandro blocked him.
“No.”
“He’s my father.”
“He’s using you.”
“Then let him.”
Everyone stared.
Daniel looked at Sophia.
“I can get you inside.”
“Why would you?”
His face collapsed slightly.
“Because I destroyed enough.”
Hours later they reached the old property.
Sophia entered with Alessandro and security.
The building appeared empty.
Then she heard music.
A piano.
Her mother’s favorite piece.
Sophia followed it down the hallway.
Alessandro stayed beside her.
The music stopped.
They reached a locked office.
Sophia touched the handle.
It turned.
The door opened inward.
A woman sat at the piano with her back to them.
She slowly stood.
Then she spoke without turning around.
May you like
“Sophia.”
It was her mother’s voice.
