Chapter 5 - What Antonio's Doctor Found
Sofia Vitelli entered without fear.
Antonio didn't move.
"Mother."
"Antonio."
Evelyn looked between them.
Sofia was composed, silver-haired, elegant, and unmistakably accustomed to being listened to.
"Why are you here?" Antonio asked.
"Because Thomas finally used the key."
"He gave it to me," Evelyn said.
Sofia studied her.
"You have your mother's eyes."
Evelyn stiffened.
"You knew my mother?"
"Yes."
That revelation hit harder than anything else.
Sofia sat.
Twenty-eight years earlier, she explained, Thomas Foster had discovered financial theft inside Lorenzo's company.
But Thomas had misunderstood one thing.
The money wasn't simply being stolen.
It was being moved to expose someone.
"Who?"
Sofia looked at Antonio.
"Your uncle."
Carlo Vitelli.
Lorenzo's younger brother.
Antonio's face became stone.
Sofia continued.
Carlo had been siphoning company funds through shell vendors.
Lorenzo suspected him.
Sofia quietly helped Thomas gather records.
Before they could act, someone learned about the audit.
Thomas fled.
Evidence vanished.
Carlo remained.
"Why didn't Father expose him?"
"Because Carlo threatened people Lorenzo loved."
Antonio's voice sharpened.
"And you let him stay in our lives?"
"I spent years trying to prove what he'd done."
"Years?"
"Without getting anyone hurt."
Evelyn interrupted.
"What does this have to do with my flight?"
Sofia looked at her.
"I don't know."
Evelyn didn't believe her.
Neither did Antonio.
Then Dr. Moretti called.
The final medical findings had arrived.
Antonio had experienced a severe allergic reaction.
The trigger had been found.
Not in the medication case.
Not in his coffee.
On a disposable napkin packaged with his meal.
A trace contaminant connected to one of Antonio's documented allergies had been deliberately transferred to it.
Someone knew his medical history.
Someone knew his seat.
Someone knew the meal service.
And someone wanted the medication case to become the obvious suspect.
Marco spoke first.
"Who had the medical file?"
Moretti answered.
"Me. Antonio. His insurance physician."
Antonio looked at Sofia.
"And family?"
Moretti hesitated.
"Emergency contacts may have had partial access."
Sofia's face hardened.
"Carlo."
But Evelyn wasn't satisfied.
"That's too easy."
Everyone looked at her.
"The fake passenger wanted us to find the medication case."
"Yes," Marco said.
"So why leave clues pointing toward Carlo?"
No answer.
"Whoever planned this wanted suspicion moving in a specific direction."
Antonio understood.
"Someone is constructing a story."
"Exactly."
Sofia rose.
"Then find who benefits from that story."
A document inside Thomas's archive provided the next clue.
An old photograph.
Lorenzo.
Thomas.
Sofia.
Carlo.
And another man.
The back identified him as Gabriel Bellini.
Marco's father.
Marco stared at it.
"My father worked for Lorenzo."
Antonio nodded.
"You knew that."
"Not on the audit."
Marco picked up another page.
His face drained.
Gabriel Bellini had authorized several transfers Thomas flagged as fraudulent.
Evelyn looked at Marco.
"Did your father steal the money?"
"No."
His answer was immediate.
Antonio said nothing.
Marco turned toward him.
"You believe this?"
"I believe records."
"My father died protecting yours."
"I know."
"Then say it."
Antonio met his eyes.
"I don't believe your father betrayed mine."
Marco's shoulders relaxed slightly.
"But someone wants me to."
That landed.
First the medication case.
Now Gabriel Bellini.
Someone was targeting trust.
Antonio and Marco.
Antonio and Sofia.
Antonio and Carlo.
The pattern became visible.
Break the family from inside.
That night, investigators traced the anonymous messages sent to Evelyn.
They originated through multiple relays.
But one mistake had been made.
A device identifier connected to an old Vitelli corporate account.
The account belonged to someone presumed dead.
Gabriel Bellini.
Marco stared at the report.
"Impossible."
Antonio looked at him.
"Your father died fifteen years ago."
"I buried him."
Evelyn's phone vibrated.
Unknown sender.
One photograph.
A man entering a Rome apartment building that morning.
Older.
Gray-haired.
But recognizable from the archive photograph.
Marco's hands began trembling.
"No."
Antonio leaned closer.
Evelyn enlarged the image.
The man had Gabriel's face.
Beneath it was an address.
Then a message:
ASK MARCO WHY HIS FATHER NEVER HAD AN OPEN CASKET.
May you like
Marco looked up.
And for the first time since Evelyn had met him, the powerful security chief looked terrified.
