Mafia Boss Discovers His Bride Is a Virgin… He Thought His Innocent Bride Was…
Chapter 4
Matteo canceled every meeting for the next two days.
He wanted the truth.
Not rumors.
Not family stories.
Facts.
He had Isabella’s mother investigated.
Her death had been recorded as a robbery gone wrong.
But Matteo’s team found something unusual.
No valuables were taken.
No forced entry.
And one item was missing.
A small silver key.
Isabella knew nothing about it.
Matteo showed her an old photograph.
Her mother was standing beside a locked cabinet.
“Do you recognize this?”
Isabella stared.
“I’ve seen that cabinet.”
“Where?”
“In my father’s office.”
“Does it still exist?”
She shook her head.
“Dad said it was destroyed.”
Matteo knew better.
He had the estate searched.
They found a hidden room behind the old wine cellar.
Inside was the cabinet.
And inside the cabinet was a box.
The silver key fit.
Isabella stood beside Matteo as he opened it.
There were bank papers.
A photograph.
And a letter addressed to her.
Her hands trembled.
“Read it.”
She opened the letter.
My darling Isabella,
If you are reading this, then the people I feared have finally found a way to reach you.
She stopped.
Tears filled her eyes.
Matteo took the letter gently.
“Do you want me to read?”
She nodded.
He continued.
I did not leave you money so you could become wealthy.
I left you the truth so you could survive.
The next page mentioned a trust.
Forty million dollars.
But the money was not controlled by her father.
It could only be accessed by Isabella.
Not until her twenty-fifth birthday.
Her mother had hidden the inheritance because someone wanted it.
The final paragraph was the most disturbing.
Do not trust your brother.
Isabella pulled the letter from Matteo’s hand.
“No.”
“Isabella—”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“He protected me.”
“He may have.”
“But my mother said not to trust him.”
Matteo looked at the letter.
“Maybe she had a reason.”
Isabella sat down.
“I don’t know what to believe.”
Matteo sat beside her.
“You can believe what you can prove.”
She looked at him.
“That sounds cold.”
“It keeps people alive.”
She laughed weakly.
Then asked:
“Do you regret marrying me?”
Matteo’s answer was immediate.
“No.”
“Even now?”
“Especially now.”
Her eyes met his.
“Why?”
“Because you’re honest.”
She looked down.
“You barely know me.”
“I know enough.”
He paused.
“And I know someone tried to convince me that you were someone you weren’t.”
She whispered:
“Why would they do that?”
Matteo looked at the letter.
“Because they didn’t want me to trust you.”
Isabella frowned.
“Why would that matter?”
“Because if I trusted you, I might protect you.”
She looked at him.
“And they don’t want you protecting me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Matteo’s expression became cold.
“Because whatever your mother hid is valuable.”
Then he looked at the letter again.
“But I think there is another reason.”
“What?”
“The trust doesn’t just contain money.”
Isabella’s face tightened.
“What else?”
“Evidence.”
And someone had already begun killing to keep that evidence buried.
