She Found Who Was Robbing the Don’s Syndicate—Then He Claimed Her Before Everyone
Chapter 9
The accusation struck like a pistol shot.
Matteo did not move.
Elena looked at him.
His face had become completely expressionless.
“My mother died before my father.”
“So you were told,” Lorenzo replied.
Matteo crossed the room and seized Lorenzo by the collar.
“Choose your next words carefully.”
Lorenzo laughed.
“You never questioned why your mother disappeared from the family records.”
Matteo’s grip tightened.
Elena stepped forward.
“Matteo.”
He released Lorenzo.
“Explain.”
Lorenzo adjusted his coat.
“Your mother discovered your father was planning to hand the trading house to someone outside the family.”
“Who?”
“Your father’s illegitimate son.”
Matteo stared at him.
“No.”
“He existed.”
“Where is he?”
Lorenzo smiled.
“Dead.”
The room erupted in confusion.
But Elena noticed something.
Thomas was not surprised.
He had known.
She turned toward him.
“You knew.”
Thomas looked at her.
Then he ran.
Matteo’s men chased him.
Elena remained beside Matteo.
“There is more.”
He looked at her.
“The story about your mother.”
“What about it?”
“Lorenzo wanted you angry.”
“Why?”
“To make you destroy the evidence.”
Elena pointed to the documents.
“These aren’t complete.”
Matteo’s expression sharpened.
“The missing pages.”
“Yes.”
They searched Lorenzo’s rooms.
Nothing.
Then Elena remembered the old account book.
Her father’s book had not been stolen for its numbers.
It had contained a map.
A map showing an abandoned chapel outside the town.
They rode there before dawn.
Beneath the chapel floor, they found a stone box.
Inside was a bundle of letters.
One was from Matteo’s father.
Another was from Elena’s father.
And the last was written by a woman named Isabella Belladonna.
Matteo’s mother.
The letter changed everything.
She had not murdered Antonio.
She had discovered that Antonio was being poisoned.
She had confronted the conspirators.
Then she disappeared while trying to protect Matteo.
The official record had been falsified.
Elena read the final line aloud.
“If my son ever finds this, tell him the man closest to him is the one he must fear.”
Matteo looked toward Elena.
“Lorenzo.”
She shook her head.
“Maybe.”
Then she turned the page.
There was another name.
Thomas Vane.
