The Mafia Boss Locked the Door After Midnight — Then His Secretary Whispered Why She Was Leaving
Chapter 11
The room went silent.
Vincent stared at Richard.
“My father died six years ago.”
Richard shook his head.
“That is what everyone was told.”
Marco stepped forward.
“Richard, stop.”
But Richard continued.
“Your father disappeared.”
Vincent looked at Marco.
“Did you know?”
Marco shook his head.
“No.”
Richard smiled.
“He has been living under another name.”
“Where?”
Richard didn’t answer.
Instead, he looked toward Isabella.
“Your mother knew.”
Isabella felt a chill.
“My mother?”
“She helped him disappear.”
“Why?”
“Because they both knew the Raven Group was bigger than us.”
Vincent demanded:
“Where is he?”
Richard smiled.
“Too late.”
The lights went out.
When they returned, Richard was gone.
Police searched the church.
Nothing.
But on the altar was a photograph.
An elderly man standing outside a small farmhouse.
On the back:
Wisconsin.
Vincent stared.
“We’re going.”
This time, Isabella stayed behind.
She had begun feeling dizzy.
A doctor examined her.
The baby was healthy.
But the doctor warned her to rest.
While she waited, Marco sat beside her.
“I owe you the truth.”
She looked at him.
“Tell me.”
“I left because I believed the only way to keep you alive was to disappear.”
“You hurt me.”
“I know.”
“I waited.”
“I know.”
“You should have trusted me.”
“I know.”
She looked at him.
“Do you regret leaving?”
“Every day.”
Isabella took his hand.
“Then don’t leave again.”
He nodded.
“I won’t.”
Later that evening, Vincent called.
“We found him.”
“Your father?”
“Yes.”
“He’s alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“At the farmhouse.”
Isabella felt relief.
Then Vincent’s voice changed.
“But there’s something else.”
“What?”
“He has cancer.”
Isabella closed her eyes.
“How long?”
“Not long.”
The family gathered at the farmhouse.
Vincent’s father, Antonio Moretti, sat by the fireplace.
He looked old.
Fragile.
Nothing like the powerful man described in the stories.
Vincent stood in the doorway.
Antonio looked up.
“My son.”
Vincent could barely speak.
“You let me think you were dead.”
“I had to.”
“You let me hate Marco.”
“I had to.”
“You destroyed our family.”
Antonio lowered his head.
“I know.”
He handed Vincent a box.
Inside was the second ledger.
But there was more.
A letter from Isabella’s mother.
Antonio explained that her mother had helped expose the network.
She had been murdered because she refused to surrender the evidence.
Before she died, she gave Antonio the second ledger.
He hid it.
He had hoped one day his sons would finish what they started.
Isabella read the final letter.
Her mother’s handwriting was unmistakable.
If my daughter ever finds this, tell her she was never born into this world to carry our sins. She was born to end them.
Isabella cried.
Marco held her hand.
Vincent looked toward the window.
For the first time, he understood his father’s final request.
Not to rebuild the organization.
To destroy it.
