Chapter 17 - The Daughter of Corrado Vale
Teresa stared at Corrado.
“No.”
Corrado smiled.
“I had hoped Salvatore destroyed that recording.”
Sofia looked furious.
“You promised me he had.”
Corrado shrugged.
“I was wrong.”
Teresa backed away.
“You are not my father.”
Corrado's expression changed.
“I certainly paid enough for your education.”
Teresa looked at Sofia.
“You told me Salvatore abandoned us.”
Sofia said nothing.
“You told me Isabella stole my life.”
Silence.
“You told me Nico was living in the house that should have been mine.”
Sofia finally spoke.
“It gave you purpose.”
Teresa stared in horror.
“You built my entire life around revenge for something that wasn't true.”
Sofia's face remained cold.
“I built you into someone strong.”
“No.”
Teresa shook her head.
“You built me into you.”
Corrado stepped forward.
“We can discuss childhood trauma later.”
“Give me the key.”
Nico looked at the small key from Salvatore's box.
“What does it open?”
Corrado smiled.
“The only thing that matters now.”
Sofia turned toward him.
“You told me the box contained trust documents.”
“It contains access.”
“To what?”
“The reserve.”
Sofia's expression changed.
Marcella frowned.
“What reserve?”
Corrado looked almost amused.
“Salvatore moved hundreds of millions outside the company.”
“Emergency capital.”
“Unregistered.”
Isabella whispered.
“The Verona reserve.”
Nico looked at her.
“You knew?”
“I knew rumors.”
Corrado pointed toward the key.
“That opens the vault containing the bearer instruments.”
Nico stared.
“So this was always about money.”
Corrado smiled.
“It is remarkable how often people discover noble explanations after they become rich.”
Rafe subtly moved his hand toward his phone.
Corrado noticed.
“Don't.”
Two men appeared behind him.
Rafe stopped.
Sofia looked at Corrado.
“You said no weapons.”
Corrado laughed.
“And you still believe agreements matter.”
Sofia's face hardened.
For the first time, she understood.
Corrado had never been her servant.
He had been waiting.
Nico looked at Teresa.
She seemed broken.
He spoke quietly.
“You can still choose.”
Teresa looked at him.
“Choose what?”
“Who you become after the lie.”
Sofia snapped.
“Do not listen to him.”
Teresa looked at her mother.
Nico continued.
“You kidnapped Vivia.”
“Yes.”
“You used Isabella's credentials.”
“Yes.”
“You helped Corrado escape.”
Teresa looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“Then answer for those things.”
“But don't commit the next crime because somebody lied to you about the first.”
Teresa's eyes filled with tears.
Corrado laughed.
“Beautiful speech.”
“Give me the key.”
Nico closed his fist.
“No.”
Corrado's smile vanished.
“You have Vivia here.”
Nico's expression turned deadly.
“Finish that sentence.”
Even Corrado hesitated.
Vivia whispered from behind Rafe.
“Daddy.”
Nico looked at her.
Vivia pointed toward the cassette player.
“Mommy's voice.”
Everyone frowned.
The tape had not ended.
Static crackled.
Then Elena's voice replaced Salvatore's.
Nico froze.
“Elena found this recording six months before I did.”
Marcella stared.
Elena continued.
“If Corrado is listening, congratulations.”
“You found the wrong key.”
Corrado's face changed.
Vivia smiled.
“Mommy tricked him again.”
Elena continued.
“The metal key opens a safety deposit box containing exactly fifty euros and a photograph of Salvatore laughing.”
Marcella covered her mouth.
Rafe actually laughed.
Corrado rushed toward Nico.
Rafe intercepted him.
Chaos erupted.
Sofia's men advanced.
National officers poured into the chapel through the rear entrance.
Teresa had sent them the location.
Sofia stared at her daughter.
“You betrayed me.”
Teresa looked at her.
“No.”
“I stopped obeying you.”
Corrado tried to flee into the crypt.
Nico followed.
They crashed against Salvatore's tomb.
Corrado swung wildly.
Nico blocked him.
Corrado snarled.
“Elena should have minded her own business.”
Nico's restraint nearly broke.
He drove Corrado against the stone wall.
“You still don't understand why you lost.”
Corrado laughed.
“I haven't.”
“Yes.”
“You did.”
“The second you thought Elena's kindness made her weak.”
Corrado reached toward Nico's throat.
Nico twisted his arm and forced him down.
Rafe arrived.
Officers followed.
Corrado was handcuffed.
This time Rafe personally watched.
Sofia remained near the altar.
Isabella approached her sister.
For decades, fear and resentment had existed between them.
Now Sofia looked old.
Very old.
Isabella whispered.
“Was any of it worth it?”
Sofia stared at Vivia.
“She has everything.”
Isabella shook her head.
“No.”
“She has a father who chose her.”
“That is something neither of us understood.”
Sofia looked toward Nico.
Then toward Teresa.
Her face finally cracked.
She began crying.
But no one comforted her.
The arrests lasted until dawn.
Corrado.
Sofia.
Teresa.
Several guards.
Three council associates.
Teresa cooperated voluntarily.
Her kidnapping charge remained.
But so did the evidence that she had ultimately saved Vivia and helped investigators.
Nico left the crypt carrying his daughter.
Vivia rested her head on his shoulder.
“Daddy.”
“Yes?”
“Is it over?”
Nico wanted to say yes.
He wanted it more than anything.
But Elena had taught him the cost of comforting lies.
“I don't know.”
Vivia considered that.
Then she nodded.
“Okay.”
Nico kissed her forehead.
Rafe approached with Salvatore's cassette.
“There is another recording after Elena's.”
Nico stopped.
“How much more?”
“Thirty seconds.”
Nico sighed.
“Play it.”
Elena's voice came again.
“If Sofia and Corrado have been exposed, then there is only one person left.”
Nico stared.
Elena continued.
“Nico, the person who frightened me most was never part of the council.”
“Because the council didn't know he existed.”
Nico frowned.
Rafe looked confused.
Elena's final words played.
“He called himself Gabriel.”
“And he knew every secret before I discovered it.”
The tape ended.
May you like
Nico looked at Rafe.
“Who the hell is Gabriel?”
