Chapter 18 - Gabriel
The answer was waiting inside Elena's secret apartment.
A file hidden beneath the floorboards carried the name GABRIEL.
Nico opened it while Rafe, Camilla, Marcella, and national investigators watched.
There was no photograph.
No official identification.
Only emails.
Hundreds of them.
Gabriel had contacted Elena fourteen months before her death.
At first, he sent anonymous warnings.
DO NOT TRUST THE COUNCIL.
Then evidence.
Bank transfers.
Private recordings.
Locations.
Names.
Elena initially believed Gabriel was Adrian Voss.
Adrian denied it.
Rafe denied it.
Luca denied it.
The messages continued.
One frightened Nico more than everything else.
THE COUNCIL BELIEVES YOU ARE INVESTIGATING ALONE.
KEEP IT THAT WAY.
Another.
IF NICO KNOWS, THEY WILL USE HIM.
Another.
IF MARCELLA KNOWS, SHE WILL PANIC.
Marcella winced.
“Accurate.”
Another.
ISABELLA LOVES HER SON, BUT SHE WILL CHOOSE THE NAME.
Nico thought about his mother.
Accurate again.
Then one final email.
Sent six hours before Elena's crash.
CORRADO CHANGED THE PLAN.
DO NOT TAKE THE MOUNTAIN ROAD.
Elena had received the warning.
Nico stared.
“Why did she still take that road?”
Camilla examined the time.
“She may not have seen it.”
Rafe shook his head.
“Elena checked everything.”
Nico searched.
The email status showed opened.
Elena had read it.
Then why drive directly into danger?
Luca, who had joined remotely, answered.
“Because she wasn't going to the prosecutor.”
Nico frowned.
“Where was she going?”
Luca looked at the map.
“The mountain road leads past Saint Agnes Hospice.”
Nico froze.
His mother had supposedly been living at another medical facility.
But Saint Agnes was where Isabella had first been taken after her fake stroke.
Nico understood.
“Elena was going to see my mother.”
Marcella whispered.
“To confront her?”
“No.”
Nico looked at the warning.
“To save her.”
They searched the remaining documents.
One showed an order signed by Sofia.
Isabella was to be moved from Saint Agnes that night.
Destination unspecified.
Elena had discovered Sofia planned to eliminate Isabella because she knew too much.
Despite their conflict, Elena had driven toward the hospice.
She chose Isabella over her own safety.
Nico sat back.
“My wife died trying to save my mother.”
Marcella began crying.
No one spoke.
Then Rafe found one more email.
Gabriel had sent it after Elena's death.
I FAILED HER.
I WILL NOT FAIL THE CHILD.
Nico stared.
“Vivia.”
Investigators traced the email infrastructure.
Most routes were impossible to follow.
But one server payment came from a Bellandi corporate account.
The account had only one authorized user.
Nico.
Rafe looked at him.
“You?”
Nico shook his head.
“I didn't send these.”
Marcella looked at the authorization record.
“Nico's credentials were used during one of his blackouts.”
Everyone realized the same thing.
Someone had created Gabriel using Nico's identity.
They traced device data.
The oldest access point led to Salvatore's former office.
The newest led to the neurological clinic where Isabella pretended to live.
Nico stared.
“My mother?”
Rafe shook his head.
“Maybe.”
They went to confront her.
Isabella listened to the accusation in silence.
Then she laughed.
“No.”
“Gabriel wasn't me.”
“Who?”
Isabella looked toward the doorway.
“You might as well come in.”
A man entered.
Nico recognized Dr. Paolo Serrano.
The doctor who signed Salvatore's false death certificate.
The missing physician.
Marcella backed away.
“You.”
Serrano raised his hands.
“I am not armed.”
Nico approached.
“You helped murder my father.”
Serrano looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“Then you helped Elena?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Guilt.”
Nico stared.
Serrano continued.
“Sofia paid me to alter Salvatore's toxicology report.”
“He had been poisoned slowly over several weeks.”
“By Corrado?”
“No.”
Nico frowned.
“Who?”
Serrano looked toward Isabella.
She whispered.
“Me.”
Nico stopped.
Marcella gasped.
Isabella began crying.
“I poisoned your father.”
Nico stared at her.
Everything else disappeared.
“Why?”
Isabella's voice shook.
“Because Salvatore asked me to.”
Silence.
Nico looked at Serrano.
“Explain.”
Serrano spoke.
“Salvatore had pancreatic cancer.”
“Advanced.”
“He had months.”
“Perhaps weeks.”
“He refused to let the council discover he was weak.”
Nico's anger became confusion.
“Then why fake a heart attack?”
“Because Sofia controlled the oncologist.”
“If she knew Salvatore was dying, she would have accelerated the succession fight.”
Isabella continued.
“Your father asked for medication to shorten his final suffering.”
“I administered it.”
Tears rolled down her face.
“Serrano falsified the toxicology.”
“Sofia later discovered the poison and assumed we had murdered him for power.”
Nico could barely process it.
“All of this began with a misunderstanding?”
Isabella shook her head.
“No.”
“The council was already rotten.”
“But Salvatore's death gave Sofia the excuse to act.”
Serrano looked at Nico.
“I became Gabriel because I couldn't undo what I helped hide.”
“You warned Elena.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Corrado changed her brakes.”
“I discovered it too late.”
“You sent the email.”
“Yes.”
Nico grabbed his shirt.
“You could have called her.”
“I did.”
“What?”
“She didn't answer.”
Nico released him.
Serrano continued.
“I called your house.”
“Who answered?”
Serrano looked at Marcella.
She froze.
“No.”
Serrano nodded.
“You.”
Marcella's face emptied.
Nico turned slowly.
Marcella began shaking.
“I remember.”
“What did he tell you?”
“He said Elena couldn't take the mountain road.”
“And?”
Marcella covered her mouth.
“I was angry.”
Nico stared.
“I had just found out she planned to expose my accounts.”
“What did you do?”
“I told him I would warn her.”
“Did you?”
Marcella collapsed into a chair.
“No.”
Nico stared at his sister.
“You could have saved her.”
Marcella sobbed.
“I didn't know she would die.”
“You knew there was danger.”
“Yes.”
“You said nothing.”
“Yes.”
For once, Marcella offered no excuse.
Nico looked at her for a long time.
Then he walked away.
She whispered.
“Nico.”
He stopped.
“I don't expect forgiveness.”
“Good.”
He continued toward the door.
Marcella cried harder.
Nico paused again.
“But you will tell Vivia the truth one day.”
Marcella looked up.
“When she's old enough.”
“You will tell her exactly what you did.”
“And then whether she forgives you will belong to her.”
Marcella nodded.
Nico left.
Outside, Camilla waited.
She handed him an envelope.
“This came for you.”
“From whom?”
“No return name.”
Nico opened it.
Inside was one photograph.
Elena and Salvatore stood beside the old wedding dress.
On the back, Elena had written:
THERE ARE NO MORE PEARLS.
Nico almost smiled.
May you like
Then he read the next line.
THE LAST SECRET IS IN THE VEIL.
