Chapter 5: The Man Who Knew Every Secret
Chapter 5: The Man Who Knew Every Secret
No one in the study spoke.
The image on the computer screen remained frozen.
Gabriel Rossi.
Silver hair.
Impeccable navy suit.
The gold-rimmed glasses he had worn for nearly thirty years.
He stood behind Vanessa while she adjusted the silicone pregnancy belly beneath her gown.
For a moment, Alessandro forgot to breathe.
Because Gabriel Rossi wasn't merely his attorney.
He was family.
When Alessandro was ten years old, Gabriel had taught him how to tie a necktie before his first charity gala.
When he turned sixteen, Gabriel had explained every clause in the Moretti family trust.
When Alessandro buried his father at twenty-four, Gabriel had stood beside the grave after everyone else had gone home.
"Your father trusted me with everything."
"Now I will protect you."
Those words echoed painfully through Alessandro's mind.
Everything.
The man had known everything.
Every account.
Every contract.
Every weakness.
Marco finally broke the silence.
"The recording isn't edited."
"I've already checked the metadata."
"Original file."
"No cuts."
"No manipulation."
Alessandro stared at the paused image.
"Play the rest."
Marco clicked the mouse.
The recording continued.
Vanessa admired herself in the mirror before laughing softly.
"It looks real."
Gabriel smiled.
"It cost enough."
Vanessa adjusted the fake belly beneath her dress.
"When do we tell him?"
Gabriel glanced at his watch.
"Not yet."
"The engagement party gives us the perfect audience."
"The more witnesses..."
"...the harder it becomes for Alessandro to question the pregnancy."
Vanessa nodded.
"And after he signs?"
Gabriel's expression darkened.
"Then we move to phase two."
Marco paused the video again.
"There are another twelve minutes."
Alessandro looked away.
"No."
He already knew enough.
Not the details.
The betrayal.
He couldn't bear hearing more.
Not yet.
Thomas slowly lowered himself into a leather chair.
"I've known Gabriel since he graduated law school."
"He carried your father on his shoulders after baseball games."
His voice cracked.
"He baptized you."
Alessandro remained silent.
Some betrayals couldn't be measured by money.
Only by years.
A sharp knock interrupted them.
Marco opened the study door.
Another security officer entered.
"Sir."
"What is it?"
"We searched Miss Cole's suite again."
"And?"
"We found a second hidden compartment."
He handed Marco a black leather notebook.
"No name."
"No initials."
Marco opened it carefully.
The pages were filled with handwritten dates.
Appointments.
Payments.
Phone numbers.
Names.
Some were crossed out.
Others circled in red.
Halfway through the notebook...
Everyone stopped.
One page contained only three names.
Vincent
Gabriel
Hawthorne
Marco frowned.
"Hawthorne?"
Thomas looked confused.
"I don't know anyone by that name."
But Amelia did.
The name struck her like lightning.
Her fingers tightened around Emma.
Daniel had mentioned Hawthorne.
Only once.
Three nights before he died.
She remembered because he had whispered the name while checking the apartment windows.
"If anything happens..."
"Find Hawthorne Construction."
"Everything starts there."
At the time...
She had assumed it was simply another company.
Now...
Her heart pounded.
"Mrs. Carter."
Alessandro noticed her expression immediately.
"You know that name."
She hesitated.
Should she say it?
Would anyone believe a maid?
Would speaking Daniel's name place Emma in danger?
Then she looked down at her sleeping daughter.
The same daughter whose inhaler had nearly been stolen tonight.
Silence was no longer protection.
"My husband..."
Everyone turned toward her.
"He investigated a company called Hawthorne Construction."
Marco looked up instantly.
"Continue."
"Daniel was a structural safety inspector."
"He found reports proving someone had replaced certified steel with cheaper materials."
"He told the city."
"No one acted."
"Three days later..."
"...he died."
The room became still.
Alessandro spoke softly.
"How?"
"They said a steel beam fell."
"But..."
Amelia swallowed.
"The medical examiner wasn't allowed to inspect the site until twelve hours later."
"Most of the evidence had disappeared."
Marco's eyes narrowed.
"Did your husband keep copies?"
"I don't know."
"The police returned only his wallet."
"They said the rest was destroyed."
Thomas suddenly leaned forward.
"Hawthorne..."
"I remember now."
"There was a Hawthorne Shipping Terminal."
Alessandro looked at him.
"What about it?"
"It belonged to your father."
Thomas closed his eyes, searching his memory.
"Until..."
"...Vincent convinced him to sell it."
Marco immediately turned toward Alessandro.
"Hawthorne Construction."
"Hawthorne Shipping."
"The same investors?"
Marco opened his tablet.
Within seconds he accessed corporate archives.
Then...
His face changed.
"They're connected."
"Hawthorne Construction is owned through three shell companies."
"The ultimate beneficiary..."
He looked directly at Alessandro.
"...is Vincent Moretti."
Silence.
Everything began fitting together.
Daniel investigated Hawthorne.
Daniel died.
Vanessa worked with Vincent.
Gabriel protected them.
A fake pregnancy would create an heir.
An heir would trigger trust changes.
And afterward...
An "accident."
Alessandro slowly walked toward the rain-covered window.
The city lights shimmered beyond the estate.
He remembered his father's murder.
Twenty years ago.
Officially...
A robbery gone wrong.
Two bullets.
One alley.
Case unsolved.
But his father had also been fighting Vincent over company assets during his final months.
At the time...
Everyone dismissed it as coincidence.
Now...
Nothing felt like coincidence anymore.
Marco's phone vibrated.
He answered immediately.
His expression hardened.
"What?"
"When?"
"Don't let him leave."
He ended the call.
"Sir."
"Gabriel just arrived."
Alessandro turned.
"He came here?"
Marco nodded.
"He says he received your invitation."
"I never invited him."
"He insists you called personally."
Thomas whispered,
"Someone wants him inside this house."
Before anyone could respond...
A loud scream echoed through the ballroom.
Amelia recognized the voice instantly.
Vanessa.
The sound was filled not with anger...
But terror.
Marco reached for his pistol.
Alessandro was already moving.
The study doors burst open as everyone ran toward the ballroom.
Guests scattered in panic.
Vanessa stood near the grand staircase, pointing upward with shaking hands.
At the top of the stairs...
Beneath the portrait of Isabella Moretti...
A little girl in pink pajamas stood silently in the darkness.
She couldn't have been older than five.
No one recognized her.
Emma slowly opened her sleepy eyes from Amelia's shoulder.
She looked upstairs...
Then smiled.
"I know her."
The ballroom froze.
May you like
Emma whispered the words that turned every face pale.
"She's the little sister who lives in the nursery."
