Chapter 7 - SOFIA’S LAST WARNING
Sofia’s voice stopped everyone.
Even Matteo lowered his gun a fraction.
The mansion speakers crackled as the hidden file continued.
“If you are hearing this, Matteo, you chose her over us. I hope you remember that Leo trusted you before he knew what trust meant.”
Matteo’s face collapsed.
Bianca spun toward the control panel. “Turn that off.”
No one moved.
Sofia went on.
“I saw you change the camera schedule. I saw Dr. Hale enter after midnight. I saw Celeste pour clear liquid into Leo’s milk. I copied everything to an external drive and hid it where Bianca would never look.”
Lorenzo’s eyes found Matteo’s.
“Where is the drive?”
Matteo’s weapon shook.
“I don’t know.”
“Then why did you betray me?”
Bianca answered for him. “His daughter needed surgery. Insurance refused. I paid.”
Matteo closed his eyes.
Lorenzo’s anger did not disappear, but something more painful entered it.
“You could have asked me.”
“I did,” Matteo said.
Lorenzo frowned.
“I sent the request through your office. Three times. Bianca told me you denied it.”
Lorenzo looked at his aunt.
She said nothing.
Matteo’s gun lowered another inch.
Bianca moved faster than anyone expected.
She grabbed the weapon from his hand and fired into the ceiling.
Plaster rained down. People screamed. The guards reached for their guns, but Bianca pressed the barrel against the transport crib.
“Back away.”
The crib was empty, but she did not realize it in the confusion.
I carried Leo behind Lorenzo, shielded by his body.
Bianca backed toward the hall. “The baby comes with me.”
“You have lost,” Lorenzo said.
“No. I have spent thirty years protecting a name you keep staining with emotion.”
“He is not a name. He is my son.”
“He is leverage. He is voting control. He is a weak infant standing between this family and survival.”
The truth was finally out.
Bianca did not love Leo.
She had reduced him to a clause in a trust.
Matteo stepped toward her. “Give me the gun.”
“You failed me.”
“You lied about Lorenzo denying my daughter’s care.”
“I did what was necessary.”
Matteo’s face hardened. “So will I.”
He activated the emergency release on the front gate.
Police sirens surged closer.
Bianca fired again, this time toward the control panel. Sparks burst from the wall. The lights flickered.
Then she ran.
Not toward the front door.
Toward the old service corridor beneath the west staircase.
Lorenzo handed me to two female officers entering the foyer. “Stay with Leo.”
“I can help.”
“You already have.”
He went after Bianca with Matteo and the police.
Celeste tried to slip away during the confusion. An officer caught her by the wrist.
“Where is the drive?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Sofia said she hid it where Bianca would never look.”
Celeste laughed bitterly. “Bianca looked everywhere after Sofia died.”
“Everywhere except where?”
Her eyes moved toward me.
Then toward Leo.
“The one place she could not stand,” Celeste whispered.
“Sofia’s room?”
“No.”
May you like
She looked at the nursery rocking chair.
“Your daughter’s grave.”
