Chapter 10 - The Man Who Should Have Been DeadThe residence outside Toronto stood behind a high stone wall, surrounded by snow-covered trees.

Two guards approached our vehicle.

I showed them my identification and asked to see Edward Crane.

One of them disappeared inside the house.

The second looked at me carefully.

“Mr. Vescari, you've been expected.”

I felt my stomach tighten.

Expected by whom?

The front door opened.

An elderly man stood in the doorway, leaning on a cane.

His hair had turned white, and age had carved deep lines into his face. But his eyes were unchanged.

My father's eyes.

“Dominic,” he said.

For a moment, I could not breathe.

I had imagined this meeting a thousand times. In some versions, I demanded answers. In others, I struck him. Sometimes I simply asked why he had abandoned us.

But standing before him, I discovered that anger was not the first emotion I felt.

It was grief.

I had spent twenty years missing a man who had been alive.

“Why?” I finally asked.

My father closed his eyes.

“Because I was a coward.”

The answer was so simple that I almost hated him more.

He invited us inside.

The house contained old photographs, medical equipment, and shelves filled with documents. A fire burned in the living room, but the atmosphere felt cold.

My father explained that Salvatore had built the network against his wishes. When he tried to expose it, his own men betrayed him.

He had survived an assassination attempt and disappeared to avoid being killed a second time.

“Why didn't you contact us?”

“I believed that if my enemies knew I was alive, they would target you.”

“So you let us believe you were dead.”

“Yes.”

“You let me take over a criminal empire without telling me who had built it.”

He looked down.

“I thought you could change it.”

“Change it?”

My laugh contained no humor.

“I spent years becoming the man you raised me to be.”

My father flinched.

“And I am sorry for that.”

He explained that Matteo had discovered the truth years earlier. Rather than revealing it, Matteo had infiltrated Salvatore's remaining network, collecting evidence and moving money to protect Alessandro's children.

He had hidden Gabriel because he believed the boy would become a target.

He had also paid for Maria's medical treatment anonymously until the operation collapsed.

“Then why did Matteo threaten me?” I demanded.

“Because he needed you to follow the trail without warning Salvatore.”

I shook my head.

“He sent men to attack us.”

My father hesitated.

“Some of the attacks were his. Others were not.”

“Who fired at us outside the school?”

“Salvatore's men.”

I stood.

“You're telling me everyone has been lying to everyone, and I'm supposed to believe you because you're my father?”

“No.”

He met my gaze.

“You should believe the evidence.”

He handed me a sealed envelope containing documents that linked Salvatore to the murders, illegal financial transfers, and the false death certificates.

At the bottom was an address.

An abandoned industrial complex in Chicago.

Salvatore's next meeting was scheduled for the following night.

I took the envelope.

“Why tell me now?”

My father looked toward the fire.

“Because Salvatore intends to erase the remaining evidence and kill everyone who can identify him. He knows you found the children. He knows Maria has the recording.”

“And you?”

He swallowed.

“I intend to testify.”

For a moment, I saw the man I remembered from childhood. The man who had once carried me on his shoulders through a crowded festival, who had taught me to ride a bicycle, who had promised that no one would ever hurt me.

Then I remembered the twenty years of silence.

“You don't get to be forgiven because you finally decided to tell the truth.”

“I know.”

I walked toward the door.

Behind me, my father called my name.

“Dominic.”

I turned.

He looked smaller than I remembered.

“Your brother wanted you to become a better man than me.”

I held his gaze.

“Then he should have been given the chance to tell me himself.”

I left him standing beside the fire.

Outside, Vincent was waiting.

“What now, boss?”

I looked toward the snowy road.

“Now we bring this family to an end.”

But as we drove away, a message arrived on my phone.

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It was from Maria.

LILY IS MISSING.