Chapter 4 - The Man Who VanishedVictor Dane had not escaped.
That was the problem.
Every door was guarded.
Every corridor was watched.
The cameras covered the entire estate.
Yet Victor had disappeared.
Marco shouted into his radio.
“Find him.”
Alessandro remained beside Ethan.
His son was shaking.
“Dad, is Victor bad?”
Alessandro looked at him.
“I don't know.”
That was the truth.
For the first time in many years, Alessandro did not know whom he could trust.
He turned to the security monitors.
“Replay the blackout.”
Marco looked confused.
“All cameras.”
“Everything.”
The footage played.
Blackness.
Three seconds.
Then light.
People moved.
But Victor did not.
He simply vanished between frames.
Alessandro leaned closer.
“Stop.”
Marco froze the image.
Victor stood behind Elena.
Three seconds later, he was gone.
No movement.
No visible exit.
Alessandro's eyes narrowed.
“That's impossible.”
Marco enlarged the frame.
There was something behind Victor.
A reflection.
In the glass cabinet beside the wall.
A narrow figure.
A man wearing a dark suit.
And on his hand, a black signet ring.
Alessandro's blood went cold.
“Zoom.”
The image sharpened.
The face remained obscured.
But the ring was unmistakable.
The Moretti family crest.
Marco whispered, “Gabriel.”
Alessandro shook his head.
“Gabriel is dead.”
Marco looked at him.
“Are you sure?”
Alessandro didn't answer.
The hall doors suddenly opened.
Everyone flinched.
One guard shouted.
A woman entered.
She was old, soaked from the rain, and carrying a leather bag.
Alessandro recognized her.
Rosa Bellini.
His father's former secretary.
He had not seen her in fifteen years.
She looked directly at Alessandro.
Then at Lily.
Then at the cake.
And began to cry.
“I'm too late.”
Alessandro stepped forward.
“Too late for what?”
Rosa opened the leather bag.
Inside was a photograph.
She placed it on the table.
The picture showed two men standing beside a black car.
One was Alessandro's father.
The other was Gabriel.
Alive.
And between them stood a third man.
Daniel Romano.
Sophia screamed.
Alessandro stared at the image.
“What is this?”
Rosa answered.
“The night your father was betrayed.”
Alessandro's eyes narrowed.
“By whom?”
Rosa looked around the room.
She was trembling.
“By someone who is standing in this room right now.”
The guests recoiled.
Alessandro's voice dropped.
“Tell me.”
Rosa looked at him.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because he knows I found the ledger.”
“What ledger?”
Rosa's hands shook.
“The one your father hid before he died.”
Alessandro took one step closer.
“Where is it?”
Rosa looked toward the fireplace.
Then at Ethan.
Then at Lily.
Her eyes filled with fear.
“It was never hidden in this house.”
Alessandro frowned.
“Where, then?”
Rosa whispered:
“Inside your family.”
A gunshot exploded from the balcony.
Rosa fell.
The photograph landed on the marble.
Everyone screamed.
Alessandro dragged Ethan down.
Marco raised his weapon.
But the shooter was already gone.
Alessandro looked at Rosa.
Blood stained her blouse.
She reached toward him.
“One more thing.”
“What?”
She whispered:
“Your father did not die naturally.”
May you like
Then her hand fell.
And the entire estate went dark again.
