Chapter 7 - The Name They BuriedI slapped him.
The sound echoed through the warehouse.
Nobody moved.
Alessandro didn't react.
He just looked at me.
“You don't ever say that again.”
His voice was quiet.
“I hope I'm wrong.”
“You are.”
“I hope so.”
Elena stepped closer.
“Alessandro is telling the truth.”
I shook my head.
“My daughter's name is Emma.”
“Elena looked at her.”
“That's the name you gave her.”
I stared.
“What?”
Elena crouched.
“Her birth certificate was forged.”
“No.”
“Daniel and I arranged it.”
“Why?”
“To hide her.”
“From whom?”
She looked toward Matteo.
“From the Moretti family.”
Matteo smiled.
“She was born under another name.”
I clutched Emma.
“What name?”
Elena looked at Alessandro.
He whispered:
“Isabella.”
I laughed.
“No.”
“Her biological name is Isabella Moretti.”
Silence.
My daughter.
A Moretti.
I looked at Alessandro.
“You said you didn't know Daniel's daughter.”
“I didn't.”
“Then how do you know?”
“Because my father's records identified her.”
My legs felt weak.
Matteo stepped forward.
“She is the legal heir to accounts worth nearly four billion dollars.”
My stomach turned.
“That's why you want her?”
“No.”
His smile faded.
“I want what she can unlock.”
Alessandro looked at him.
“You mean the Black Meridian vault.”
Matteo nodded.
“The vault opens only with Isabella's biometric code.”
I looked at Emma.
“She doesn't know any code.”
“She doesn't need to.”
Matteo's eyes moved to me.
“She already opened it once.”
“What?”
“When she was two.”
I stared.
“Impossible.”
Matteo smiled.
“Daniel recorded everything.”
Alessandro moved toward him.
“You're lying.”
“Am I?”
Matteo tossed a small device onto the floor.
A screen lit up.
A video played.
Daniel appeared.
Alive.
He looked exhausted.
Beside him was a little girl.
Emma.
My Emma.
She was younger.
Daniel knelt before her.
“Isabella, listen carefully.”
The little girl nodded.
“If they ever come for you, you must remember one thing.”
The video continued.
“Never trust Alessandro Moretti.”
I looked at Alessandro.
His face had gone completely blank.
The video ended.
I turned toward him.
“Why did Daniel tell her not to trust you?”
Alessandro didn't answer.
Matteo smiled.
“Because Alessandro was there the night Daniel disappeared.”
I stepped backward.
“What did you do?”
He looked at me.
“I was the one who took your husband.”
The warehouse doors locked.
May you like
Then Matteo said:
“And now I'm going to tell you why.”
