Chapter 14 - Lorenzo dropped beside Isabella.“No.”
Rachel rushed forward.
“She's alive.”
Blood covered Isabella's side.
The bullet had entered high.
Mason called for the medical team.
Emma was freed.
Sophia pulled her close.
But Lorenzo saw only Isabella.
“Stay with me.”
Her eyes fluttered.
“I told you not to come.”
He laughed through tears.
“You keep telling me that.”
She tried to smile.
Then whispered:
“The ledger.”
“What?”
“They took it.”
Lorenzo looked up.
Richard was gone.
His mother was gone.
Enzo was gone.
Vincent was gone.
The entire operation had been designed to separate them.
But one thing Vincent had failed to understand.
Isabella had expected betrayal.
She had prepared for it.
“The ledger was a copy,” she whispered.
Lorenzo stared.
“What?”
“The real one.”
She reached weakly into her coat.
A tiny flash drive.
“I hid it.”
Lorenzo took it.
“Where?”
“Inside Bruno's collar.”
His heart stopped.
The bent metal ring.
The dog that had led them through the entire case.
Mason brought Bruno into the room.
The dog was trembling.
Lorenzo removed the collar.
Inside the metal housing was the drive.
Rachel plugged it into a secure computer.
Files opened.
Bank transfers.
Voice recordings.
Video files.
Photographs.
And one final document.
A complete map of the conspiracy.
Vincent had not acted alone.
Enzo had helped.
Richard had designed it.
But someone else had financed everything.
A name appeared.
MARGARET DE LUCA.
Lorenzo's mother.
He stared.
Rachel looked at the evidence.
“This says she funded the original operation.”
Lorenzo's mother stepped into the room.
“Yes.”
He turned.
“You lied.”
She nodded.
“I did.”
“Did you order the crash?”
“No.”
“Did you fake your death?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know Isabella was alive?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you let me bury her?”
His mother closed her eyes.
“Because Vincent had placed a tracker in your home.”
Lorenzo stared.
“Every conversation was monitored.”
“Every room?”
“Yes.”
“Then why was Emma allowed to tell me?”
His mother looked at the little girl.
“Because Vincent underestimated her.”
Sophia's eyes filled with tears.
“He always thought children saw nothing.”
Emma hugged her rabbit.
Then spoke quietly.
“He talks a lot.”
Lorenzo almost laughed.
Even now.
Rachel examined the drive.
“There is one more file.”
It contained a recorded conversation.
Vincent.
Enzo.
Richard.
Margaret.
They discussed the crash.
The burial.
Isabella.
Claire.
But one voice was missing.
The person who gave the final order.
Then the final recording started.
Vincent entered a room.
He was speaking to someone off-camera.
“Yes.”
A woman's voice answered.
“She still doesn't know?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Lorenzo froze.
He knew that voice.
Rachel looked at him.
“You recognize her?”
He nodded.
It belonged to Isabella.
Lorenzo stopped breathing.
The recording continued.
Isabella's voice was calm.
“I need the crash to look real.”
Vincent answered:
“And Lorenzo?”
“He must believe I'm dead.”
The recording ended.
No one spoke.
Lorenzo stared at his wife.
She began to cry.
“It was before the crash.”
“When?”
“Three days before.”
“You planned it?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I discovered the ledger.”
Lorenzo stared.
“You didn't trust me.”
“I didn't trust anyone.”
“You let me mourn you.”
“I thought it was the only way.”
He stood.
For the first time since she returned, there was distance between them.
Not because he hated her.
Because he realized she had carried the truth alone.
Then Emma walked over.
She tugged at Lorenzo's sleeve.
“Mr. DeLuca.”
He looked down.
“What?”
She whispered:
“There's another lady.”
Everyone froze.
“What lady?”
Emma pointed toward the basement door.
“The lady who gave Mrs. DeLuca the medicine.”
Rachel drew her weapon.
Lorenzo opened the door.
A woman stood in the darkness.
Green eyes.
Short hair.
Dark coat.
She looked exactly like Isabella.
Except older.
Scarred.
And holding a gun.
Lorenzo's mother whispered:
“No.”
The woman smiled.
Then said:
“Hello, Lorenzo.”
He looked at Isabella.
Then back at the stranger.
For a moment, there were two identical faces in the same room.
One alive.
One impossible.
May you like
The stranger raised the gun.
“She was never your wife.”
