Chapter 9 - The Judge Who Ordered His Own ExecutionMarcus Castellan had known he was going to die. What Sophia never knew was that he planned it.
The room seemed to disappear.
"My father?"
Arthur nodded.
"He ordered the fire."
Sophia stared.
"No."
"He believed it was the only way to disappear."
"Then why were we hunted?"
"Because the people behind Edward didn't know the truth."
Enzo stepped forward.
"Explain."
Arthur looked at him.
"Three years ago, Marcus discovered Edward had infiltrated the entire network."
"How?"
"He planted false evidence."
"Against whom?"
"Everyone."
Arthur walked toward the projector.
"Your father created the appearance of corruption inside his own household."
Sophia looked at the documents.
Her father had been building evidence against himself.
Against Enzo.
Against Matteo.
Against people who were actually trying to protect him.
"So the fire..."
"Was staged."
Sophia shook her head.
"I saw the flames."
"You were supposed to."
Her mother coughed from the floor.
Arthur knelt beside her.
"She survived because Matteo pulled her out."
Sophia stared at him.
"And my father?"
Arthur hesitated.
"Marcus stayed inside."
Her voice broke.
"He died."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because someone had to."
Enzo looked at the archive.
"Then what is the real secret?"
Arthur's expression changed.
"The Black Ledger was never designed to expose the network."
He pointed toward Sophia.
"It was designed to expose the man who owned it."
"Edward Vale?"
Arthur shook his head.
"No."
Sophia looked at Enzo.
"Then who?"
Arthur answered softly.
"Daniel Vale."
Sophia frowned.
"Edward's father?"
"Exactly."
The name meant nothing to her.
Enzo reacted immediately.
"He died twenty years ago."
Arthur smiled.
"That is the story."
Sophia suddenly remembered her father's old files.
A shipping company.
A construction company.
A private foundation.
All carrying the initials D.V.
Daniel Vale had supposedly died in a boating accident.
Except Arthur said otherwise.
"He's alive."
Arthur nodded.
"And he controls the people controlling Edward."
Sophia's mother forced herself upright.
"Marcus knew Daniel was alive."
"Then why didn't he expose him?"
"Because Daniel had one thing your father could not fight."
"What?"
Her mother looked at Sophia.
"Your life."
A phone rang.
Enzo answered.
A voice came through.
Matteo.
"Brother."
Enzo's eyes hardened.
"Where are you?"
"Close."
"Come out."
"I can't."
"Why?"
A pause.
"Because Edward has your men."
Enzo's jaw tightened.
"How many?"
"All of them."
He looked toward Arthur.
"This is a trap."
Matteo continued.
"Bring Sophia."
"No."
Matteo laughed sadly.
"I expected that."
Then another voice entered the call.
Edward Vale.
"Hello, Lorenzo."
Sophia felt sick.
"Edward."
He laughed.
"You know my name."
"I know what you did."
"No."
His voice became amused.
"You know what your father wanted you to believe."
Enzo stepped closer.
"Where is Matteo?"
"Safe."
"Where?"
"At the place where your brother should have died."
The line went dead.
Arthur's phone vibrated.
A location appeared.
Sophia recognized it.
The Castellan family cemetery.
Her father's grave.
She looked at Enzo.
"They're there."
"Then we go."
Her mother grabbed Sophia's wrist.
"Don't."
"Mom..."
"He wants you to come."
"I know."
"Because he knows what your father hid beneath the grave."
Sophia stopped.
"What?"
Her mother closed her eyes.
"The final ledger."
Enzo looked at Arthur.
"Is that why Edward killed the others?"
Arthur nodded.
"The ledger is not paper."
"What is it?"
Arthur looked directly at Sophia.
"You."
She stared.
"I don't understand."
"Your father encoded the final evidence into your piano compositions."
Her blood ran cold.
"The music."
Arthur nodded.
"You have been carrying the ledger for three years without knowing it."
Enzo understood.
"Every song she learned."
"Every piece."
Sophia shook her head.
"No."
Arthur's expression softened.
"Yes."
The graveyard waited outside.
Dark.
Cold.
And somewhere among the dead was the last thing her father had hidden.
The truth inside her music.
Sophia looked at Enzo.
"What happens if I remember everything?"
He answered honestly.
"I don't know."
A gunshot echoed from the cemetery.
Then another.
Then Matteo's voice over the phone, barely audible:
"Run."
Sophia froze.
"Why?"
Matteo whispered:
May you like
"Because Edward found the grave."
Then the call cut.
Related Stories
