Chapter 13 - The Confession That Broke the Romano Empire|
Gabriel didn't speak for several seconds.
Then he quietly put down the dish towel.
"Where is Cassandra?"
Daniel glanced toward Lily.
"Her attorney has arranged an interview with investigators."
Gabriel nodded.
"Good."
He looked toward his daughter.
She was still standing at the sink, carefully washing a plate.
She hadn't heard the conversation.
I felt relieved.
Gabriel turned back toward Daniel.
"Let Rebecca handle it."
Daniel nodded.
"Understood."
I looked at Gabriel in surprise.
He noticed.
"What?"
"I thought you'd want to go."
He looked toward Lily.
"I do."
He paused.
"But there are people whose job it is to investigate crimes."
His voice softened.
"My job tonight is to be her father."
Something warm moved through my chest.
Not because he had stopped caring about the truth.
Because he had finally learned that chasing it didn't require abandoning his daughter.
Later, after Lily went upstairs, Gabriel and I sat on the back terrace.
A cool evening breeze moved through the rose garden.
The mansion was quieter than it had been in days.
My father had returned safely to his apartment, with arrangements in place to protect him while investigators examined the threats.
The greenhouse remained closed.
Margaret was cooperating with the police.
And Raymond and Cassandra were facing serious questions about the financial records and threats made during the engagement dinner.
But we still didn't know who had ordered the tampering with Elena's car.
Gabriel stared toward the garden.
"Elena used to sit here every Sunday."
I looked at him.
"Really?"
He nodded.
"She'd drink coffee and complain that I worked too much."
I smiled faintly.
"Sounds like she knew you well."
He laughed softly.
"Better than I knew myself."
There was a long silence.
Then he said, "I keep remembering our last argument."
I looked at him.
He continued.
"She wanted me to spend more time with Lily."
His expression tightened.
"I told her I was building something for our family."
He shook his head.
"She said our daughter didn't need a bigger house."
I waited.
Gabriel looked toward the windows.
"She needed her father."
My throat tightened.
He swallowed.
"I told Elena I'd have more time after the next deal."
He gave a bitter smile.
"There's always another deal."
I looked down at my hands.
"She sounds like a remarkable woman."
Gabriel nodded.
"She was."
He looked at me.
"And I think she would have liked you."
I felt tears sting my eyes.
"Thank you."
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then Gabriel's phone rang.
Rebecca.
He answered immediately.
"Tell me."
I watched his expression change as he listened.
First disbelief.
Then anger.
Then something much worse.
Recognition.
He closed his eyes.
"Are you certain?"
A pause.
"Has any of it been corroborated?"
Another pause.
"Understood."
He ended the call.
I leaned forward.
"Gabriel?"
He stared into the darkness.
Then he said quietly, "Victor."
My stomach dropped.
"What?"
Gabriel looked at me.
"According to Cassandra, Victor arranged the final interference with Elena's car."
I pressed a hand against my mouth.
Gabriel continued.
"She claims Raymond wanted to intimidate Elena and stop the investigation."
His jaw tightened.
"But Victor believed she had enough evidence to expose both of them."
I stared.
"Both?"
Gabriel nodded.
"Victor had been taking money too."
My heart began racing.
"He was part of it from the beginning?"
"According to her statement."
Gabriel looked toward the garden.
"She says Victor ordered the car collected from the garage."
I thought of my father.
His frightened face.
His admission that someone had threatened me.
Gabriel continued.
"Cassandra drove the car away, but she claims Victor arranged for another person to tamper with it again before Elena received it."
I felt sick.
"Why would she tell the truth now?"
Gabriel looked at me.
"She wants a deal."
I stared.
"Can she get one?"
"That's for prosecutors to decide."
He swallowed.
"Rebecca says the investigators are treating her statement as a lead that requires independent evidence."
I nodded slowly.
It mattered that he understood the difference.
Cassandra had lied so often that her word alone couldn't settle what happened to Elena.
But the statement offered a direction.
And Elena's notebook, my father's photographs, and the old financial records might finally provide the proof.
Gabriel looked exhausted.
"I trusted Victor."
His voice broke.
"I trusted him with Elena's estate."
I said nothing.
"He helped arrange her funeral."
Gabriel pressed his hand against his eyes.
"He stood beside me when I buried her."
I felt my heart ache.
"And all that time—"
He stopped.
I moved closer.
"Gabriel."
He looked at me.
"You didn't know."
He shook his head.
"I should have."
I swallowed.
"Maybe."
He stared.
I continued gently.
"But you can't change what you missed three years ago."
He looked down.
"You can change what you do now."
For a moment, he was silent.
Then he nodded.
"You're right."
The next several days were unlike anything I had ever experienced.
Investigators interviewed former foundation employees.
Financial specialists reviewed the transfers in Elena's notebook.
Rebecca arranged for the original documents to be examined by independent experts.
My father gave a detailed recorded statement about the brake inspection.
And the garage's archived service records were recovered from an old backup system.
Slowly, pieces began fitting together.
The photographs my father had preserved showed damage consistent with deliberate interference.
The garage records showed that the car had been released through an authorization entered by a manager later found to have received payments connected to Victor's accounts.
Investigators also located communications linking Victor to the person accused of carrying out the later tampering.
Most importantly, Cassandra's description of events matched records she had not been shown.
It was no longer simply one person's accusation.
It was a growing body of evidence.
A week after the engagement dinner, Gabriel received another call from Rebecca.
I was in the kitchen helping Lily with a school project when he entered.
His face was pale.
Lily immediately looked up.
"Daddy?"
He smiled gently.
"Hey, sweetheart."
She studied him.
"Are you sad?"
He hesitated.
"Yes."
Lily put down her pencil.
"Because of Mommy?"
He nodded.
She walked toward him.
Then wrapped her arms around his waist.
Gabriel closed his eyes and held her.
I looked away.
After a moment, Lily whispered, "You can miss her with me."
Gabriel's face crumpled.
He knelt and hugged her tightly.
"Thank you, baby."
Lily kissed his cheek.
Then she returned to her project.
Gabriel looked toward me.
"Can we speak?"
I nodded.
We stepped into the hallway.
He took a slow breath.
"Victor has been arrested."
I felt my stomach tighten.
Gabriel continued.
"He's been charged in connection with Elena's death."
I stared.
"And Raymond?"
"Investigators have also brought additional charges against him related to the conspiracy and financial scheme."
I swallowed.
"Cassandra?"
"She's facing charges too."
Gabriel looked toward the kitchen.
"Her cooperation doesn't erase what she did."
I nodded.
"Of course."
He leaned against the wall.
For a moment, he looked older than forty.
His eyes were tired.
His shoulders heavy.
But beneath the exhaustion, I saw something new.
Relief.
Not happiness.
Not closure.
Just the first fragile possibility that the truth might finally be known.
Gabriel looked at me.
"Rebecca says the prosecutors believe they have sufficient evidence to proceed."
I smiled sadly.
"That's something."
He nodded.
"Yes."
Then he looked toward Lily.
"But the court process could take a long time."
I swallowed.
"Then we'll take it one day at a time."
Gabriel looked at me.
The word seemed to catch him.
"We?"
My face warmed.
I hadn't meant to say it that way.
I looked down.
"I meant Lily and everyone helping her."
He smiled faintly.
"I know."
But his expression changed.
He looked at me for a long moment.
Then he said, "Natalie, you've given this family something I don't know how to repay."
I shook my head.
"You don't owe me anything."
"I disagree."
I looked up.
He continued.
"You protected my daughter when I wasn't paying attention."
His voice softened.
"You helped uncover the truth about Elena."
He paused.
"And you've reminded me what kind of father I need to be."
My eyes filled.
"Gabriel—"
He gently interrupted.
"I want you to know something."
I stared.
"You never have to remain employed here out of fear."
My throat tightened.
He continued.
"Your father's care will not depend on whether you continue working in this house."
I looked at him in disbelief.
"What?"
Gabriel nodded.
"Rebecca can arrange assistance through a properly documented fund, without asking you for anything in return."
I shook my head.
"I can't accept—"
"Then at least consider it."
His voice was gentle.
"You've spent so long taking care of everyone else."
I swallowed.
"That doesn't mean you owe me your life."
For several seconds, I couldn't speak.
Because nobody had ever offered me help without first asking what I could give in return.
Gabriel stepped back.
"I also owe you something more important."
I frowned.
"What?"
He took a breath.
"An apology for every time you were treated as though your voice didn't matter."
Tears slipped down my cheeks.
He continued.
"You were never invisible, Natalie."
I looked at him.
"And you never deserved to be treated that way."
Before I could answer, Lily appeared in the doorway.
She looked between us.
Then grinned.
"Are you two crying again?"
I laughed through my tears.
Gabriel smiled.
"Apparently."
Lily folded her arms.
"Well, I have something important to announce."
Gabriel raised an eyebrow.
"What is it?"
She lifted a colorful piece of paper.
"My school is having another performance."
Gabriel's expression changed.
"When?"
"Next Friday."
He looked at the flyer.
Lily watched him carefully.
"You're busy, aren't you?"
Gabriel knelt.
"No."
She blinked.
"Really?"
He nodded.
"Really."
Lily looked doubtful.
"What about meetings?"
"I'll reschedule them."
"Phone calls?"
"They can wait."
She stared at him.
Then whispered, "Promise?"
Gabriel smiled.
He held out his little finger.
"Promise."
Lily linked hers with his.
Then looked toward me.
"And Natalie?"
I smiled.
"I'll be there."
Lily's entire face lit up.
She hugged us both.
And for the first time since I'd entered the Romano mansion, I understood something important.
The greatest thing Gabriel could give his daughter wasn't money.
It wasn't protection.
It wasn't even justice.
It was the simple certainty that when she looked into the audience, her father would be there.
But that Friday, just before the performance began, Lily received something none of us expected.
A package addressed in handwriting she recognized instantly.
Her mother's.
May you like
And inside was a recording Elena had made three years earlier.
A recording none of us knew existed.
