Chapter 4 - The Secret Beneath the Bianchi Empire|
For twenty-five years, Lorenzo Bianchi had believed his mother died in a boating accident off the coast of Italy.
He remembered the funeral.
The black suits.
His father's hand on his shoulder.
Isabella crying in their grandmother's arms.
There had been a closed coffin.
He never questioned it.
Not until Amelia showed him the photograph.
The woman standing beside Antonio Bianchi and Victor Moretti looked exactly like his mother.
Dark hair.
Gray eyes.
A small scar near her chin.
But the photograph was dated fourteen years after her supposed death.
Lorenzo stared.
"Where did this come from?"
Amelia shook her head.
"I don't know."
He studied the image.
The background showed a conference room.
Behind the three people was a company logo.
Bianchi-Moretti Maritime.
His stomach tightened.
That company had supposedly been dissolved years earlier.
He looked toward Amelia.
"I need to speak with my father's attorney."
She nodded.
"Then do it."
He hesitated.
"Will you stay somewhere safe while I investigate?"
Amelia looked at him carefully.
"I'll stay somewhere I choose."
Lorenzo nodded.
"Fair."
For a moment, she seemed surprised.
Then she gave a small smile.
It vanished quickly.
But he saw it.
And for the first time in fourteen days, hope moved through him.
Not that she would forgive him.
Not that the wedding would somehow resume.
Only that she might one day look at him without fear.
That evening, Lorenzo met with his father's former attorney, Samuel Price.
Samuel was seventy-two, silver-haired, and one of the few men who remembered the Bianchi family before it became powerful.
He examined the photograph.
Then sighed.
"Where did you get this?"
Lorenzo leaned forward.
"Is that my mother?"
Samuel hesitated.
"Yes."
Lorenzo went completely still.
"My mother is dead."
The attorney looked away.
"That's what your father told you."
Silence.
Then Lorenzo asked:
"Was she alive when this photograph was taken?"
Samuel nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Lorenzo felt the room tilt.
Twenty-five years.
Twenty-five years believing his mother was gone.
Twenty-five years of birthdays, Christmases, and grief.
And she had been alive.
"Why?" he whispered.
Samuel closed his eyes.
"Your parents were involved in a business arrangement."
Lorenzo laughed bitterly.
"Of course they were."
Samuel continued.
"Your mother, Elena, held a significant interest in the original maritime company."
Lorenzo frowned.
"How?"
"She inherited shares from her father."
"And?"
"Your father and Victor wanted to restructure the company."
Lorenzo's expression hardened.
"Did she refuse?"
Samuel nodded.
"She believed the new arrangement would conceal illegal activities."
Silence.
Then Samuel said quietly:
"She wanted out."
Lorenzo stared.
"What happened?"
"She disappeared."
"Disappeared?"
Samuel nodded.
"Your father told everyone she died."
Lorenzo closed his eyes.
For years, he'd admired his father.
Followed his example.
Built his own reputation using the same rules.
Loyalty.
Discipline.
Control.
Now he was learning those rules may have been built on lies.
"Did my father know where she went?"
Samuel hesitated.
"Possibly."
Lorenzo looked up sharply.
"Then why didn't he bring her home?"
The attorney's expression changed.
"Because he was afraid of what she knew."
The room became silent.
Then Samuel reached into his briefcase.
He removed an old envelope.
"This was left with me years ago."
Lorenzo stared.
"By whom?"
"Your mother."
His hands began trembling.
He opened the envelope.
Inside was a letter.
My beloved Lorenzo,
If you're reading this, then the truth has finally reached you.
I never abandoned you or Isabella.
I wanted to come home.
But someone made it impossible.
Lorenzo's eyes filled.
He kept reading.
Your father was not the man you believed him to be.
And Victor Moretti was not his partner.
He was the man controlling him.
Lorenzo swallowed.
Then the final paragraph made his blood run cold.
If you ever fall in love with a woman named Amelia Hart, protect her.
He stopped breathing.
Amelia.
The woman he'd met three years ago.
The woman his mother somehow knew about long before their wedding.
He looked at Samuel.
"What does this mean?"
Samuel's face went pale.
"Lorenzo..."
"How did my mother know Amelia?"
The attorney hesitated.
May you like
Then whispered:
"Because Amelia Hart is connected to the family your father helped destroy."
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