Chapter 4 - The Secret Her Mother Took to the Grave
Sadi had spent her entire life believing her father was dead.
Her mother had told her that when she was six.
There had been no photograph.
No grave.
No stories.
Only a name.
Michael Bennett.
“He died before you were old enough to remember him,” Elena had said.
Sadi had accepted it because children accept the architecture their parents build around them.
Now she sat inside Roman's library staring at the photograph from Trevor's safe.
“Ask about her father.”
Roman stood across from her.
Neither spoke for several minutes.
Finally Sadi whispered, “Did your father know mine?”
“We'll find out.”
Arthur entered carrying another file.
Roman looked at him.
“That was fast.”
“It wasn't difficult once we stopped searching for Michael Bennett.”
Sadi's stomach tightened.
“What do you mean?”
Arthur sat opposite her.
“There is no Michael Bennett matching your mother's history.”
Sadi stared.
“So he didn't exist?”
“The identity appears fabricated.”
Roman leaned against the desk.
“Who was her father?”
Arthur hesitated.
“That's where it gets complicated.”
Sadi almost laughed.
“More complicated?”
Arthur slid a photograph across the desk.
A young Elena stood outside a restaurant.
Beside her was Alessandro Moretti.
And beside Alessandro stood another man.
Sadi looked at Roman.
The resemblance was unmistakable.
“Who is that?”
Roman answered quietly.
“My uncle Gabriel.”
Arthur nodded.
“Gabriel Moretti disappeared twenty-eight years ago.”
Sadi felt dizzy.
“Disappeared?”
“Presumed dead,” Roman said.
“Was he?”
“No body was recovered.”
Sadi looked between them.
“You think Gabriel was my father?”
Arthur didn't answer immediately.
“We think it's possible.”
Roman came beside her.
Sadi pushed away from the desk.
“No.”
“Sadi.”
“No. My mother would have told me.”
“Maybe she couldn't.”
“She had twenty-six years.”
Roman said nothing.
That hurt because she knew what his silence meant.
He believed Elena had been protecting her.
Sadi walked toward the window.
All her childhood memories rearranged themselves.
Different apartments.
Different cities.
Her mother refusing to put Sadi's photograph online.
Never staying anywhere more than a few years.
The locked suitcase Elena carried everywhere.
The envelope.
“Why would Gabriel disappear?”
Roman's expression darkened.
“He discovered Vincent's theft before my father did.”
Sadi turned.
“You knew that?”
“I knew Gabriel accused someone inside the family organization of stealing. I didn't know it was Vincent.”
“What happened?”
“Gabriel disappeared.”
“And everyone assumed he was dead?”
“Yes.”
Sadi pressed her fingers against her temples.
“Then Vincent might have killed him too.”
“Possibly.”
The phone rang.
Arthur answered.
His expression changed.
“What?”
Roman asked.
“We found the deposit box.”
Everyone went still.
Arthur explained that the brass key's serial number appeared in one of Trevor's investigator reports.
The box belonged to a private bank downtown.
The account was still active.
Under Elena Bennett's name.
They went immediately.
The bank manager took one look at Roman's identification and became extraordinarily cooperative.
Sadi produced documents proving Elena was her mother.
After a long legal consultation, they were escorted underground.
Box 417.
The manager inserted his key.
Sadi inserted the brass key recovered earlier from a storage location identified in Trevor's records.
The lock turned.
Inside was a single black case.
Sadi carried it into a private viewing room.
Roman sat beside her.
“You open it.”
Her hands trembled.
She lifted the lid.
Inside were financial ledgers.
Photographs.
Three cassette tapes.
A handwritten letter.
And a sealed envelope bearing Sadi's name.
Her throat tightened.
She recognized her mother's handwriting.
Sadi opened it.
My darling Sadi,
If you're reading this, then I failed to keep the past buried.
Her vision blurred.
Roman's hand covered hers.
She continued.
Elena explained everything.
Gabriel Moretti had been Sadi's biological father.
He had fallen in love with Elena while she worked for Alessandro.
Gabriel discovered Vincent Caruso had been stealing money and secretly selling confidential information.
When Gabriel prepared to expose him, he disappeared.
Elena was pregnant.
Alessandro Moretti believed Vincent was responsible.
He moved Elena away from the city, gave her a new identity, and created a trust for Sadi.
He promised to expose Vincent when he had enough evidence.
He never got the chance.
Years later, Alessandro died.
Elena believed Vincent had found him first.
At the bottom of the letter was one final instruction.
If Roman Moretti is alive when you read this, trust him.
Sadi stopped.
Roman stared at the line.
“My mother knew you?”
“I don't remember meeting her.”
“She trusted you.”
Roman looked away.
“My father must have told her.”
Sadi opened another envelope.
Inside were bank transfers.
Arthur examined them.
“This is enough.”
“For what?”
“To prove Vincent stole from the Moretti companies.”
Roman looked through another file.
“And possibly enough to reopen my father's death.”
Then Sadi noticed something beneath the papers.
A recent photograph.
Not old.
Recent.
A man with gray hair sat outside a small coastal café.
Sadi turned it over.
A date had been written on the back.
Six months earlier.
The name underneath made Roman stand abruptly.
GABRIEL MORETTI.
Sadi stared.
“My father is alive?”
Roman took the photograph.
Arthur looked equally stunned.
“That isn't possible.”
But it was.
The man was older.
Thinner.
Yet his resemblance to Roman was undeniable.
Sadi's eyes filled.
For twenty-nine years, she had believed her father was dead.
He had been alive.
Somewhere.
Roman's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Moretti.”
A man's voice spoke.
Roman's expression changed.
He placed the phone on speaker.
“Sadi,” the stranger said.
Her heart stopped.
“Who is this?”
A long silence.
Then:
“My name is Gabriel.”
Sadi couldn't breathe.
“Are you—”
“Yes.”
Her hand covered her mouth.
“I'm your father.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because Vincent is watching.”
Roman leaned toward the phone.
“Uncle Gabriel.”
The man went silent.
“Roman.”
“You've been alive all this time.”
“I didn't have a choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
“Not when a child's life depends on disappearing.”
Sadi closed her eyes.
Gabriel continued.
“Elena promised me she would keep Sadi safe.”
“She did,” Sadi whispered.
Gabriel's voice broke slightly.
“I know.”
“Why didn't you come back after Vincent disappeared?”
“Because he never disappeared.”
Roman frowned.
“What?”
“Vincent had help.”
“From who?”
Gabriel hesitated.
“That is why I'm calling.”
Roman's expression hardened.
“Tell me.”
“The person protecting Vincent has been inside your organization for years.”
Arthur went still.
Sadi looked at him.
Roman's voice lowered.
“Who?”
Gabriel answered.
“Someone you trust with your life.”
The line suddenly disconnected.
Roman called back.
Nothing.
Arthur began tracing the number.
Sadi stared around the room.
Someone Roman trusted.
Someone close enough to know their movements.
Someone who knew she was going to the Galleria.
Then Sadi remembered something.
She had told only three people where she was shopping that afternoon.
Roman.
Arthur.
And Daniel.
At that exact moment, the bank's private-room door opened.
Daniel stood there.
May you like
And in his hand was Sadi's missing envelope.
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