Chapter 5 - Roman Finally Tells the Truth
The ballroom fell silent when Roman and Sophia entered together.
Carlo stood onstage.
Behind him, a giant screen displayed financial documents supposedly proving Roman had diverted millions from the Duca Foundation.
Sophia nearly laughed.
The same trick Carlo had used for decades.
Manipulate numbers.
Create doubt.
Then let reputation do the rest.
Carlo saw them.
“So he finally arrives.”
Roman started forward.
Sophia took his hand.
“Not yet.”
Roman looked at her.
For once, he listened.
Carlo continued.
“For years, Roman Duca has presented himself as the protector of this family.”
Sophia watched journalists raise phones.
“But these documents reveal something else.”
Roman whispered, “They're forged.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“My father taught me bookkeeping when I was sixteen.”
Roman blinked.
Sophia pointed discreetly.
“Look at column seven. The transfer dates are Sundays. The foundation doesn't process outgoing transfers on Sundays.”
Roman's expression changed.
“You're sure?”
“Yes.”
Sophia walked toward the stage.
Carlo frowned.
“Sophia.”
She took the microphone.
“You forgot my father taught me numbers.”
Whispers spread.
Carlo smiled.
“This isn't your concern.”
“It became my concern twenty-three years ago.”
Sophia displayed Daniel's documents.
One by one, the contradictions appeared.
False transfer dates.
Duplicated authorization numbers.
Accounts connected to Carlo.
The evidence wasn't sensational.
It didn't need to be.
It was simple.
Clear.
Documented.
By the time Sophia finished, Carlo's confidence had disappeared.
Then Roman took the microphone.
Everyone expected anger.
Instead he said:
“Carlo is right about one thing.”
The room became still.
“I lied.”
Sophia looked at him.
Roman continued.
“I lied to my wife for five years.”
A murmur spread.
“I knew her father before the night he died. I hid that because I made Daniel Moretti a promise.”
Roman looked at Sophia.
“But somewhere along the way, I stopped protecting his promise and started protecting myself.”
Sophia's eyes filled.
“I was afraid that if Sophia knew how much I'd hidden, she would leave.”
Roman turned toward the audience.
“That's the truth.”
No excuses.
No performance.
Just truth.
“And if she decides tonight that she can never forgive me, she has that right.”
Sophia stared at the man she married.
For five years she had thought Roman's greatest strength was his control.
She realized now that his greatest strength might be standing before hundreds of people and surrendering it.
Carlo stepped backward.
“You think this proves anything?”
A new voice answered.
“It proves enough.”
Isabella entered.
She carried a thick folder.
Roman frowned.
“Mother?”
Isabella approached the stage.
“I spent twenty-three years pretending our family could survive if we simply stopped talking about what happened.”
She looked at Sophia.
“I was wrong.”
Inside the folder were letters Anna had sent Isabella.
Letters Isabella had hidden because they exposed Vittorio's decision to protect Carlo.
Isabella had never shown them to anyone.
Until now.
Carlo stared.
“You kept those?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I was a coward.”
Isabella looked at her brother.
“And because some part of me knew this day would come.”
Carlo's face finally broke.
“You'll destroy the family.”
“No,” Isabella said.
“You did that.”
Security approached.
Not Roman's men.
The venue's security staff and attorneys representing the foundation.
The evidence would be turned over to investigators.
Carlo looked at Roman.
“You're going to let outsiders tear through everything your father built?”
Roman nodded.
“If that's what it takes.”
“You'd sacrifice your father's name?”
“For the truth?”
Roman looked at Sophia.
“Yes.”
Carlo laughed bitterly.
“Daniel warned me you were weak where she was concerned.”
Sophia's heart stopped.
Roman's eyes narrowed.
“When did Daniel say that?”
Carlo realized his mistake.
Too late.
Sophia stepped toward him.
“You spoke to my father the night he died.”
Carlo said nothing.
“Didn't you?”
Silence.
Roman moved forward.
Carlo raised both hands.
“I never touched him.”
Sophia stared.
“Then what happened?”
Carlo looked around.
Perhaps he understood that there was nowhere left to hide.
“Daniel called me after meeting Roman.”
Roman froze.
“He offered you a deal?”
Carlo nodded.
“He said he would return one piece of the evidence.”
“Why?”
“To make me believe he was surrendering.”
Sophia understood.
“But he wasn't.”
“No.”
Carlo's expression became hollow.
“He was buying time for you.”
“What happened?”
“We argued. He left.”
Sophia's voice shook.
“And then?”
Carlo looked at her.
“He was driving to Saint Vincent when his car went off the road.”
The official report had called Daniel's death complications from the crash.
Sophia had always wondered.
“Was anyone following him?”
Carlo did not answer.
Roman stepped closer.
“Carlo.”
Finally:
“Yes.”
Sophia closed her eyes.
“Who?”
Carlo looked toward Isabella.
Then toward Roman.
“It wasn't me.”
“Who was it?”
Carlo swallowed.
“Vittorio.”
Roman stopped breathing.
“My father was dead by then.”
Carlo shook his head.
“No, Roman.”
A terrible silence followed.
“That's another lie this family has lived with.”
Roman stared at his uncle.
“What are you saying?”
Carlo delivered the secret nobody in the ballroom expected.
“Vittorio Duca didn't die six years ago.”
May you like
Roman's face emptied of color.
“He disappeared.”
