Chapter 7 - The Secret Beneath the Ferrante Estate
Roland did not deny it.
That was what shocked Aldrich most.
They confronted him inside Nathaniel Price's office before sunrise.
Aldrich placed the photograph on the desk.
“Tell me.”
Roland stared.
Then lowered his head.
“I was twenty-six.”
Aldrich's voice shook.
“You killed my brother?”
“No.”
“Cosmo wrote your name.”
“I tampered with the car.”
Riona felt the room go silent.
Aldrich crossed the distance between them, but Riona caught his arm.
Not because Roland deserved protection.
Because Aldrich deserved not to become something he'd regret.
“Let him talk.”
Roland's eyes were wet.
“I was supposed to make the car fail after Cosmo reached the warehouse district. Low speed. No passengers. It was meant to frighten him.”
“Who ordered it?”
Roland looked away.
“Who?”
“My father.”
Aldrich froze.
“Your father worked for the Omonts.”
“Yes.”
Roland continued.
“He wanted Cosmo to abandon expansion into Toronto.”
“And Lucas?”
“I didn't know he would take the car.”
Aldrich's face twisted.
“The vehicle failed on the highway.”
“I made a mistake.”
“A mistake?”
“I was a stupid man trying to impress a father who valued obedience more than conscience.”
Aldrich turned away.
Riona saw his shoulders shake once.
Roland continued.
“Serafina discovered what I'd done six years later.”
“And blackmailed you.”
“Yes.”
“That is why you framed Riona.”
“Yes.”
Aldrich laughed without humor.
“So my brother died because you wanted your father's approval. Riona lost eight years because you feared my aunt. And I'm supposed to do what with that?”
“Nothing.”
Roland looked at him.
“I am not asking forgiveness.”
For once, Aldrich believed him.
Roland pushed another key across the desk.
“What is this?”
“The original archive access.”
Aldrich frowned.
“The cellar?”
“No.”
Roland looked at Riona.
“The archive you opened yesterday wasn't Cosmo's real archive.”
Riona almost laughed.
“Of course it wasn't.”
“He never trusted one location.”
“Where?”
“Under the chapel.”
Ferrante estate had a private chapel built before Aldrich was born.
Small.
Stone.
Unused for years.
They returned after sunrise.
Behind the altar, Roland showed them a floor panel.
The key opened a concealed lock.
Below was a narrow staircase.
Riona looked at Aldrich.
“Your grandfather had issues.”
Aldrich nodded.
“Finally something we agree on.”
Beneath the chapel waited another room.
Smaller.
Climate controlled.
Shelves of documents.
And one wooden box.
FOR ALDRICH.
Inside lay twelve letters.
One for each year beginning shortly after Lucas died.
Aldrich opened the first.
Cosmo's handwriting.
I failed you today. You asked why Lucas died, and I told you accidents happen. That was not the whole truth.
Aldrich sat.
Riona remained quietly beside him.
The letters documented Cosmo's transformation.
His guilt.
His suspicion.
His decision to move the family toward legitimate businesses.
His fear of Serafina.
His admiration for Riona when she discovered the financial restructuring years later.
Then came the final letter.
Written two years ago.
Aldrich, if you ever find Riona again, do not begin by asking why she left. Begin by asking what you did that made leaving feel safer than staying.
Aldrich closed his eyes.
Riona looked away.
Cosmo continued.
If Anel is with her, you have received a mercy I did not deserve to arrange. Do not waste it.
Aldrich's hand stopped.
Anel.
Cosmo knew his name.
“When did he learn?” Aldrich whispered.
Riona shook her head.
A separate envelope answered.
Inside were annual photographs.
Anel at one.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Taken discreetly from public places by Cosmo's protective surveillance team.
Aldrich touched the photograph of Anel holding a red balloon at age three.
He had never seen his son at three.
His throat tightened.
Riona watched.
“I hated the idea that he watched us.”
“So would I.”
“But…”
She looked at the photographs.
“He gave you something I didn't.”
Aldrich raised his eyes.
“No.”
She swallowed.
“I kept these years from you.”
“You kept him safe.”
“I also kept him from his father.”
“Because his father gave you every reason to.”
Riona's eyes filled.
Aldrich stood.
“I need you to understand something.”
She waited.
“I want Anel in my life.”
Her expression guarded immediately.
“But I don't intend to take him from yours.”
Riona exhaled slowly.
“I won't fight you for custody. I won't use my name. I won't use money. I won't make him a battlefield.”
She searched his face.
“Why should I believe you?”
The question mirrored his from eight years ago.
Aldrich accepted it.
“You shouldn't.”
That surprised her.
“Not yet.”
He continued.
“You should watch what I do.”
Riona looked down.
For the first time, trust did not feel impossible.
Only distant.
Marc called from upstairs.
“We found something.”
A video file.
Security footage dated eight years earlier.
The night Riona was accused.
Camera facing Aldrich's old office corridor.
At 11:03 p.m., Roland entered carrying the folder.
At 11:17, Riona arrived.
At 11:34, she left crying.
At 11:41, Serafina entered.
Aldrich frowned.
He had forgotten.
The footage had no audio.
Serafina remained inside thirteen minutes.
When she exited, she smiled.
Riona whispered, “What did she say?”
Aldrich remembered.
The memory returned.
Serafina had entered after Riona left.
She had found Aldrich sitting alone.
She poured him a drink.
Then said:
Some people love what your name can give them. Be grateful you learned before marriage.
Aldrich had believed her.
He stared at the screen.
Then another camera angle appeared.
Outside the office.
Serafina walked down the hall.
Roland waited near the elevator.
She handed him something.
An envelope.
He opened it.
Cash.
Riona stared.
“Payment?”
Roland shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“That envelope contained instructions.”
“For?”
Roland's face changed.
He had forgotten too.
“Following Riona.”
Aldrich turned.
“But you said Serafina hired investigators later.”
“She did.”
“What were those instructions?”
Roland looked at Riona.
“To stop her before she reached the airport.”
Riona went pale.
“Stop me how?”
“I never carried it out.”
“How?”
Roland hesitated.
Aldrich stepped closer.
“Say it.”
Roland whispered:
“She wanted you brought back to the estate.”
Riona's heart hammered.
“Why?”
Roland's next words revealed the part Serafina had hidden for eight years.
“Because she already knew you were pregnant.”
Riona shook her head.
“That was impossible. I didn't know.”
Roland looked devastated.
“You had bloodwork done two days before the accusation.”
Riona remembered.
Routine annual exam.
“No.”
“Serafina had access to the clinic.”
Riona backed away.
Aldrich stared.
“She framed Riona after learning she was carrying my child?”
Roland nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Roland swallowed.
“Because Riona's pregnancy wasn't a complication.”
He looked toward Cosmo's letters.
May you like
“It was the reason Serafina moved when she did.”
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