Chapter 6 - The Voice From Ten Years Ago
They played the recording at the cottage.
The audio was poor.
Static.
Wind.
Voices.
Then Alessandro Valente spoke.
“If this reaches Luca, everything has already gone wrong.”
Luca closed his eyes.
His father’s voice.
Ten years gone.
Still unmistakable.
Another voice entered.
Evelyn.
Luca’s mother.
“You should have left Isabel alone.”
“I helped her because David would have destroyed her.”
“You humiliated me.”
“That happened years ago.”
“She had your child.”
“No. I protected someone else’s child.”
Silence.
Then Evelyn’s voice softened.
“Does Luca know?”
“No.”
“He should never know.”
“Agreed.”
A third voice appeared.
Male.
Distorted.
“You’re both missing the point.”
Luca leaned closer to the speaker.
The recording continued.
“The ledger exists. If authorities find it, all of us are finished.”
Alessandro answered.
“You’re finished. Not me.”
“You signed transfers.”
“Because you forged them.”
“You can’t prove that.”
“I already did.”
A crash.
Movement.
Then Alessandro:
“Get out of my house.”
The third man said something too quiet to understand.
A door slammed.
The recording continued another thirty seconds.
Evelyn spoke.
“You’re going to destroy our family.”
Alessandro replied, “No, Evelyn. Your secrets did that.”
The recording ended.
Elena stared at Luca.
“Who was the third man?”
“I don’t know.”
Isabel did.
Her expression gave her away.
Luca turned.
“Tell me.”
She looked down.
“His name was Victor Hale.”
Marco’s former mentor.
And the current chairman of Valente Holdings.
Luca felt cold.
Victor had attended his father’s funeral.
He had helped Luca take control of the company afterward.
He had advised Luca for a decade from the boardroom.
All while Julian handled personal affairs.
“Victor continued David’s operation?”
“I believe so.”
“Proof?”
“The red ledger.”
“But nothing directly connects Victor.”
Isabel nodded toward the memory card.
“There’s more.”
A hidden folder contained scanned documents.
Transfer records.
Signed instructions.
Victor Hale’s name.
Enough to destroy him.
Enough to explain why Mia’s briefcase had disappeared.
Luca called Marco.
“Bring Victor into the estate.”
“On what grounds?”
“Tell him we found a discrepancy in the quarterly accounts.”
Marco paused.
“You found something.”
“Yes.”
“Is it him?”
“Yes.”
Another pause.
Then Marco said, “I’ll handle it.”
They returned that evening.
Victor arrived at eight-thirty.
Sixty-two.
Silver-haired.
Expensive navy suit.
Calm.
He smiled when he saw Luca.
“You sounded urgent.”
“It is.”
Victor noticed Elena.
Then Mia.
His smile changed almost imperceptibly.
That was enough.
Luca saw recognition.
“You know them,” Luca said.
Victor looked at him.
“Elena works here.”
“And Mia?”
“I’ve seen the child.”
“Through a window?”
Victor’s eyes hardened.
Luca placed the photograph from Isabel’s cottage on the table.
Victor didn’t react.
Not visibly.
But his right hand tightened.
Marco stepped behind him.
Julian stood near the door.
Victor laughed.
“What is this?”
“The end.”
“Of?”
“Ten years of lies.”
Luca placed the red ledger down.
Victor’s face finally changed.
“How did you find that?”
There.
The mistake.
Luca leaned back.
“I didn’t say what it was.”
Victor stared.
Then smiled.
“Well played.”
Elena hugged Mia closer.
Victor looked toward her.
“You look like Isabel.”
Elena went pale.
“You knew my mother.”
“Unfortunately.”
Luca stood.
“Careful.”
Victor looked amused.
“Now she matters to you?”
“She’s family.”
Victor’s smile disappeared.
“So Alessandro told you.”
“No. You just did.”
Another mistake.
Victor realized too late.
Luca walked closer.
“My father didn’t die from a heart attack.”
Victor said nothing.
“You were there.”
Silence.
“You threatened him.”
Silence.
“You sabotaged his medication.”
Victor’s eyebrows lifted.
That part had been a guess.
But his reaction confirmed it.
Julian cursed quietly.
Marco stepped forward.
Victor sighed.
“He was going to expose everything.”
“So you killed him.”
“I protected what he built.”
“You stole from him.”
“I expanded what he was too sentimental to use.”
“You used a charity protecting vulnerable people.”
“Business requires resources.”
Elena looked disgusted.
Victor shrugged.
“Spare me the morality. Valente money was never clean.”
Luca’s voice became quiet.
“My father tried to change that.”
“And look where it got him.”
Marco moved.
Luca raised a hand.
Not yet.
Victor looked around.
“You think this ends because you have a ledger?”
“We have the recording.”
For the first time, fear appeared.
Luca continued.
“We have bank records. Scans. Isabel’s testimony.”
Victor stared at Elena.
“Isabel is alive?”
Mia suddenly spoke.
“Yes.”
Every adult turned.
Victor stared at the child.
Mia stared back without fear.
“She makes good cookies.”
Luca almost smiled.
Victor did not.
Marco stepped forward with handcuffs.
“We’ve already contacted federal investigators.”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“You think your company survives this?”
Luca answered immediately.
“If it deserves to, it will.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“Then it doesn’t.”
Marco cuffed him.
Victor looked at Luca one last time.
“You were never like your father.”
Luca’s expression didn’t change.
“No.”
He looked toward Mia.
“I’m trying to be better.”
Victor was taken away.
For the first time in ten years, the truth was out.
But one secret remained.
After everyone left, Isabel entered Luca’s study.
“I lied about one thing.”
Luca looked up.
“What?”
“Elena’s paternity.”
He frowned.
“We already know Marco is her father.”
“Yes.”
“But Alessandro’s DNA test was fake.”
“Yes.”
“So?”
Isabel sat.
“Your father didn’t fabricate it only to protect Marco.”
“Why else?”
“Because Marco wasn’t the person Evelyn would have feared.”
Luca’s stomach tightened.
“What are you saying?”
Isabel looked toward the hallway where Elena stood with Mia.
“Marco is Elena’s biological father.”
“Then what?”
“But Alessandro considered Elena his daughter anyway.”
Luca said nothing.
May you like
Isabel’s eyes filled.
“And in his final will, he left her half of everything.”
