Chapter 6 - Antonio's Last Secret
The flash drive contained a video.
Victor watched it the following morning in his father's old study.
Sylvia sat beside him.
Gabriel stood near the window.
Marta remained outside with a nurse.
For once, the estate was quiet.
Victor opened the file.
Antonio Moretti appeared on screen.
Younger.
Healthy.
Alive.
Victor hadn't heard his father's voice in seventeen years.
“Victor,” Antonio began.
“If you're watching this, then someone finally found the trust.”
Victor leaned forward.
Antonio smiled.
“You always were too curious.”
Victor almost smiled back.
Then Antonio became serious.
“There are things about our family I chose not to tell you when you were young.”
He explained everything.
Gabriel.
Sylvia.
Victor's biological parentage.
The adoption.
Then Antonio spoke about the hidden account.
It wasn't a criminal fortune.
It was a charitable trust.
Hundreds of millions of dollars accumulated from legitimate Moretti businesses over decades.
Antonio had secretly created it for hospitals, rehabilitation centers, scholarships, and families affected by organized crime.
Victor stared at the screen.
Antonio continued:
“I spent much of my life building things I was not proud of. I wanted at least one part of the Moretti name to mean something different.”
Sylvia began crying.
Gabriel lowered his head.
“The trust belongs to Victor,” Antonio said. “But not as personal wealth. He is its guardian.”
Daniel had misunderstood.
He thought the account contained unrestricted money.
Audrey had believed the same.
Gabriel looked ashamed.
“I told Daniel about rumors of the trust,” he admitted.
Victor turned.
“So this began with you.”
“Yes.”
Gabriel didn't defend himself.
“I wanted recognition. I wanted part of what I believed Antonio stole from me.”
“He didn't steal me.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“No.”
Victor paused the video.
“That's the part you need to understand.”
Gabriel nodded slowly.
“I do now.”
Later that afternoon, authorities were given evidence concerning Daniel's financial fraud, unauthorized medical interference, and conspiracy.
Victor did not handle justice privately.
He didn't need to.
Evidence was stronger than revenge.
Audrey packed her belongings.
Victor found her standing in the entrance hall beside two suitcases.
For several seconds, they looked at each other.
“I suppose there's nothing I can say,” she whispered.
“There isn't.”
“I did love you.”
Victor didn't argue.
Perhaps part of her had.
People were rarely only one thing.
But love without compassion meant very little.
Audrey removed her engagement ring.
She placed it on a table.
“I never meant for Sylvia to die.”
Victor's expression remained calm.
“But you were willing to let her suffer.”
Audrey lowered her eyes.
That was the difference she could not explain away.
She left.
Victor watched the gates close behind her.
Then he returned upstairs.
Marta was sitting beside Sylvia.
They were laughing.
Actually laughing.
Sylvia couldn't produce much sound, but her eyes were bright.
Victor stood in the doorway.
Marta immediately rose.
“I should go.”
“No.”
She stopped.
Victor walked toward her.
“I owe you something.”
“You owe me nothing.”
“My mother is alive because you paid attention when everyone else looked away.”
Marta became emotional.
“I only do what anyone should.”
Victor smiled faintly.
“No. You did what everyone should. That's different.”
He offered her a permanent position managing Sylvia's care team.
Marta hesitated.
Then accepted.
That evening, Victor returned to Antonio's recording alone.
There was another file.
A second video.
He opened it.
Antonio appeared again.
This recording was shorter.
“Victor, there's something else.”
Victor leaned closer.
“If Gabriel ever returns, don't hate him because of me.”
Victor's expression changed.
Antonio continued.
“My brother made mistakes. So did I.”
He paused.
“But there is something Gabriel never knew.”
Victor frowned.
“Gabriel believes I took you away from him.”
Antonio looked directly into the camera.
“That isn't what happened.”
Victor stopped breathing.
“Gabriel didn't abandon you.”
Antonio said the next sentence slowly.
“I forced him to leave.”
Victor stared at the screen.
May you like
And suddenly the man he had worshiped his entire life was no longer as simple as memory had made him.
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