Chapter 4 - The Woman Everyone Suspected
By sunrise, Anna understood why Dante had spent six years refusing to discuss the accident.
His older brother, Luca Moretti, had been driving.
Dante had taken responsibility.
Not legally—the crash investigation had been inconclusive—but publicly.
The Moretti family allowed the world to believe Dante was behind the wheel.
“Why?” Anna asked.
Dante stared through the bedroom windows.
“Because Luca had a wife.”
“And?”
“And a daughter.”
Anna waited.
“Luca had been drinking.”
Understanding came slowly.
“If the truth became public…”
“His insurance would have challenged everything. His reputation would have been destroyed. My niece would have grown up hearing that her father killed himself and crippled his brother because he was drunk.”
“So you let everyone blame you.”
“Yes.”
“Even your family?”
“They knew.”
Anna’s breath caught.
“All of them?”
“The senior members.”
“Vittorio?”
“Yes.”
“Vincent?”
“I don’t know.”
She looked at the photograph again.
“Then whoever sent this knows the truth.”
“Yes.”
“And they’re telling us the medical leak and the accident are connected.”
Dante nodded.
Before Anna could respond, Marco appeared.
He had more bad news.
The person who slipped the envelope under Anna’s door had avoided every functioning camera.
But a housekeeper remembered seeing someone on the second floor.
A woman.
Blonde.
Approximately thirty.
Anna knew only one blonde woman with unrestricted access to the estate.
Sofia Moretti.
Luca’s widow.
Dante’s sister-in-law.
And the mother of the niece he had protected for six years.
Sofia arrived before noon.
She denied sending the envelope.
She also slapped Dante across the face.
The sound stunned everyone.
Marco moved.
Dante raised one hand.
“Don’t.”
Sofia stood trembling.
“You promised me.”
Dante touched his cheek.
“I haven’t told anyone publicly.”
“You told her.”
Her gaze cut toward Anna.
Anna finally understood.
Sofia had known.
And she considered Anna a threat.
“She’s treating me,” Dante said.
“She’s sleeping under your roof.”
“She works here.”
“She’s holding your hand in newspapers.”
Dante’s voice lowered.
“Careful.”
Sofia laughed bitterly.
“Do you think I care whether you’re sleeping with her?”
Anna’s face heated.
Dante’s did not.
“I care that six years of protecting my daughter could disappear because you’ve decided to trust some woman you barely know.”
Anna spoke.
“I’m not going to tell anyone.”
Sofia turned.
“I wasn’t talking to you.”
“No. You were talking about me.”
Anna stepped closer.
“I understand why you’re afraid. But somebody already knows the truth, and they’re using it against Dante.”
Sofia stared.
“What?”
Anna handed her the photograph.
Sofia read the back.
Her anger vanished.
“Where did this come from?”
“My room.”
Sofia looked at Dante.
“I didn’t send this.”
“I believe you.”
“Why?”
“Because if you wanted to threaten me, you wouldn’t hide.”
For the first time, Sofia almost smiled.
Then she looked at Anna.
“You really trust her?”
“Yes.”
That answer seemed to hurt Sofia in a way Anna did not understand.
She left shortly afterward.
But before going, she stopped beside Anna.
“You should leave.”
Anna frowned.
“Is that a threat?”
“No.”
Sofia glanced toward Dante.
“It’s advice.”
“Why?”
“Because everyone who gets close to a Moretti eventually pays for it.”
That afternoon, Anna received an email.
Her hospital employer had suspended her.
The medical leak had triggered an investigation.
Until her name was formally cleared, she could not practice through the hospital.
Dante found her packing.
His expression became furious.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m suspended.”
“So?”
“So I’m technically no longer assigned to you.”
“You’re leaving?”
Anna folded another blouse.
“I have to.”
“No.”
She stopped.
“Dante.”
“No.”
“You don’t get to order me to stay.”
His jaw tightened.
“You’re right.”
The admission came immediately.
Anna looked at him.
Dante rolled closer.
“Then I’m asking.”
She swallowed.
“I could lose my license.”
“We’ll clear your name.”
“My career.”
“We’ll clear your name.”
“My reputation.”
“Anna.”
His voice softened.
“Look at me.”
She did.
“I know what it feels like when people decide who you are without asking you.”
Her eyes burned.
“I won’t let them do that to you.”
“You may not be able to stop them.”
“Then I’ll stand beside you while they try.”
That nearly broke her.
She sat on the edge of the bed.
“I’m scared.”
Dante moved closer.
“So am I.”
She laughed through sudden tears.
“You don’t look scared.”
“I’ve had more practice.”
Anna looked down.
His hand reached toward hers.
Stopped.
Waited.
The gesture mattered.
She placed her hand in his.
That evening, Marco uncovered a new connection.
The forged medical documents had been created using software registered to a Moretti-owned subsidiary.
The user account belonged to someone on the foundation board.
Helen Ward.
The same director who had questioned Anna.
Police detained Helen the next morning.
For six hours, everyone believed they had found the traitor.
Then Helen produced proof.
Her account had been stolen too.
Another frame.
Another layer.
Someone was moving them like pieces across a board.
That night, Dante called Anna into his study.
A map covered the desk.
Names.
Dates.
Access records.
Board members.
Family.
Staff.
At the center, Dante had written one question.
WHO BENEFITS?
Anna studied it.
“If the board removes you, who becomes chairman?”
“Interim?”
“Yes.”
Dante looked toward her.
“My uncle Vittorio.”
“And after him?”
“Vincent.”
Anna stared at the names.
Too obvious.
Maybe deliberately.
Then she noticed another name.
Sofia Moretti.
“What does Sofia inherit?”
Dante’s expression changed.
“Luca’s shares.”
“How many?”
“Enough to decide a close vote.”
Anna looked at him.
“And who controls those shares?”
“Sofia until my niece turns twenty-five.”
“When is that?”
Dante answered slowly.
“Three months.”
The room became silent.
In three months, Sofia would lose control of a fortune.
Unless something changed.
Anna hated the thought.
But suspicion did not care whom she liked.
“Dante…”
“I know.”
Before either could continue, Marco rushed inside.
“Sofia’s car was found.”
Dante straightened.
“Where?”
“Near the lake.”
“And Sofia?”
Marco’s silence answered first.
Then:
“She’s missing.”
On the desk, Dante’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A distorted voice spoke only seven words.
“Withdraw from the gala, or she dies.”
The call ended.
Anna stared at Dante.
May you like
The gala was no longer about reputation.
Someone had just raised the price.
