Chapter 11 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW EVERYTHING
Elena couldn't sleep.
At midnight, she searched through the small box of belongings her mother had left behind.
She had kept it for twenty years.
Letters.
Photographs.
A wedding ring.
An old driver's license.
Nothing had ever seemed unusual.
Until now.
She opened an envelope she had never read.
Inside was a letter.
The handwriting belonged to her mother.
Elena,
If you're reading this, then I'm gone.
I wanted to tell you the truth, but I was afraid the truth would make you a target.
The Bellini family is dangerous, but not every Bellini is evil.
There is one man you can trust.
Lucas.
Elena stopped.
The letter continued.
If you ever meet him, don't tell him who I am.
He will try to protect you.
Let him.
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
At the bottom was one final line.
And if Sofia ever finds you, listen to her.
Elena closed her eyes.
Sofia had known her mother.
Lucas had known her mother.
The entire Bellini family was connected to her life long before she knew they existed.
She went downstairs.
Sofia was awake.
"You knew."
Sofia nodded.
"I knew your mother."
"She saved Lucas."
"Yes."
"How did she die?"
Sofia looked away.
"She found evidence against your father."
"My father?"
"Not Lucas's father."
Elena froze.
"Then who?"
Sofia took a breath.
"Your biological father."
Elena stared.
"My father died when I was a baby."
"That's what you were told."
Elena's face went pale.
Sofia continued.
"He was one of your grandfather's accountants."
"What did he discover?"
"Money transfers."
"From where?"
"Government contracts."
Elena felt dizzy.
Her father had discovered a network connecting politicians, corporations, and organized crime.
And her mother had helped expose it.
"Why was I never told?"
"Because they wanted you invisible."
Elena whispered:
"Who?"
Sofia looked toward the window.
"People more powerful than Marco's father."
That sentence frightened Elena more than anything else.
Before she could respond, every light in the building went out.
Sofia stood.
"Stay here."
A crash came from upstairs.
Elena ran.
"Mia!"
No answer.
She opened the bedroom door.
Empty.
The window was open.
Elena screamed.
"No!"
Marco and Lucas rushed upstairs.
Marco looked out the window.
A black van disappeared down the street.
Lucas ran toward the door.
Marco stopped him.
"We need a plan."
"My daughter is in that van."
"I know."
"Then move."
Marco grabbed his coat.
"I'll find her."
Elena stood frozen.
Then she saw something on Mia's pillow.
A pink ribbon.
And beneath it:
YOUR MOTHER KNEW WHERE THE MONEY WAS.
Elena picked up the note.
Her hands shook.
She looked at Sofia.
"What money?"
Sofia closed her eyes.
"The money your mother hid."
Marco turned.
"Mother."
Sofia looked at him.
"Where?"
Sofia whispered:
"I don't know."
Elena suddenly understood.
The kidnapping wasn't about Mia's inheritance.
It was about her.
May you like
Someone believed Elena knew something.
Something her mother had hidden twenty-eight years ago.
