Chapter 6 - The Dead Woman’s MessageThe body was not Isabella.
Dental records said it was.
Fingerprints said it was.
The passport in the purse said it was.
But Alejandro knew his sister.
The woman in the morgue had a tiny scar near her left eyebrow.
Isabella’s scar was on the right.
Marcus stared through the observation glass.
“She staged her death.”
“Years of medical records could have been altered,” Alejandro said.
“She needed a body close enough.”
Sebastian stood behind them, pale and silent.
“You recognize her?”
He nodded.
“Claudia Renzi.”
“Who is she?”
“Isabella’s personal assistant in Milan.”
Alejandro turned.
“Meaning Isabella murdered her.”
“Most likely.”
Marcus muttered, “And planted enough evidence to legally become dead.”
Alejandro’s phone vibrated.
UNKNOWN NUMBER.
A video message.
He opened it.
Isabella appeared on-screen.
Alive.
Sitting somewhere dark.
“Hello, brother.”
Alejandro’s expression hardened.
“If you are watching this, Claudia has done me one final favor.”
She smiled.
“You always believed you were the intelligent one in the family.”
Sebastian cursed under his breath.
Isabella continued.
“You thought legitimacy would protect us. You thought donating hospitals and building luxury towers could erase what our fathers created.”
Her smile vanished.
“You were wrong.”
Alejandro paused the video.
“Trace it.”
Marcus handed the phone to a technician.
The video resumed.
“I don’t hate you, Alejandro. I hate what you were allowed to become.”
Alejandro stared.
“You inherited everything. I inherited permission to smile at charity dinners.”
Sebastian looked away.
“You think this was about money?” Isabella continued. “Money is only how power keeps score.”
She leaned toward the camera.
“The ports were mine long before you realized what moved through them.”
Then her voice softened.
“And Sophie changed things.”
Elena stiffened.
Isabella said, “I created that child because I needed insurance. I never expected Daniel Carter to become sentimental.”
Elena’s eyes filled with fury.
Alejandro stopped the video.
“She talks about Sophie like a transaction.”
Sebastian said quietly, “That’s how she sees everyone.”
The video continued.
“Daniel was supposed to raise Sophie quietly. If Alejandro became inconvenient, I could reveal an heir, challenge the trusts, and control the succession through guardianship.”
Elena whispered, “She planned my whole life.”
Alejandro’s jaw tightened.
Isabella smiled into the camera.
“But Daniel discovered too much.”
Her eyes became cold.
“So he had to die.”
Elena turned away.
Sophie was in another room with a security officer and did not hear.
Isabella concluded with one final line.
“Bring me Daniel’s original files, or your daughter will spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder.”
The screen went black.
Marcus said, “Trace?”
The technician shook his head.
“Routed internationally.”
Alejandro looked at Sebastian.
“You know how she thinks.”
“I used to.”
“Where would she go?”
Sebastian hesitated.
“There’s one place.”
“Where?”
“My father owned an abandoned textile mill outside Providence. Isabella used it years ago for meetings.”
Marcus was already calling teams.
But Elena said, “No.”
Everyone turned.
“She wants us to go there.”
Alejandro nodded.
“Yes.”
“So why would she be there?”
“She wouldn’t.”
Elena stared at the screen.
“She’s keeping us focused on ourselves.”
“What do you mean?”
“Daniel was an accountant.”
She walked toward the table covered with copies of his records.
“He never believed people. He believed numbers.”
She pulled one document closer.
“Isabella says the ports were hers.”
Alejandro nodded.
Elena scanned transactions.
“Then she needs something.”
Sebastian frowned.
“She already controls shell companies.”
“Not enough.”
Elena looked up.
“To buy the port assets after destroying Moretti Holdings, she needs access to frozen capital.”
Alejandro understood.
“The Bellweather Trust.”
Sebastian’s face changed.
“What?”
Marcus asked.
Alejandro explained.
“Three hundred million dollars in family funds. My father created it. Withdrawals above twenty million require signatures from two living Moretti heirs.”
Elena looked between them.
“You and Isabella.”
“Correct.”
“But legally she is now dead.”
Alejandro smiled grimly.
“Which means she cannot authorize anything.”
Sebastian said, “Unless the transfer occurred before her staged death.”
Marcus opened the records.
They searched.
Then found it.
A pending wire.
$214 million.
Destination: Luxembourg.
Approval status:
ONE SIGNATURE RECEIVED.
SECOND AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED.
Alejandro stared.
“She needs my authorization.”
Elena frowned.
“Why would you give it?”
Sebastian went pale.
“Because she can forge his signature.”
“Then why hasn’t she?”
“Biometric confirmation.”
Alejandro nodded.
“Voice and fingerprint through the trust’s secure terminal.”
Elena slowly understood.
“She needs you alive.”
“For now.”
Marcus leaned closer.
“That changes everything.”
Alejandro looked at him.
“Yes.”
“She isn’t trying to kill me anymore.”
Elena whispered, “She’s going to take you.”
The next morning Alejandro deliberately left the secure house.
Against everyone’s objections.
His convoy headed toward Manhattan.
Three SUVs.
Visible route.
Minimal deviation.
Bait.
They did not wait long.
A delivery truck blocked the highway entrance.
Two cars boxed the convoy.
Smoke grenades rolled across the road.
But Marcus had planned for it.
Unmarked police tactical units closed in from behind.
Gunmen scattered.
Three were arrested.
One carried a burner phone.
The last incoming message contained an address.
PROVIDENCE MILL.
Sebastian smiled bitterly.
“She wants us to think she made a mistake.”
Alejandro replied, “Then we let her believe we believe it.”
That evening they entered the abandoned mill.
Empty.
Except for a chair.
A projector.
And one envelope.
Alejandro opened it.
Inside was a photograph of Sophie sleeping.
Taken that morning.
Inside the secure house.
Elena stopped breathing.
“No.”
Marcus grabbed his phone.
“Call the house!”
Alejandro stared at the photograph.
On the back, Isabella had written:
YOU KEEP LOOKING OUTSIDE.
I’M ALREADY INSIDE.
The call connected.
Screaming filled the line.
Then silence.
Elena whispered Sophie’s name.
They ran.
By the time they reached the safe house, two guards were unconscious.
The kitchen door stood open.
Sophie’s cereal bowl remained on the table.
Mr. Buttons lay on the floor.
May you like
The child was gone.
And beside the rabbit was a single silver crescent-moon charm.
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