Chapter 7: Elena’s Last Safeguard
Before dawn, Margaret, Raffaele, Lydia, and both children entered the private records room.
Matteo waited inside beside an open metal cabinet.
“You are trespassing,” he said.
Margaret held up Elena’s key.
“Elena invited me years ago.”
“You were household staff.”
“I was her friend.”
Matteo pulled a stack of folders from the cabinet.
“Anything in this room is under my authority.”
Raffaele looked at the empty shelf behind him.
“What did you remove?”
“Records that do not concern you.”
Sophie pointed toward the fireplace.
“He’s burning something.”
A corner of paper curled in the small flame.
Raffaele reached for it, but Matteo kicked the grate closed.
Lydia raised her phone.
“Step away from the fireplace.”
“You have no warrant.”
“I am documenting an attempt to destroy records relevant to two child-welfare cases.”
Matteo seized a brass poker and forced the grate shut.
Margaret inserted her key into a narrow lock hidden behind Elena’s desk.
A panel opened with a click.
Inside sat a sealed envelope, a memory card, and a notarized document.
Across the envelope, Elena had written: FOR NOAH, IF MATTEO CHALLENGES HIS PLACE.
Matteo dropped the poker.
“That proves nothing.”
Raffaele opened the notarized document.
“It revokes you as alternate trustee if you question Noah’s parentage or attempt to remove him from the family home.”
“Elena could not predict the laboratory result.”
“She predicted you.”
Margaret inserted the memory card into Lydia’s laptop.
Elena appeared on the screen, thinner than Raffaele remembered but looking directly into the camera.
“If this message is being played,” Elena said, “Matteo has challenged Noah’s identity.”
Matteo lunged for the laptop.
Lydia pulled it away, and Raffaele stood between them.
Elena continued.
“Noah is Raffaele’s biological son.
His birth sample and Raffaele’s verified sample are held independently with Dr.
Samuel Price.
Matteo does not know the facility.”
“He does now,” Matteo said.
“That doctor can be bought.”
A man answered from the doorway.
“You tried.”
Dr.
Price entered with two legal investigators.
One carried a sealed evidence case.
Matteo’s face tightened.
“You have no business here.”
“You offered me two hundred thousand dollars to replace Noah’s sample,” Dr.
Price said.
“I recorded the call.”
“That was not me.”
Dr.
Price pressed a button on his phone.
Matteo’s recorded voice filled the room.
“Change the sample, issue the report, and retire somewhere warm.”
Victoria appeared behind the investigators with her attorney.
“He told me the report was real.”
Matteo laughed once.
“Do not pretend you were innocent.”
“I believed Noah was not Raffaele’s son.”
“You believed whatever earned Sophie a trust.”
Victoria looked at her daughter.
“Sophie, tell them I did this for you.”
Sophie took Noah’s hand.
“You made me hurt him for money.”
“I gave you a future.”
“You gave me his chair.”
Victoria’s mouth opened, but no answer came.
One investigator approached Matteo.
“We have authorization to seize the estate devices and financial records.”
Matteo backed toward the side door.
“Raffaele, stop this and I can still protect the family.”
“You tried to erase my son.”
“I can expose every account connected to your syndicate.”
“Then expose it.
Noah will not pay for my choices.”
Matteo pulled out his phone.
“One transfer and the trust funds disappear beyond anyone’s reach.”
Raffaele held up Elena’s document.
“You were removed as trustee the moment you challenged Noah’s identity.
Your access ended before midnight.”
Matteo tapped the screen.
Nothing happened.
“Your credentials were suspended,” one investigator said.
“The bank was notified thirty minutes ago.”
Matteo looked at Margaret.
“Give me the original document, and I will make certain you never worry about money again.”
Margaret folded her arms.
“You still believe everyone has your price.”
His face hardened.
“When this family falls, remember that you chose a child over your own security.”
“No,” Margaret replied.
“I chose two children over your greed.”
The investigators escorted Matteo toward the door.
He twisted back to face Raffaele.
“You will regret choosing that boy over your own brother.”
Raffaele put one hand on Noah’s shoulder.
“No.
I regret that Elena had to protect him from you after she was gone.”
Victoria tried to follow, but Lydia stopped her.
“You are required to attend an emergency custody hearing this morning.”
Victoria looked at Sophie.
“If you speak against me, do not expect me to forgive you.”
Sophie began to shake.
Margaret knelt beside her.
“You will not face that room alone.”
May you like
Lydia closed her folder.
“And this time, Victoria, your daughter will speak before you do.”
