Chapter 9 - The Account in Monaco
The audit expanded.
Then came the account nobody expected.
$3.1 million had been transferred over six years to a private investment structure in Monaco.
Carlo wasn’t the beneficiary.
Viola was.
Matteo stared at the banking report.
“She stole for herself too.”
The forensic accountant nodded.
“Some money covered Carlo’s losses. Some went directly to Mrs. Russo.”
Elena asked:
“Did Alessandro know?”
“Not all of it.”
One transfer happened only three days after Alessandro’s funeral.
$480,000.
Authorized using credentials belonging to a deceased man.
Matteo went pale.
“My father’s login.”
“Yes.”
Someone had accessed Alessandro’s corporate account after his death.
The IP address traced back to the Russo mansion.
Viola’s home office.
Samuel looked at Matteo.
“That changes the criminal exposure significantly.”
Matteo barely heard him.
His mother had used his dead father’s credentials before the flowers from the funeral had wilted.
Then another document surfaced.
An email.
Sent by Viola to Carlo two weeks after Alessandro died.
We need Elena’s signature eventually.
If Luca’s trust is confirmed, everything becomes visible.
Matteo read it three times.
Elena touched his hand.
“You okay?”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“But I’m done pretending she’s my mother before she’s responsible for what she did.”
That evening, Viola called.
Matteo answered.
“You’re enjoying this?”
“No.”
“You always wanted to replace Carlo.”
“This isn’t about Carlo.”
“It has always been about him.”
Matteo went silent.
Viola’s voice cracked for the first time.
“Your father never understood Carlo.”
“He understood him perfectly.”
“He needed help.”
“So you stole?”
“I protected my son.”
Matteo looked toward Luca sleeping against Elena’s shoulder.
“And Luca?”
Silence.
“You protected Carlo by threatening mine.”
Viola had no answer.
Matteo continued.
“You taught me something.”
“What?”
“That a mother can love one child so selfishly she destroys the other.”
May you like
He ended the call.
Thirty minutes later, detectives arrived at Viola’s mansion with a warrant.
