Chapter 5 - The Secret Between Their Parents
Jonathan examined the photograph under the light of his office.
“You’re sure that’s Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
“And this is your father?”
“Yes.”
“When was it taken?”
“The date stamp says March 18.”
Jonathan looked up.
“Vincent died March 21.”
Alessia sat across from him.
“Evelyn told me she met my family for the first time at my wedding.”
Jonathan’s expression darkened.
“She lied.”
“I know she lied. I want to know why.”
They began with old company records.
Vincent Moretti had been a meticulous man.
He kept calendars.
Expense reports.
Travel logs.
Archived email.
By midnight, Jonathan’s investigators had located an appointment from March 18, 5 years earlier.
V. MORETTI
E. HALE
Private dinner.
No further notes.
The restaurant in the photograph had closed 2 years earlier.
But its former owner remembered Vincent.
More importantly, he remembered Evelyn.
“They argued,” he told Jonathan by phone.
“About what?”
“I don’t know. But the woman left first. Mr. Moretti stayed at the table for another hour.”
“Was anyone else there?”
The owner thought.
“A younger man came near the end.”
“Can you describe him?”
“Tall. Dark hair. Maybe early 30s.”
Alessia already knew.
Garrett.
5 years earlier.
Before they supposedly met.
Jonathan ended the call.
Alessia stared at him.
“He knew my father.”
“Yes.”
“He knew who I was before the fundraiser.”
“Yes.”
The memory of her first meeting with Garrett changed instantly.
The hospital ballroom.
The accidental spilled champagne.
His charming apology.
The conversation that lasted 2 hours.
None of it had been accidental.
Alessia stood and walked toward the window.
“He targeted me.”
Jonathan said nothing.
“How long?”
“We don’t know.”
“I married him.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I brought him into Lily’s home.”
“You believed the person he pretended to be.”
Alessia turned.
“Why did my father meet them?”
Jonathan hesitated.
“There may be an answer.”
He opened an older corporate archive.
Vincent had investigated a company called Hale Meridian Consulting 5 years earlier.
The firm had been owned by Garrett’s father before his death, then transferred to Evelyn.
For 6 years, Hale Meridian had provided procurement services to several Moretti hotels.
Then Vincent abruptly terminated every contract.
3 months later, the company collapsed.
Jonathan found the termination report.
Fraudulent invoices.
Kickbacks.
False vendors.
Approximately 8 million dollars in losses.
Alessia stared at the page.
“My father discovered Evelyn stealing from us.”
“Yes.”
“And Garrett?”
“His name appears on 2 vendor registrations.”
“So he was involved.”
“Possibly.”
Alessia looked again at the photograph.
Her father standing beside Evelyn 3 days before his death.
“Did he report them?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Jonathan searched deeper.
Then he found a draft letter.
It had never been sent.
Evelyn,
You have until Friday to return the money and provide a complete accounting. If you approach my daughter, my granddaughter, or any member of my family, I will involve federal authorities immediately.
Alessia read it twice.
“My granddaughter.”
“Lily.”
“My father knew they might approach me.”
Jonathan nodded.
“Apparently.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“Maybe he planned to.”
He never got the chance.
Vincent died 3 days later.
His death certificate said myocardial infarction.
Natural causes.
Alessia sat very still.
“Could they have killed him?”
Jonathan chose his words carefully.
“We have no evidence of that.”
“But you’re thinking it.”
“I’m thinking the timing deserves examination.”
Alessia closed the file.
She could not let grief turn into imagination.
Not yet.
Evidence first.
Always evidence.
The next morning, she visited Cecilia’s house.
Lily ran into her arms.
For 2 hours, Alessia allowed herself to be only a mother.
They baked cookies.
They walked through the garden.
They watched an animated movie Lily loved.
Then, while Cecilia took a phone call, Lily brought Alessia a small plastic jewelry box.
“I took something.”
Alessia looked at her.
“From where?”
“The truth room.”
“When?”
“Before I went to school.”
Lily opened the box.
Inside was a tiny black voice recorder.
Alessia’s heart stopped.
“You took this?”
Lily nodded.
“Grandma left it on the table.”
“Why?”
“Because she said I lied.”
Alessia picked up the recorder.
“Did you listen to it?”
“No.”
“Do you know what’s on it?”
Lily shook her head.
“I thought maybe it had the right truth.”
Alessia hugged her.
“The truth doesn’t belong to Garrett or Evelyn.”
Lily looked confused.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you never have to change what happened just because someone scares you.”
Lily nodded slowly.
That evening, Jonathan connected the recorder to an isolated computer.
There were 17 audio files.
Most contained Evelyn coaching Lily.
Tell me again how your mother screams.
No.
That’s wrong.
Try again.
Say she scares you.
The 16th recording was worse.
Garrett’s voice.
“If your mother asks about this room, what do you say?”
Lily answered quietly.
“Nothing.”
“And if you tell her?”
“You’ll take her away.”
“Good.”
Alessia covered her mouth.
Jonathan stopped the recording.
“There’s one more.”
“Play it.”
The final file began with silence.
Then footsteps.
Evelyn’s voice.
“You should have destroyed Vincent’s letter.”
Garrett answered.
“I destroyed what mattered.”
“You missed the copy.”
A chair scraped.
“Where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then find it before Alessia does.”
A pause.
May you like
Then Evelyn said the sentence that turned Alessia’s grief into something much more dangerous.
“Because if Vincent’s original letter still exists, it proves we had a reason to silence him.”
