Chapter 7 - The Winter Ledger
My father had built the Moretti organization long before I took control.
He had also built secrets.
Too many.
I spent the entire night reading the Winter Ledger.
Most entries were coded.
Some were names.
Others were numbers.
But one pattern became obvious.
Every person connected to the ledger had either disappeared, died, or left the organization suddenly.
Except Elena's father.
He had supposedly died in an accident.
Now I wasn't sure.
I found an old photograph of him standing beside my father at the docks.
On the back was a date.
December 14.
The same date appeared in the ledger.
I called an old family accountant named Samuel.
He arrived before sunrise.
When he saw the document, he became pale.
“You found it.”
“You knew about this?”
“Only rumors.”
“Don't lie to me.”
Samuel sat down.
“Your father believed someone was stealing from him.”
“Who?”
“He never knew.”
“What about Elena's father?”
Samuel looked away.
“He was investigating the theft.”
“What happened?”
“Your father accused him.”
“And?”
“They argued.”
“Then he died.”
Samuel nodded.
“Everyone assumed your father ordered it.”
My hands tightened.
“Did he?”
“I don't know.”
That answer wasn't enough.
But then Samuel revealed something else.
Elena's father had secretly created a duplicate ledger.
He believed the original would be destroyed.
“Where is the duplicate?”
Samuel shook his head.
“He gave it to someone he trusted.”
“Who?”
Samuel looked toward the window.
“Your mother.”
My mother had died when I was twenty.
The idea that she had known about this terrified me.
I went upstairs to her old bedroom.
Nothing had been touched in years.
Mia followed me.
She carried Bunny.
I opened the old wardrobe.
Inside were boxes of letters.
Photographs.
Family documents.
Then Mia dropped Bunny.
The rabbit landed beneath the bed.
Something inside the torn seam slipped loose.
A tiny metal key.
I picked it up.
There was a number engraved on it.
214.
Not a bank box.
A storage locker.
Gabriel traced the number.
The locker was located at an old train station outside the city.
I looked at Vittorio.
“Come with me.”
He nodded.
Before we left, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A man's voice spoke calmly.
“You're getting closer.”
“Lorenzo.”
A quiet laugh.
“You always were your father's son.”
Then the line went dead.
Mia looked up at me.
“Daddy?”
I kissed her forehead.
“We're going to find Mommy.”
But I already knew something.
Lorenzo wanted us to find the locker.
May you like
Which meant the truth inside it might be exactly what he wanted me to see.
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