Chapter 10 - THE TRUTH IN THE LEDGER
The hidden trust was beneath the chapel.
They learned this from the black ledger, which contained a map written in symbols. Two keys were needed: one belonging to the heir, and one belonging to the person who had protected the heir.
Clara carried the first key in her locket.
Evelyn carried the second in a ring.
Before they could open the chamber, Margaret Hayes arrived at the estate.
She stood in the library doorway with a gun pointed at Matteo.
Clara had not seen her in six years.
Her aunt looked older, but the same. The same gray eyes. The same rigid mouth. The same woman who had once held Clara through thunderstorms.
“You raised me,” Clara said.
“Yes.”
“You lied to me.”
“I saved you.”
“You told me my mother was dead.”
“I told you what kept Anton from finding you.”
“Did you sell me to him?”
Margaret’s eyes filled with tears.
“I was supposed to.”
The room fell silent.
“I worked for Anton,” she continued. “He promised money, protection, and power. When you were born, he told me the baby belonged to him. But when I saw what he planned, I changed my mind.”
“What did he plan?”
“To use you as leverage against Matteo’s father.”
Clara looked at Matteo.
“Why me?”
“Your father left an inheritance in the child’s name,” Margaret said. “Anton could not access it.”
“Where is the child?” Matteo asked.
Margaret looked at Clara.
“You.”
Clara’s breath stopped.
She had been raised as Clara Hayes, but she was Clara Moretti by birth.
The room seemed to become smaller.
Matteo stared at her.
“You are my sister.”
Clara looked at him.
“And you were still going to marry me?”
His face turned white.
“I did not know.”
The silence became unbearable.
Then Bruno walked between them and rested his head against Clara’s knee.
Matteo turned away.
Margaret lowered her weapon.
“Anton knows the trust opened when you turned twenty-five. He has been hunting you for months.”
“Why wait?”
“Because the trust requires you to return willingly.”
A phone began ringing from beneath the library floor.
Daniel found it inside a hidden box.
Anton’s voice filled the room.
“Bring Clara to the chapel.”
Matteo answered, “No.”
Anton laughed.
“Then I will burn the estate one room at a time.”
The call ended.
May you like
Flames appeared outside the library windows.
The attack had begun.
