Chapter 4 - Victor’s Confession

Elena turned.

Victor Voss stood by the elevator.

Sixty-three.

Silver hair.

Black dinner jacket.

His face had lost all color.

Elena whispered:

“Dad?”

Victor looked at Daniel.

“You promised.”

Daniel’s voice was quiet.

“I promised to keep her hidden.”

He nodded toward Elena.

“Not to keep Matteo blind.”

Victor closed his eyes.

Matteo walked toward him.

“Did you kill my mother?”

“No.”

Daniel said nothing.

That silence made Victor angry.

“I did not kill Lucia.”

Matteo stopped.

“Then explain poison.”

Victor looked at Elena.

She was crying.

“Not here.”

Matteo laughed once.

“This family keeps choosing rooms.”

Then pointed at the garage floor.

“Talk.”

Victor looked at Daniel.

Then George.

Then Matteo.

“Lucia was poisoned.”

“Yes.”

“I bought the medication.”

Matteo’s jaw tightened.

“But I did not know what it was.”

“Who told you to buy it?”

Victor hesitated.

Matteo stepped closer.

“Who?”

“Sofia.”

Elena stared.

“My sister was seven.”

“Twelve years ago she was nineteen.”

Silence.

That changed everything.

Elena had imagined a hidden child.

Not an adult.

Victor continued:

“Sofia contacted me after the boating accident.”

“You already knew she was alive?”

“Yes.”

Elena flinched.

Victor looked ashamed.

“She had been living in Canada under another name.”

“Why?”

“Because Richard threatened her mother.”

Elena frowned.

“Our mother.”

Victor shook his head.

“No.”

Elena stared.

Victor’s voice softened.

“Sofia is your half-sister.”

Silence.

“Her mother was a woman I knew before I married your mother.”

Elena looked away.

Matteo watched the pieces fall.

Secret daughter.

Secret survival.

Secret alliance.

Victor continued.

“Sofia hated Richard. She believed he destroyed both families.”

Daniel said:

“She was right.”

Victor snapped:

“She also believed anyone who protected him deserved the same fate.”

Matteo looked at him.

“What did she give you?”

“A bottle.”

“What did she say it was?”

“Heart medication for Lucia.”

Daniel closed his eyes.

Victor continued:

“Lucia had arrhythmia after the accident. Sofia said the medication would help.”

“And you gave it to her.”

“Yes.”

“Without checking?”

Victor looked sick.

“Yes.”

Daniel spoke.

“Lucia collapsed hours later.”

Matteo’s voice became barely audible.

“And died?”

“No.”

Daniel shook his head.

“She survived that dose.”

Matteo stared.

“Then why did she die eight months later?”

Victor looked at Daniel.

Daniel looked away.

Matteo noticed.

“No.”

He stepped toward his father.

“You know.”

Daniel whispered:

“Yes.”

“Who killed her?”

Daniel’s eyes filled.

“She did not die from poison.”

Victor stared at him.

“What?”

Daniel continued.

“She was sick.”

“With what?”

“Cancer.”

Matteo froze.

“Why lie?”

“Because Lucia asked me to.”

Matteo laughed in disbelief.

“My mother asked you to tell me she died two years later?”

“She asked Richard.”

That made no sense.

Until Daniel explained.

After the boat attack, Lucia and Daniel went into hiding.

Lucia was diagnosed months later.

Terminal.

She wanted Matteo protected.

Richard already believed she was dead.

So she made a deal.

She would never expose him.

In exchange, Richard would leave Matteo untouched and maintain the story that both parents were gone.

Matteo whispered:

“She trusted Richard?”

“No.”

Daniel’s face hardened.

“She trusted his fear of evidence.”

“What evidence?”

Victor answered:

“The original account books.”

Matteo looked at him.

“Where are they?”

Victor shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

Daniel said:

“Lucia hid them before she died.”

Matteo stared at his father.

“And you let Richard raise me.”

Daniel’s face broke.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I believed Lucia.”

“That he would protect me?”

“Yes.”

Matteo laughed.

“He forged my letters.”

“I know.”

“He stole from the foundation.”

“I know.”

“He planned to use Elena’s family to control both foundations.”

“I know.”

“And you still stayed gone.”

Daniel nodded.

“I was wrong.”

Matteo looked at him for a long time.

Then Elena asked:

“Where is Sofia now?”

Everyone turned.

Victor answered:

“I don’t know.”

Daniel said:

“She called me yesterday.”

“What did she want?”

“She said not to let Matteo sign.”

Matteo frowned.

“That helps me.”

Daniel looked at him.

“Then she said something else.”

“What?”

“She said after the merger failed, Richard would have no reason to keep Victor alive.”

Elena went still.

Victor’s face changed.

Matteo looked at him.

“You’re in danger.”

Victor shook his head.

“No.”

George’s phone rang.

He answered.

Listened.

Then looked at all of us.

“Security upstairs lost Richard.”

Matteo turned.

“What?”

“He is gone.”

Victor reached for his phone.

No signal.

Then Elena’s phone buzzed.

A message.

Unknown number.

One photograph.

Victor’s car.

Parked outside the hotel.

Under it:

A black box attached beneath the chassis.

Elena whispered:

“Dad.”

Matteo took the phone.

Another message arrived.

FROM SOFIA:

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