Chapter 9 - The Confession No One Could Hide Anymore
The hospital room was too small for the truth.
Roman.
Maria.
Elena.
David.
Mila.
Me.
And Mr. Voss.
Eighty.
Weak.
No fireplace.
No gala.
No lawyers.
A police recorder sat on the table.
Voss looked at Roman.
“You look like your father.”
Roman answered:
“I’ve heard that too much tonight.”
Voss almost smiled.
Then coughed.
The detective started recording.
Voss spoke.
“I threatened Maria Moretti nineteen years ago.”
Maria closed her eyes.
“I told her Roman would be harmed if she exposed the accounts.”
Roman said nothing.
“I used Moretti companies to hide assets.”
“How much?”
Roman asked.
“Thirty-eight million total.”
Maria frowned.
“You told me twenty-six.”
“That was what you found.”
Silence.
Voss continued.
“Roman’s father participated.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
“Until?”
“Until Maria left.”
“Then?”
“He began moving money back.”
“Why keep Maria away?”
“Fear.”
“Of prison?”
“Yes.”
“And reputation.”
“Yes.”
Roman looked at Elena.
She stared at her grandfather.
Voss continued.
“I found Maria in Spain three years ago.”
David frowned.
“I thought I found her.”
Voss shook his head.
“I let you think that.”
David stared.
“Why?”
“To see what you would do.”
Elena whispered:
“You tested your own son?”
Voss nodded.
David looked away.
Voss continued.
“David tried to protect Maria.”
Roman looked at him.
For the first time, David did not lower his eyes.
Voss said:
“Clara did not.”
The detective leaned closer.
“Did you know Clara poisoned Mr. Moretti?”
“No.”
“When did you learn?”
“The next morning.”
Roman froze.
“You knew for six years.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you report her?”
Voss looked at Elena.
“Family.”
Roman’s expression hardened.
“That word should be banned too.”
Voss accepted it.
“I helped cover the death.”
Maria began crying.
Roman asked:
“How?”
“I paid the doctor.”
David stared.
“To falsify the cause?”
“Yes.”
“Heart attack.”
“Yes.”
Roman looked back at Voss.
“Did my father know before he died that Clara poisoned him?”
Voss shook his head.
“No.”
Roman frowned.
“But his recording named her.”
Voss looked surprised.
“He suspected.”
Silence.
Roman looked at Mila.
She nodded.
The detective asked:
“Why were you transferring four million into an account in Mila Moretti’s name?”
Voss closed his eyes.
“To trap her.”
Elena covered her mouth.
Voss continued.
“I wanted the ledgers.”
Roman said:
“You were dying. Why?”
Voss looked at him.
“Because I was still a coward.”
Silence.
Mila stepped forward.
“Did you ever care about me?”
Voss looked at her.
“Yes.”
“You paid my school fees.”
“Yes.”
“You called on my birthday.”
“Yes.”
“You also tried to frame me.”
His eyes filled.
“Yes.”
Mila nodded slowly.
“That is the problem.”
Nobody spoke.
The detective continued.
“Who ordered the fire at the Moretti mansion?”
Voss frowned.
“I didn’t.”
Roman looked at David.
David answered:
“Clara.”
The detective nodded.
“We have the doctor’s messages.”
Voss closed his eyes.
Then whispered:
“I am sorry.”
Roman stood.
Voss looked at him.
“For what?”
Roman asked.
“Everything.”
“That is not an answer.”
Voss stared.
Roman continued.
“Are you sorry you threatened my mother?”
“Yes.”
“Covered my father’s death?”
“Yes.”
“Used your granddaughter’s future to hide money?”
“Yes.”
“Framed Mila?”
“Yes.”
Roman nodded.
“Good.”
Voss looked confused.
Roman explained.
“Specific guilt is more useful than general regret.”
Maria looked at her son.
Something in her face softened.
Roman turned to her.
“We’re not done.”
“I know.”
“To Elena.”
“I know.”
“To Mila.”
“I know.”
He looked at Mila.
She stared back.
“Do you want to know me?”
Roman asked.
Mila’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“Good.”
Not an embrace.
Not yet.
Then he looked at Elena.
She removed her engagement ring.
Roman stared.
She placed it on the table beside the recorder.
“My grandfather used family to justify silence.”
Roman said nothing.
“My father used fear.”
David closed his eyes.
“I used love.”
Roman looked at her.
“To hide my mother’s message.”
“Yes.”
Elena’s voice broke.
“I won’t ask you to forgive that because we were supposed to marry.”
Roman looked at the ring.
“What are you asking?”
“For nothing.”
Silence.
She continued.
“If you want me after this, choose me after this.”
Roman’s expression changed.
“And if I don’t?”
“Then I’ll still testify.”
Her grandfather stared at her.
Elena looked at him.
“And I’ll return every dollar in the trust with my name on it.”
Voss closed his eyes.
Roman looked at the ring again.
Then pushed it back toward her.
She froze.
“Keep it.”
Her eyes filled.
He continued.
“Not as an engagement ring.”
She stared.
“As evidence of a promise we are no longer pretending survived intact.”
Elena picked it up.
Roman looked at his mother.
Then his sister.
Then the old man in the hospital bed.
“The gala ended yesterday.”
Mila frowned.
“What happens today?”
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