Chapter 8 - Antonio Knew
Alessandro looked at Elena.
“My father found out?”
She did not answer immediately.
That was enough.
“When?”
“Three years after the fire.”
He stopped.
“You contacted him.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“A letter.”
“Did he come?”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Alessandro stared.
“You saw each other.”
Elena nodded.
“Once.”
“Where?”
“Montreal.”
“How long?”
“Two hours.”
Alessandro looked hurt now.
More than angry.
“He knew you were alive.”
“Yes.”
“For thirteen years before he died.”
Elena’s eyes filled.
“No.”
Alessandro frowned.
“What?”
“He knew for only one day.”
Silence.
Elena continued.
“He came to meet me.”
“I told him everything.”
“Victor.”
“Richard.”
“The offshore accounts.”
“Daniel.”
“What happened?”
“He said he would take me home.”
Alessandro swallowed.
“And?”
“He never made it back.”
Howard looked sharply at her.
“You told me Antonio died years later.”
Elena nodded.
“The public record says that.”
Alessandro froze.
“What are you saying?”
Elena opened the last envelope.
A death certificate.
Different date.
Three years after the fire.
Cause:
Cardiac arrest.
Location:
Montreal.
Alessandro stared.
“My father died that day.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“I saw him after that.”
Elena whispered:
“No.”
Alessandro’s face changed.
“What?”
“The man you saw was not Antonio.”
Silence.
Even Victor stopped moving.
Alessandro looked at Elena.
“Who was he?”
She whispered:
“Your father’s younger brother.”
Alessandro stared.
“My uncle Matteo died when I was ten.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
Howard sat down slowly.
Richard looked stunned.
Elena continued.
“Antonio and Matteo looked very similar.”
“After Antonio died in Montreal, Victor needed the company to believe he was still alive.”
Alessandro looked at Victor.
Victor’s face lost color.
“You replaced him.”
Victor said nothing.
Elena continued.
“Matteo had debts.”
“Victor paid them.”
“In return, Matteo lived as Antonio.”
Alessandro stepped back.
Memories shifted.
His father after the fire.
Quieter.
Less affectionate.
Stopped calling him by the childhood nickname.
Stopped wearing his wedding ring.
Alessandro had thought grief changed him.
Maybe it had not been him.
He stared at Victor.
“How long?”
Victor whispered:
“Eleven years.”
Alessandro’s face emptied.
“The man who raised me after sixteen…”
“Was Matteo.”
Elena began crying.
Alessandro looked at her.
“And you knew.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Matteo called me.”
“When?”
“The year before he died.”
“What did he say?”
Elena wiped her tears.
“He said he wanted to confess.”
Alessandro’s jaw tightened.
“Did he?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Victor got to him first.”
Everyone turned toward Victor.
Alessandro’s voice became flat.
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