Chapter 9 - THE GRAVE THAT HID THE TRUTH
The cemetery was almost empty.
Cold rain fell over the rows of stone.
Emma stood beside her father's grave.
She hadn't been here in years.
Thomas Morrison.
Beloved father.
Devoted husband.
Dead at forty-seven.
That was the story.
Now she wasn't sure which part was true.
Dante stood several feet away with Marcus.
David remained inside the vehicle under guard.
Emma knelt.
She touched the wet stone.
“Dad.”
Her voice broke.
“I came back.”
Nothing answered.
Only rain.
Dante approached.
“We should leave.”
Emma looked up.
“Is Lucian here?”
“Not yet.”
“How do you know?”
“I don't.”
She stood.
“You're starting to sound like me.”
Dante almost smiled.
Then he looked at the grave.
“Your mother said the ledger was hidden beneath my father's name.”
Emma frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“My father's grave isn't far from here.”
They walked together.
Antonio Moretti's grave stood beneath an old oak tree.
Dante stared at it.
His father had been buried there twelve years earlier.
Emma looked around.
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Dante knelt.
He ran his fingers across the stone.
Nothing.
Then he noticed a small mark carved beneath the name.
Three lines.
A symbol.
He had seen it before.
In his father's study.
Dante stood.
“Marcus.”
Marcus approached.
Dante pointed.
“Get the cemetery records.”
Marcus moved away.
Emma looked at Dante.
“You recognize it.”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“My father used it as a marker.”
“For what?”
“Hidden property.”
They searched beneath the stone.
Nothing.
Then Dante remembered the old photograph.
His father.
Thomas.
The warehouse.
The same symbol had been painted on the wall.
He took out his phone.
Opened the photograph.
Emma looked over his shoulder.
“That's the same mark.”
“Yes.”
“Maybe the ledger isn't here.”
Dante looked at her.
“Maybe it's where my father wanted us to think it was.”
Emma frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Dante looked toward Thomas's grave.
Then understood.
“The ledger wasn't hidden under my father's name.”
He turned.
“It was hidden under yours.”
Emma froze.
“What?”
“Your father.”
They returned to Thomas's grave.
Dante examined the stone.
Then he found it.
A small metal plate beneath the base.
He pulled it free.
Inside was a key.
Emma stared.
“The blue room.”
Dante nodded.
“The key is for something else.”
A voice came from behind them.
“Very good.”
They turned.
Lucian stood beneath an umbrella.
He was alone.
No guards.
No weapons visible.
He smiled.
“Your father always did underestimate me.”
Dante stepped forward.
“You won't touch her.”
Lucian looked at Emma.
“My dear.”
Emma's stomach tightened.
“Don't call me that.”
“You look exactly like Isabella.”
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
“You tried to kill her.”
“No.”
“You threatened her.”
“Yes.”
“That's worse.”
Lucian sighed.
“You have your father's temper.”
Emma stepped closer.
“You knew me.”
“Yes.”
“You knew where I was.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my mother.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me grow up.”
Lucian looked at her.
“From a distance.”
Emma felt sick.
“Why?”
“Because I was protecting you.”
Dante laughed coldly.
“Protecting her?”
Lucian looked at him.
“You have no idea what your father did.”
Dante's expression hardened.
“My father saved lives.”
“Your father stole mine.”
“He took the organization.”
“He took everything.”
Lucian's voice became bitter.
“He chose legitimacy.”
“And you didn't.”
“No.”
Lucian looked at Emma.
“Your father was supposed to help me recover what was mine.”
“He refused.”
“Yes.”
“So you killed him.”
Lucian's expression didn't change.
“I didn't kill Thomas.”
Emma stared.
“Then who did?”
Lucian smiled.
“Ask Dante.”
Emma turned.
Dante's face was unreadable.
“Dante?”
He didn't answer.
Lucian stepped closer.
“Ask him what his father ordered.”
Then Lucian walked away.
Dante watched him disappear.
Emma turned toward him.
“What was he talking about?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
Dante looked at her.
“I don't know who killed your father.”
“But you know what your father ordered.”
Dante's silence was enough.
Emma's eyes filled.
“What did he do?”
Dante closed his eyes.
“My father ordered someone to move your father into protective custody.”
“And?”
“He never arrived.”
Emma stared.
“What happened?”
“He disappeared.”
“So your father knew.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew.”
“I suspected.”
Emma stepped away.
“Again.”
Dante's face tightened.
“What?”
“You knew something about my father.”
“Yes.”
“And you kept it from me.”
“Yes.”
She shook her head.
“How many secrets are there?”
“Too many.”
“Then start telling me.”
Dante nodded.
“My father believed Thomas had the ledger.”
“Did he?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't he take it?”
“Because Thomas hid it.”
“Where?”
Dante looked at the key.
“I think I know.”
The key opened a small metal compartment inside the cemetery chapel.
Inside was a single envelope.
Emma opened it.
Her father's handwriting.
Emma,
If you're reading this, then you have survived long enough to learn the truth.
Emma's hands shook.
The ledger is not the inheritance.
She looked at Dante.
He read over her shoulder.
The ledger is evidence.
The next line made Emma stop.
The inheritance is you.
She frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Dante kept reading.
Isabella Rossi did not leave you because she didn't love you. She left because the Rossi family had one final asset no one knew existed.
Emma's heart pounded.
You.
She swallowed.
Your bloodline gives you control of the Rossi trust and the voting shares connected to it.
Dante looked at her.
Emma continued.
But there is something more dangerous than money.
The final page was almost completely covered in ink.
Only one sentence remained readable.
The person who controls Emma controls both families.
Emma looked up.
“That explains everything.”
Dante shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“It explains why Lucian wants you.”
Emma stared.
“And why you married me.”
Dante didn't answer.
She stepped closer.
“Tell me.”
“I married you to protect you.”
“That isn't the whole truth.”
“No.”
“What is the whole truth?”
Dante looked into her eyes.
“I also needed to make sure you didn't fall into the wrong hands.”
Emma's voice became cold.
“Meaning?”
“My uncle.”
“And if I had refused?”
“I would have protected you anyway.”
“Then why the contract?”
Dante hesitated.
“Because I needed you close enough to watch.”
Emma felt the words like a slap.
“So I was a target.”
“Yes.”
“And a responsibility.”
“Yes.”
“And an investigation.”
“Yes.”
Her eyes filled.
“But was I ever your wife?”
Dante looked at her.
For a long moment, he said nothing.
Then:
“Yes.”
Emma shook her head.
“You can't have both.”
“I know.”
She turned away.
Before either could speak, Marcus rushed toward them.
“Dante.”
He looked up.
“What?”
“There's a problem.”
“What?”
“Isabella's hospital room was attacked.”
Emma froze.
“Is she alive?”
Marcus hesitated.
“We don't know.”
Emma's face went white.
Dante caught her arm.
Then another phone rang.
David's.
Marcus answered.
His expression changed.
He handed the phone to Dante.
David's voice came through.
“You need to listen.”
Dante said nothing.
“I know who killed Thomas Morrison.”
Emma stared.
David continued:
“It wasn't Lucian.”
A pause.
“It was someone much closer to Emma.”
Dante's face went still.
David whispered:
“Her mother.”
Emma's eyes widened.
“No.”
The call ended.
Dante looked at her.
Neither spoke.
Then, from somewhere behind them, a woman's voice said:
“That's a lie.”
Emma turned.
Isabella stood at the chapel entrance.
Alive.
And beside her—
Lucian Moretti.
Emma stopped breathing.
Isabella looked directly at her.
“Your father was not killed by me.”
She took one trembling step forward.
“But I know who killed him.”
May you like
Her eyes moved to Dante.
“Your father.”
