Chapter 9 - The Wife Who DisappearedLeonardo had no memory of another marriage.
But the records existed.
A marriage certificate.
A photograph.
A woman named Isabella Moretti.
The marriage had lasted six months.
Then Isabella disappeared.
The official explanation was suicide.
Sofia stared at the photograph.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I didn't know.”
“You're telling me you forgot your own wife?”
Leonardo looked devastated.
“My mother erased every trace.”
Detective Ramirez found the original case file.
Isabella had supposedly jumped from a hotel balcony.
But there was no body.
No funeral.
No verified identification.
Sofia recognized the pattern.
No body.
No proof.
Another disappearance.
Another convenient death.
She examined the photograph.
Then she noticed something.
A ring.
Isabella wore the same ring Helena had given Sofia during the rehearsal dinner.
Sofia's heart pounded.
“Find her.”
Two days later, they found Isabella living under another name in Oregon.
She agreed to meet.
When she saw Leonardo, she began crying.
“You survived.”
Leonardo stared.
“You knew my mother.”
“I knew what she was capable of.”
Isabella explained that she had discovered Helena's financial network.
She had tried to leave.
Helena threatened her family.
“So I disappeared.”
“Why didn't you tell me?” Leonardo asked.
“Because I thought you were part of it.”
Sofia asked the question neither wanted answered.
“Did Helena kill your father?”
Isabella nodded.
“And she tried to kill me.”
“Why?”
“Because I found the ledger.”
“What ledger?”
Isabella reached into her bag.
“The one Victor Kane has been searching for.”
She handed Sofia a photograph.
A leather-bound book.
On its cover was one word.
VALENTI.
Then Isabella said:
“There's something else.”
“What?”
“Helena wasn't the mastermind.”
Sofia's eyes narrowed.
“Who was?”
May you like
Isabella looked at Leonardo.
“Your grandfather.”
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