Chapter 5 - silent shadows
The black SUV pulled into the subterranean garage of the Bellaro estate. Dominic stepped out, his face expressionless, but his eyes burning with intense fire.
"Mateo, lock down the east wing," Dominic commanded. "Bring Sophia to my private study. Don't let her touch a phone."
"Understood, Don Dominic," Mateo replied, gesturing to four armed guards.
Dominic walked upstairs to the main floor. He stopped outside Maisie's bedroom door, stepping quietly inside. Maisie was awake now, sitting on her bed with a velvet teddy bear in her arms.
"Daddy?" she asked softly. "Is Stepmom gone?"
Dominic sat on the edge of the mattress and pulled a silver chain from his pocket. Suspended from the chain was an antique gold medallion engraved with a family crest.
"Stepmom is gone, sweetheart," Dominic said gently, clasping the chain around Maisie's neck. "This belonged to your mother, Elena. It protected her, and now it will protect you. No one in this house will ever hurt you again."
Maisie looked down at the gold crest, her small fingers tracing the metal. "Is Aunt Sophia staying with us too?"
"Not for long," Dominic said.
He stood up, kissed her forehead, and walked straight down the grand hallway to his private study.
Sophia Bellaro stood near the marble fireplace, wearing a white silk dressing gown. She held a glass of white wine, her expression one of innocent confusion as Dominic walked in and locked the heavy oak door behind him.
"Dominic, what is the meaning of this?" Sophia asked, setting her glass down. "Your men forced me out of bed!"
Dominic pulled the digital recorder from his pocket and set it on the desk. He pressed play.
Sophia's elegant voice filled the quiet room. Her calm facade cracked instantly, her face turning pale as she backed away toward the mantelpiece.
"You framed my daughter," Dominic said, stepping toward her. "You convinced Vivienne that Maisie was illegitimate so Vivienne would abuse her, push her out, and leave the path open for your son to inherit the Bellaro estate."
"Dominic, listen to me!" Sophia stammered, her hands trembling. "I was forced to do it! Someone paid me!"
"Who?" Dominic demanded.
"I don't know their real identity!" Sophia cried out. "They wired two million dollars to my Zurich account three weeks ago. They gave me the recording script to read! Look at my bank ledger on my phone! See for yourself!"
Dominic pulled Sophia’s phone from the desk and opened the encrypted banking app. He scanned the transaction log. A deposit of two million dollars had indeed arrived from a private Swiss account.
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Dominic looked at the authorization key listed at the bottom of the wire transfer. His heart plummeted.
The wire transfer had been authorized using the private biometric encryption code of Elena Bellaro—his wife who had died in a car explosion seven years ago.
