Chapter 9
The remaining clues aligned slowly.
First:
Marcella had always called Elsie “not real Corvino blood” in public, even though she privately possessed evidence suggesting the opposite.
That was not ignorance.
It was conditioning.
If the family believed Elsie was an outsider, fewer people would ask why she looked like Serena at the same age.
Second:
The private adoption file falsely erased Serena before Elsie entered Vincent’s home.
Third:
The St. Brigid payment came from Marcella’s family office, not Vincent’s.
Fourth:
Serena had emailed Lydia naming Marcella as someone who knew where Matteo’s records were hidden.
Fifth:
The false surrender identity, Marie Ellis, appeared in draft form only after Serena refused to sign.
Then came the strongest document.
An unsigned affidavit in Marcella’s old legal archive.
It was written for Serena.
Not by Serena.
It said:
I voluntarily placed my child for adoption because I fear Vincent Corvino and do not want my daughter raised inside organized crime.
That sentence was almost believable.
Serena did fear Vincent’s world.
She did want her daughter outside the crime family.
But the affidavit also named Marcella as “protector and witness.”
Serena would never have written that.
Lydia confirmed it.
So did Serena’s old attorney, who had represented her briefly before she disappeared.
He said:
“Serena wanted independent protection. She did not trust Marcella.”
The attorney had tried to reach Serena at St. Brigid.
He was told she had left.
By Marcella.
Not by staff.
Not by Serena.
By Marcella.
The question was no longer whether Marcella had lied about Elsie.
The question was why she had placed Elsie with Vincent at all.
May you like
If Marcella wanted Serena’s child erased, why send the baby to the most visible Corvino in the country?
Part 10 answered that.
