Chapter 13 - THE TRUTH ABOUT THE FIRE
Alberto confessed only after investigators arrived.
He had orchestrated the attack on his own organization years earlier to eliminate rivals and consolidate power.
My mother, Elena Vincenzi, discovered evidence of illegal medical supply transactions connected to his operations.
She threatened to expose him.
Alberto ordered her silenced.
The fire was intended to destroy the evidence.
My mother and Luca died.
I survived.
Alberto later faked his own death to escape prosecution and manipulate the organization from hiding.
He used intermediaries to influence Cedric's decisions.
He arranged the debt assigned to my family to keep me financially vulnerable.
And he had encouraged the marriage arrangement to bring me under his control once he learned I might possess my mother's letter.
Cedric listened.
His face was pale.
"You did all of this?"
Alberto looked at him.
"I built everything you have."
Cedric stared.
"No."
His voice was quiet.
"You built a prison."
Alberto's expression hardened.
"Without me, you'd be nothing."
Cedric looked at me.
May you like
Then back at his father.
"Then I'd rather be nothing."
