Chapter 9 - THE BROTHER WHO WANTED THE THRONE
Marco Voss had not acted alone.
The investigation uncovered a network of shell companies, falsified invoices, and secret agreements tied to the docks.
He had spent years diverting money from Moretti-controlled businesses.
The peace agreement was supposed to give him temporary authority after Jack's death.
Once he controlled the routes, Marco planned to redirect contracts and blame Enzo Rinaldi for the assassination.
The resulting conflict would have destroyed the fragile peace.
But Marco's plan had depended on one assumption.
Nobody would question the signing process.
Nobody would notice the altered clause.
Nobody would interrupt the countdown.
And nobody would listen to a waitress.
Jack called me after the investigators completed their initial report.
“Lily, they found something.”
I sat at my kitchen table.
“What?”
“The verification pen was tampered with.”
I closed my eyes.
“The silver piece?”
“Yes.”
He paused.
“The internal storage module had been replaced with a device designed to produce a misleading record.”
I thought of Noah's robot.
The missing screw.
The tiny part that could stop an entire machine.
Jack continued.
“Your accident forced the device into evidence before the agreement was signed.”
I stared at the wall.
“So the coffee mattered.”
“Yes.”
“But it wasn't enough.”
“No.”
He was quiet.
“Your warning mattered more.”
I looked toward Noah, who was coloring at the table.
Jack continued.
“Marco also planned to kill Enzo's attorney during the evacuation. That would have made the blame harder to challenge.”
My stomach tightened.
More lives.
More families.
More children waiting for parents who would never come home.
I closed my eyes.
“Jack?”
“Yes?”
“Promise me something.”
“What?”
“Don't turn this into another war.”
He was silent.
Then said:
“I won't.”
I wanted to believe him.
But promises were easy.
May you like
Choices were harder.
And Jack Moretti was about to face the hardest choice of his life.
