Chapter 5 - THE ASSISTANT WHO KEPT RECEIPTS
Gemma was discharged from the hospital after several days.
Dante arranged for professional security and medical support, but he didn't assume she would accept staying at his home.
He asked.
Gemma considered the offer.
Then shook her head.
“I need my own space.”
Dante nodded.
“Then we'll make your apartment safe.”
He hired a licensed security company.
The damaged door was replaced.
Police collected evidence.
Gemma gave a formal statement.
Dante watched her work through the process.
She was pale.
Exhausted.
But determined.
One afternoon, she handed him a small box.
Inside were receipts.
Hundreds of them.
Dante frowned.
“What are these?”
Gemma smiled faintly.
“Your brother's trail.”
She explained that Luca had been sending coded payments to families harmed by the stolen compensation fund.
Small amounts.
Disguised as ordinary business transactions.
“He couldn't access the full trust,” she said. “But he found ways to help.”
Dante stared at the receipts.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Evelyn Mercer.
A widow whose husband had died in a dock accident.
Gemma looked at Dante.
“She lost her house.”
Another name.
Daniel Reyes.
A young man whose college scholarship had disappeared.
Another.
Margaret Ellis.
A grandmother raising three children after her son was killed.
Dante's throat tightened.
He had spent years expanding the family empire.
Signing contracts.
Buying properties.
Negotiating deals.
And all the while, families had been suffering because of money stolen before he took control.
Gemma watched him.
“You didn't know.”
Dante shook his head.
“That doesn't erase what happened.”
She nodded.
“No.”
He looked at the receipts again.
“What do we do?”
May you like
Gemma smiled sadly.
“We start paying people back.”
