Chapter 5 - THE BROTHER WHO SOLD A LIE
Clara confronted Tommy at the family garage.
He was standing beside their father's old truck when she arrived.
For a moment, she remembered the brother who had raised her after their parents died.
Then she remembered the cathedral.
“Tell me what happened to the money.”
Tommy admitted that only $78,000 of the $450,000 had been used for Clara's emergency treatment and related expenses.
The rest had gone into failing business ventures, private loans, and payments to men he refused to identify.
Clara stared at him.
“You let me believe all of it was spent saving my life.”
“I thought I could recover the money.”
“By marrying me off?”
Tommy began crying.
She had never seen him look so small.
He explained that Victor Saye, Dominic's godfather, had suggested the marriage.
Victor claimed Dominic needed a respectable wife to stabilize relationships between competing criminal families.
Tommy had agreed because Victor promised to restructure the debt.
Clara felt physically ill.
“So you and Victor decided my future.”
“I thought you'd be safe with Dominic.”
“You didn't ask me.”
Tommy lowered his head.
“No.”
Clara left without forgiving him.
Later, Dominic confronted Victor.
The older man admitted proposing the arrangement.
He claimed he had been protecting Dominic's position after Sofia's death.
Dominic stared at the man who had helped raise him.
“You used an injured woman to solve a political problem.”
Victor did not deny it.
“Your father would have understood.”
“My father is dead.”
“And you're losing control.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Then perhaps it's time I stopped controlling people.”
Victor laughed.
But when Dominic ordered him removed from the organization, the older man's amusement disappeared.
That night, Dominic received a video.
Leo sat in a dim room, clutching his broken dinosaur.
A man's voice spoke behind the camera.
“Destroy Sofia's evidence, Dominic.”
The camera shifted.
May you like
A silver watch flashed.
“Or you'll bury the boy beside his mother.”
