Chapter 4 - THE FILE HIDDEN INSIDE THE WEDDING PLANS
Vanessa had planned a wedding for six hundred guests.
The ceremony was scheduled for the following spring.
The reception would take place at the most exclusive hotel in Chicago.
There would be imported orchids, a twelve-tier cake, and a custom wedding gown reportedly worth more than my annual salary.
But according to Alessandro, the wedding was never about love.
One evening, after Dr. Bennett approved a brief conversation, Alessandro asked me to bring him his phone.
I explained that security and medical restrictions applied.
He nodded.
“Then ask my attorney to come.”
His attorney, Daniel Mercer, arrived two hours later.
He was a quiet man in his late fifties.
He carried no briefcase.
Only a slim leather folder.
I was leaving when Alessandro called my name.
“Emily.”
I turned.
“Thank you.”
I smiled.
“For what?”
“Not pretending I'm someone else.”
I looked at him.
“You're my patient.”
His expression softened.
“That's all?”
I paused.
“For now.”
Later, Daniel Mercer contacted the hospital's legal department.
He had discovered suspicious documents connected to Alessandro's planned marriage.
Vanessa's family owned a shipping investment firm.
A merger had been scheduled to take effect after the wedding.
The agreement would have transferred substantial voting influence over Rossi-controlled logistics businesses.
And Matteo stood to benefit.
The documents also revealed an unusual insurance policy.
A large policy had been purchased on Alessandro's life.
The beneficiary structure favored a holding company connected to Vanessa's family.
When Alessandro learned about it, he remained silent for a long time.
Then asked Daniel one question.
“Who signed the final authorization?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Matteo.”
That night, Alessandro stared at the ceiling.
I adjusted his pillow.
“Pain?”
He shook his head.
“Something worse.”
I waited.
He turned toward me.
“I raised my brother.”
His voice broke.
“Our father died when Matteo was sixteen.”
I sat beside him.
“I paid for his education.”
He swallowed.
“Protected him.”
His eyes filled.
“And he tried to bury me.”
I didn't tell him everything would be fine.
I didn't know that.
Instead, I said, “You're alive. You have time to find out what happened.”
He looked at me.
May you like
For a moment, the feared mafia boss disappeared.
All I saw was a wounded man whose own family might have betrayed him.
