Chapter 7 - THE MAN BEHIND THE FALSE ACCUSATION
The investigation into Henderson uncovered something more troubling.
He had been receiving payments from a company connected to Marco Bellini.
Clara's former fiancé.
When Salvatore learned this, his expression darkened.
Marco had spent years searching for Lucia.
He had never accepted her disappearance.
He considered her escape a humiliation.
Now the evidence suggested that Henderson had been paid to identify her and create a public incident that would expose her location.
The stolen watch was part of the plan.
A staged accusation.
A room full of witnesses.
A photograph of Clara.
A scandal that would force her real identity into the open.
Enzo had been manipulated.
But his violence had made the trap far worse.
Clara stared at the documents.
Her hands began shaking.
“He found me.”
Salvatore took a breath.
“Not yet.”
She looked up.
“What?”
“The evidence suggests he knows you're in New York. But he may not know where you're staying.”
Clara closed her eyes.
For four years, she'd believed distance would keep her safe.
Now the past was reaching across the ocean.
Her father leaned forward.
“Lucia.”
She looked at him.
“You will decide what happens next.”
Tears filled her eyes.
She nodded.
May you like
And for the first time, she began planning not how to hide from Marco.
But how to stop running.
