Chapter 18 - WHAT ELENA HID INSIDE HERSELF
Dr. Chen removed the capsule under police supervision the next morning.
It was smaller than Giovanni's thumbnail.
Inside was an encrypted storage chip wrapped in surgical polymer.
Elena had literally carried the evidence with her because she trusted no house, bank, or person to keep it safe.
The Moretti key from Sofia opened the encryption.
Files filled the screen.
Bank transfers.
Recorded calls.
Property deeds.
Photographs.
A complete history of the network Giovanni's father and Sebastian Vale had built over thirty years.
But Elena had added one final folder herself.
Its title was GIOVANNI.
He hesitated before opening it.
Inside was a video recorded four days before her death.
Elena looked tired but smiled at the camera.
"If you're seeing this, you finally know why I kept you outside my investigation."
Giovanni's eyes filled.
"Not because I didn't trust you."
She paused.
"Because I knew you would burn the world down to protect me, and I needed you alive to protect our children."
Giovanni covered his mouth.
Elena explained that Vale had ordered the slow poisoning after she refused to surrender Marco and the archive.
Sofia delivered the doses through vitamins and tea, believing they would only make Elena weak enough to scare her.
Vale increased the dose without Sofia knowing.
Then Elena revealed the final betrayal.
Someone inside Giovanni's house had approved Vale's access to her medical schedule.
The screen displayed the electronic authorization.
The archive also contained Elena's private notes about each child, ordinary things hidden among evidence of crimes.
She wrote that Emilio pretended not to care when he was scared and that Clarissa always noticed the detail everyone else missed.
Giovanni had to stop reading for several minutes.
Even while building a case against Vale, Elena had still been their mother first.
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Giovanni stared at the signature.
It belonged to Emilio.
