Chapter 11 - The Second Copy
“Second copy of what?” Maya asked.
Valeria already knew.
“My father never trusted a single piece of evidence.”
Carlo kept duplicates of everything, often in ridiculous hiding places.
Luca rubbed his face. “If Gregory thinks there’s a second copy of the trust or the recordings, he’ll tear the city apart looking for it.”
Noah tugged at Valeria’s dress.
“Grandpa gave me a game.”
Everyone turned.
“What game?”
“He said if I ever got scared, I should remember the red knight goes where the king can’t.”
Luca frowned. “Chess.”
Valeria’s pulse jumped.
Carlo’s old study still had the same marble chess set he had owned for forty years.
They went there immediately.
The red knight was heavier than the others.
Tomas twisted the base.
A tiny brass key fell into his palm.
The key opened a hidden compartment beneath the chess table.
Inside were two flash drives and a notarized document.
The document was Carlo’s final amendment to Noah’s trust.
It named Maya trustee, froze the voting shares until Noah turned eighteen, and added one brutal clause:
Any spouse, sibling, trustee, or officer who attempted to obtain control through coercion, incapacity proceedings, unlawful custody, or violence would permanently forfeit all financial interest in Romano Holdings.
Luca read it twice.
“So if Gregory files the petition…”
“He gets nothing,” Valeria said.
“And if I helped him?”
Valeria looked at her brother.
“You get nothing too.”
Luca sat down hard.
For once, greed had found a wall.
Tomas opened the first flash drive.
Financial records.
The second was encrypted.
A password prompt appeared.
Noah whispered, “Try my birthday.”
It worked.
A single video file appeared.
Recorded the night Carlo died.
Valeria pressed play.
Her father was in bed, breathing hard.
Serena stood beside him with a syringe.
May you like
Gregory stood at the foot of the bed.
And Luca was standing in the doorway.
