Chapter 12
Damien finally stopped pretending.
His message arrived at 2:13 in the morning.
YOU THINK YOUR FATHER WAS INNOCENT?
Alessandro called him.
Damien answered immediately.
“You want the truth now?”
“I want yours.”
Damien laughed.
“My father spent twenty years building Moretti Freight. Your family squeezed every contract he had until the banks buried him.”
“He stole from us.”
“He borrowed.”
“He falsified shipments.”
“He was desperate.”
“Those are not the same thing.”
“To you.”
Damien’s voice grew colder.
“My father died believing the Rizzanos took everything from him.”
“So you came after me.”
“I came to understand you.”
“You brought Bianca.”
“At first she wanted revenge more than I did.”
Alessandro closed his eyes.
“And Elena?”
Silence.
“You knew the SUV wasn’t safe.”
“Yes.”
Alessandro gripped the phone.
“Did you damage it?”
“No.”
“Did you arrange the crash?”
“No.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because if I wanted Elena dead, I would have destroyed the work order.”
That answer disturbed Alessandro because it made sense.
“Then why keep it?”
“Insurance.”
“Against whom?”
“Elena.”
Damien explained that Elena had copied evidence of his unauthorized payments.
He wanted proof she had driven a car despite a safety warning in case she accused him publicly and he needed leverage against her credibility.
After the crash, the document became dangerous.
So he hid it.
“You knew she could die.”
“I knew thousands of people ignore repair warnings every day.”
“You knew.”
Damien went silent.
Alessandro lowered his voice.
“You stood next to me in that hospital.”
“Yes.”
“You carried Livia at Elena’s funeral.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew.”
Damien’s voice finally cracked.
“Yes.”
That single admission ended something older than the wedding.
Not friendship.
Alessandro realized there had never been one.
He disconnected.
The following afternoon Bianca appeared outside the estate gates.
She refused to leave.
Alessandro eventually walked down the drive alone.
She stood on the other side of the iron gate.
No diamonds.
No engagement ring.
No brother.
“I loved you,” she said.
Alessandro looked at her.
“I believe you believe that.”
Her eyes filled.
“Does that mean nothing?”
“It means you found a way to love someone while lying about why you entered his life.”
Bianca gripped the gate.
“I never wanted Elena dead.”
“You wanted her quiet.”
Bianca looked away.
“And you wanted Rosalie quiet.”
No answer.
“And when Livia got between you and Rosalie, you hurt her.”
Bianca began to speak.
Alessandro stopped her.
“That is the part you will never explain away.”
He turned back toward the house.
Bianca called after him.
May you like
“Alessandro!”
He did not look back.
