Chapter 6 - The Enemy in the Mirror
The truth hit Salvatore harder than any bullet.
Dominic Vale had told him Vincent betrayed the family. Dominic had provided evidence, witnesses, records. Salvatore had believed every word because grief made lies feel convincing when they gave pain a target.
Now Marco uncovered files hidden in an encrypted account: payment trails, old surveillance images, and one grainy photograph of Vincent carrying Salvatore’s unconscious brother out of the burning warehouse.
Vincent had tried to save him.
He had failed.
But he had tried.
Salvatore stood alone in his office for hours.
Elena found him near midnight.
“You knew?” she asked.
“No.”
“But you let the city believe my father was a monster.”
“I believed he was.”
“That doesn’t make it better.”
“No,” Salvatore said. “It doesn’t.”
Elena wanted to hate him. She had every reason to.
But she saw something familiar in him then—the same regret she had seen in herself when Sophia asked why they never had enough money, why they moved so often, why Elena could not fix everything.
“I don’t forgive you,” Elena said.
“I’m not asking you to.”
“But I need you to help me find him.”
Salvatore looked up.
“Your father may be alive.”
“Then I need to know why he stayed gone.”
The answer waited at Maple Street Church.
Beneath the altar, behind a loose stone, they found the ledger wrapped in oilcloth. But before they could leave, Dominic Vale appeared.
He was older, thinner, and more polished than Salvatore expected. He wore an expensive suit and smiled like a grandfather arriving for dinner.
Sophia was not with them. Maria had kept her at the estate.
That was the only reason Elena could still breathe.
“Salvatore,” Dominic said. “You finally found the truth.”
“You killed my brother,” Salvatore replied.
Dominic sighed. “Your brother was collateral.”
Salvatore moved forward, but Marco blocked him.
Dominic’s men appeared from the shadows.
“You built an empire on my lies,” Dominic continued. “And now you want to pretend you’re different from me?”
Salvatore’s eyes were cold.
“I am different.”
“No. You are simply better dressed.”
Dominic turned to Elena.
“Your father was brave at the end. Very inconveniently brave.”
“Where is he?” Elena demanded.
Dominic smiled.
“Alive.”
The word shook her.
“He has been alive all these years,” Dominic said. “And he has been watching.”
“Why didn’t he come back?”
“Because I told him I would kill you if he did.”
Elena’s knees nearly gave out.
Salvatore caught her elbow.
Dominic saw it.
“That is your weakness, Salvatore. You finally found a reason to care.”
Then he took the ledger from one of his men.
“You have forty-eight hours,” he said. “Bring me the original recordings Vincent made. Or I take the girl.”
He meant Sophia.
Salvatore’s control snapped.
“If you touch her—”
“I won’t touch her,” Dominic said. “I’ll simply make sure she learns what everyone learns eventually.”
He smiled.
“People leave.”
Then he disappeared into the darkness.
Salvatore looked at Elena.
“We are ending this,” he said.
Elena’s voice trembled, but it did not break.
“Yes.”
“For Sophia.”
May you like
“For all of us.”
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