The Letter Sofia Left for the Day Luca Finally Lost Hope

“What if I refuse?”

“Then I proceed with what I have. The investigation may still move. Your father will have time to destroy records and pressure witnesses. You may preserve the company for a while. You may also become part of the concealment.”

“I already signed the preservation threat against you.”

“You were grieving.”

“That does not erase the signature.”

“No.”

He appreciated that she did not absolve him.

“Send the authorization.”

Maya did.

Luca signed it at twelve forty-three in the morning.

At one twelve, Moretti Holdings’ general counsel called.

At one twenty, the chief financial officer called.

At one thirty-one, Salvatore called.

Luca answered only the last one.

“What have you done?” Salvatore asked.

“Preserved company records.”

“You waived privilege.”

“Yes.”

“You have exposed every employee, every contract, every family account.”

“Yes.”

“For what? A frightened woman’s diary?”

“For Sofia.”

“Do not use her name as an excuse for stupidity.”

Luca stood and walked away from the family room. Elena remained inside.

“You knew she believed you would kill her.”

“She believed many things.”

“You sent Angelo after her.”

“I sent Angelo to recover stolen records.”

“He accessed her car.”

“To place a tracker.”

The admission came too quickly.

Luca stopped near a vending machine.

“What kind?”

“A standard location device.”

“Where was it installed?”

“I do not know.”

“You just said you sent him.”

“I did not supervise the installation.”

“Did police find it?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Perhaps he never placed it.”

“Or he removed it after the crash.”

Salvatore’s breathing changed.

“You are being manipulated by Elena.”

“She admitted she gave you Sofia’s location.”

Silence.

There it was.

Not surprise. Calculation.

Luca pressed the phone harder against his ear.

“You frightened her,” he said.

“I warned her not to involve herself.”

“You sent someone to her mother’s apartment.”

“I made certain the woman understood the seriousness of theft.”

“She did not steal anything.”

“She concealed company property.”

“She concealed evidence.”

“Same object. Different story.”

Luca looked through the family-room glass. Elena sat alone, staring at the table.

“Did you kill Sofia?”

“No.”

“Did Angelo?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did you ask?”

Another silence.

That answer was worse than a confession.

“You didn’t ask,” Luca said.

“I knew nothing could bring her back.”

“You protected him.”

“I protected you.”

“From what?”

“From the destruction you have begun tonight.”

The line went quiet for a moment. When Salvatore spoke again, his voice had lost its anger.

“Matteo needs care that costs more than most people earn in a lifetime. The company pays for specialists, equipment, travel, access. You think prosecutors will tuck him into bed when the accounts freeze? You think Maya Bennett will finance experimental treatment?”

Luca looked toward the intensive care unit.

“You are using my son.”

“I am reminding you that principles send invoices.”

“The company is not Matteo.”

“The company is every option he has.”

Luca ended the call.

When he returned to the family room, Elena had found two paper cups of coffee. She pushed one toward him.

“It’s terrible,” she said.

He took it anyway.

They sat without speaking.

At three in the morning, Luca said, “He admitted sending Angelo to place a tracker.”

Elena stared at the coffee.

“He says he did not order the killing.”

“Do you believe him?”

“I believe he can separate an order from its foreseeable result.”

She nodded slowly.

“He knew you told him about the greenhouse,” Luca said.

Her fingers tightened around the paper cup.

“He did not ask what I meant.”

“No.”

“He remembered.”

“Yes.”

She folded the cardboard sleeve until it split.

“I should go to the police.”

“Maya will arrange it.”

“I should have gone eighteen months ago.”

“Yes.”

The bluntness made her look at him.

He did not apologize.

After a moment, she said, “You should have asked what you were signing.”

“Yes.”

They sat with the symmetry of their failures. It did not make them equal, and neither pretended it did.

Matteo’s infection responded to antibiotics by morning. His oxygen requirement decreased. Dr. Kaplan told them he was still fragile, but the immediate crisis had passed.

Luca stood beside the bed while she explained the numbers.

“What about treatment?” he asked.

“For the underlying disease?”

“Yes.”

She glanced at Matteo, who was asleep.

“We can revisit options when he stabilizes.”

“Yesterday you said the options were unlikely to work.”

“That remains true.”

“My father knows what you told me.”

Dr. Kaplan’s expression changed. “I did not speak to him.”

“Someone did.”

“I will investigate.”

“I want his foundation removed from Matteo’s care.”

“That is an administrative matter.”

“Make it a medical one.”

“It may not be possible to untangle funding overnight.”

“Then start today.”

She did not promise what she could not deliver. “I will contact compliance and patient privacy.”

That afternoon, Moretti Holdings’ board suspended Luca’s access to several internal systems pending an emergency meeting. The official explanation cited unauthorized disclosure of privileged information and concern about his judgment during a family medical crisis.

Salvatore did not attend the call. He did not need to.

The chief financial officer, Paul Garrison, spoke in a gentle voice that made every sentence sound regretful.

“This is temporary, Luca.”

“You froze the archive.”

“We restricted access.”

“Under whose authority?”

“The board’s.”

“My father’s.”

“Salvatore is a nonvoting adviser.”

“You have never made a decision he opposed.”

“That is unfair.”

“It is accurate.”