Chapter 2 – THE CHILD’S DRAWING AND THE BROTHER’S DEBT

“Leo?” Matteo whispered.

The name of his younger brother hung in the air. Leo had been exiled from the family five years ago for gambling debts.

Arthur placed the child’s drawing on the table. It was a crayon sketch of a restaurant.

“Leo visited your father the night before the stroke,” Arthur explained softly. “He brought this drawing from his daughter, Mia. He begged for money. Your father refused. The next morning, the stroke happened.”

Matteo touched the crayon lines. “And the loan?”

“Leo took the company seal,” Arthur said. “He signed the papers to pay off a syndicate. Richard Vale’s syndicate.”

Celeste’s father slammed his hand on the table. “Careful, old man.”

Matteo didn’t look at Richard. He looked at Celeste.

“You knew,” Matteo said. “You knew my brother forged the debt, and your family bought that debt to blackmail me out of my own company.”

Celeste stepped closer to him. “I did it to protect you! Leo is a liability. My father bought the debt to keep it out of the hands of worse people. We are your allies, Matteo.”

“Allies don’t rewrite history,” Matteo said. He picked up the anniversary program with Richard’s face on it. He tore it in half.

I stood near the service door, my heart pounding.

I thought the truth was finally out. I thought Matteo would kick them out.

But Celeste didn’t look defeated. She looked triumphant.

She turned to me.

“Emma,” Celeste said, her voice dripping with venom. “Since you love telling the truth tonight, why don’t you tell Matteo who Leo’s debt was actually transferred to?”

I froze.

Arthur looked at me, confused. “Emma?”

Celeste opened her purse again and pulled out a worn leather checkbook.

It wasn’t Matteo’s. It wasn’t Leo’s.

It was my mother’s.

“Tell them, Emma,” Celeste smiled. “Tell them how your mother’s medical bills were miraculously paid off last month. Tell them whose payroll you are really on.”

Matteo turned his dark eyes toward me.

I looked at the checkbook. It was the exact one I had left on my kitchen counter.

“I don’t know what she’s talking about,” I whispered.

Celeste flipped the checkbook open. “Then why are there deposit slips in here from Vale Hospitality Group for fifty thousand dollars?”

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