Chapter 46 - The Daughter Catherine Lost
Rebecca opened the door.
Only one inch.
Catherine stood in the snow.
No coat armor.
No weapon.
Nothing between her and the woman who believed she had been abandoned for sixty years.
“You’re lying,” Rebecca said.
Catherine shook her head.
“Antonio told me you died.”
“Convenient.”
“I buried an empty coffin.”
Rebecca’s face twitched.
Catherine reached into her pocket.
Roman’s security team shifted.
He whispered, “What is she doing?”
Clara watched through binoculars.
“Trust her.”
Catherine removed a photograph.
Old.
Creased.
A little girl sat on Samuel Bell’s shoulders.
Catherine stood beside them laughing.
“I carried this every time I moved,” Catherine said.
Rebecca stared.
“You forgot me.”
“I never forgot.”
“You stayed with them.”
“I stayed because Sofia was dying.”
Roman froze.
Catherine continued.
“After your father died, Antonio controlled everything. Money. Travel. Information.”
Rebecca’s eyes hardened.
“So you were a prisoner?”
“No.”
Catherine refused the easy excuse.
“I could have fought harder.”
Silence.
“I could have doubted him sooner. I could have kept searching.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I failed you without choosing to abandon you.”
Rebecca opened the door slightly wider.
Inside, Sofia took Antonio’s hand.
One guard watched Catherine.
The other watched the windows.
Sofia noticed his attention shift.
She remembered Marcus’s lessons.
Never run without knowing where.
Never scream unless it helps.
Always look for doors.
She saw the mudroom.
Back exit.
She squeezed Antonio’s hand twice.
Their secret signal.
Wait.
Catherine stepped inside.
Roman whispered, “No.”
Clara caught him.
“Not yet.”
Rebecca closed the door.
Catherine looked around.
Then she saw Sofia and Antonio.
Relief flashed across her face.
Rebecca noticed.
“There. That look.”
“What look?”
“You see them and everything else disappears.”
Catherine shook her head.
“No.”
“You love them more.”
“They are children.”
“So was I!”
The scream echoed through the lodge.
Sofia flinched.
Catherine stepped toward Rebecca.
“Yes.”
Rebecca froze.
“You were.”
Catherine’s voice cracked.
“You were seven years old. You had two missing teeth. You hated peas. You slept holding a yellow rabbit.”
Rebecca’s mouth trembled.
“I remember everything.”
Silence.
Outside, Roman lowered his weapon.
Clara leaned against him.
Inside, Catherine continued.
“Antonio stole years from us.”
Rebecca whispered, “And you protected his son.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
Catherine looked toward Roman’s hidden position as if she could see him.
“Because Roman was also a child trapped inside Antonio’s choices.”
Roman closed his eyes.
Rebecca began crying.
Not elegantly.
Not quietly.
Sixty years collapsed.
Then one guard moved.
“Ma’am, we need to leave.”
Rebecca looked confused.
He drew his weapon.
The second guard did too.
Catherine realized.
They were not Rebecca’s loyal men.
They were Luca’s.
Plan B had layers.
The first guard grabbed Antonio.
Sofia screamed.
Roman moved.
Clara did too.
The lodge windows shattered as Marcus’s team breached.
The guard dragged Antonio toward the back.
Sofia jumped onto his arm.
He swore.
Antonio bit him.
Hard.
The gun fell.
Catherine kicked it away.
Rebecca tackled the second guard from behind.
A shot fired into the ceiling.
Roman entered through the front door.
He saw Antonio.
The guard.
Weapon near the floor.
Roman crossed the room with terrifying speed.
One strike.
The man collapsed.
Marcus secured him.
Clara rushed to Sofia.
Roman lifted Antonio.
“You bit him?”
Antonio nodded.
Roman stared.
“Your mother is going to blame me.”
Clara shouted from across the room, “Correct!”
Sofia began laughing.
Then crying.
Clara held her.
Roman looked toward Rebecca.
She sat on the floor beside Catherine.
Both women were crying.
Rebecca stared at Roman.
“I didn’t know the guards belonged to Luca.”
Roman believed her.
That surprised him.
Catherine touched Rebecca’s face.
“We lost sixty years.”
Rebecca looked at her.
“What happens now?”
Catherine answered.
“We don’t lose tomorrow.”
Later, federal agents found something inside the guards’ vehicle.
Instructions from Luca Moretti.
If Rebecca failed to gain custody, kill Roman and Clara.
Frame Rebecca.
Transfer Bellweather control to Sofia.
Use Vincent as trustee.
Every branch of the plan turned the Duca children into assets.
Roman read the document twice.
Then tore it in half.
Clara watched.
“We end Bellweather.”
Roman nodded.
“All of it.”
Catherine looked at Rebecca.
Rebecca looked at Sofia and Antonio.
May you like
For once, the oldest women in the room agreed instantly.
“Yes.”
