Chapter 12 - THE LAST LIE PATRICIA TOLD
Patricia Moretti arrived at Samuel Price's office wearing an ivory coat and a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
She carried a leather briefcase.
Inside was a proposed settlement agreement.
Five million dollars.
A confidentiality clause.
And a carefully worded statement that would require Evelyn Moretti to withdraw her public accusations.
Patricia believed everyone had a price.
She simply needed to find Evelyn's.
Samuel met her in a conference room.
Dominic was present with his own counsel.
Evelyn had chosen not to attend.
She was tired of being pressured by people who treated her life as a business dispute.
Patricia placed the agreement on the table.
“This can all end today.”
Dominic glanced at the first page.
“What is it?”
“A reasonable proposal.”
Samuel read the terms.
His expression hardened.
“Evelyn is being asked to state that she has no knowledge of wrongdoing by Anthony or Patricia.”
Patricia smiled.
“In exchange for substantial compensation.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Five million dollars.”
“Yes.”
“You think my mother wants money?”
“She lived on the streets for years, Dominic.”
His eyes hardened.
“And you helped put her there.”
Patricia ignored him.
“Five million dollars would give her a comfortable life.”
“She wants the truth.”
“Truth doesn't pay bills.”
Dominic leaned forward.
“Neither does a promise stolen from seven dead workers.”
Patricia's smile vanished.
She opened her briefcase again.
This time, she removed several photographs.
They showed Dominic at private meetings with men tied to his father's criminal organization.
“You've been very vocal about accountability lately,” Patricia said.
Dominic studied the photographs.
“Yes.”
She pushed them toward him.
“Perhaps you should consider how much damage full disclosure could do to your own reputation.”
Samuel's expression tightened.
“Are you threatening my client?”
Patricia smiled.
“I'm reminding him of reality.”
Dominic looked at the photographs.
He recognized every meeting.
Some had involved legitimate contracts.
Others involved men he'd continued working with long after he should have severed the relationships.
He had already disclosed several of them to investigators.
Patricia didn't know that.
Dominic leaned back.
“Do whatever you think you need to do.”
She blinked.
“What?”
“I'm not signing your agreement.”
Patricia stared.
“You'll destroy yourself.”
“Maybe parts of the life I built deserve to be dismantled.”
She rose abruptly.
“You've become weak.”
Dominic looked at her.
“No.”
He paused.
“I've finally stopped confusing cruelty with strength.”
Patricia left in a rage.
Outside, she called Victor Kane.
“I need you to handle something.”
Victor sighed.
“No.”
“You haven't heard what I want.”
“I've heard enough.”
“Victor—”
“I spoke with the police about the bakery incident.”
Patricia froze.
“What?”
“I shouldn't have gone there. I won't threaten another person for you.”
Her fingers tightened around the phone.
“You owe this family.”
Victor was silent for a moment.
Then said, “That's what Anthony always told me.”
He ended the call.
Patricia stared at the screen.
For twenty years, she had relied on fear to keep people loyal.
Now fear was failing.
At the Moretti estate, Nathan waited in the library.
Dominic entered carrying the rejected agreement.
Nathan looked up.
“Did she offer money?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Five million.”
Nathan shook his head.
“Unbelievable.”
Dominic studied him.
“You still love her?”
Nathan looked down.
“Yes.”
“That's okay.”
“She hurt Evelyn.”
“Yes.”
“She lied to us.”
“Yes.”
Nathan's voice broke.
“And she still acts like she's protecting us.”
Dominic sat beside him.
“People can convince themselves of almost anything if the alternative is admitting they've done something terrible.”
Nathan wiped his eyes.
“Is that what Dad did?”
“I think so.”
The brothers sat in silence.
Then Nathan asked, “Do you think we can be different?”
Dominic looked at him.
“We already are, if we keep choosing differently.”
The investigation advanced over the following weeks.
Independent financial examiners authenticated key portions of the compensation-trust records.
The recording attributed to Anthony underwent forensic analysis.
Witnesses, including Silas Webb and Caroline Mercer, provided formal statements.
The investigators also reviewed documents concerning Evelyn's involuntary confinement and the diversion of her letters.
Patricia's legal team continued challenging the evidence.
But the pieces increasingly fit together.
Then a breakthrough came from someone nobody expected.
A former office assistant named Rebecca Shaw contacted Mara Sullivan.
Rebecca had worked for Patricia in 2006.
She had retained copies of appointment calendars and correspondence.
One calendar entry placed Patricia at the private clinic on the same day Evelyn was told Dominic wanted no contact.
Another referenced a meeting concerning the compensation fund.
Rebecca explained why she had kept the records.
“I was frightened,” she said. “Mrs. Moretti told me to destroy several files. I made copies because I thought one day somebody might ask what happened.”
Mara studied her.
“Why come forward now?”
Rebecca looked toward a photograph of Evelyn on the news.
“Because I recognized the woman.”
Her eyes filled.
“And because she deserved better than what we did to her.”
When Dominic heard about Rebecca's statement, he felt a strange mixture of relief and grief.
Every new witness strengthened Evelyn's case.
But each also proved how many people had known something was wrong and remained silent.
He thought about himself.
About the employees who had feared questioning his decisions.
About the men he'd once punished for disloyalty.
For the first time, he understood how easily he could have become his father.
Perhaps in some ways, he already had.
That realization frightened him more than any criminal rival ever had.
The following evening, Dominic visited Helen Mercer.
She was sitting on her porch wrapped in a blanket.
He had brought updated information about the restitution review.
She listened carefully.
Then asked, “Will this really happen?”
“The process is underway. There are still legal steps, but the fund's records are being reconstructed.”
Helen looked toward the yard.
“My husband used to plant flowers right there.”
Dominic followed her gaze.
The soil was bare beneath the winter frost.
“He loved gardening,” she continued.
“I'm sorry I never knew him.”
Helen nodded.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then she looked at Dominic.
“I hated your father.”
“I understand.”
“I thought I'd hate you too.”
Dominic lowered his eyes.
“You would've had reason.”
She studied him.
“Maybe.”
Then she said something he hadn't expected.
“Your mother came here once.”
Dominic looked up.
“What?”
“After the fire. Before she disappeared.”
Helen smiled sadly.
“She brought groceries and an envelope with two hundred dollars.”
Dominic's throat tightened.
“She told me she was trying to find out what happened to the compensation fund.”
He stared.
“I didn't know.”
Helen looked at him.
“She said she'd come back when she had answers.”
Her eyes filled.
“And she never did.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
“She was taken away.”
“I know that now.”
Helen reached for his hand.
“Tell your mother I never thought she forgot us.”
That night, Dominic visited Evelyn.
He found her making dough in the kitchen.
She looked up.
“Sweetheart?”
He crossed the room.
Then hugged her.
She laughed softly.
“What is this for?”
He held her tighter.
“For being a better person than anyone ever gave you credit for.”
Evelyn's eyes filled.
“Dominic...”
He pulled back.
“Helen Mercer remembers you.”
Her face changed.
“Helen?”
“She told me about the groceries.”
Evelyn covered her mouth.
“Oh, that poor family.”
“She said you promised to come back.”
Tears ran down Evelyn's cheeks.
“I wanted to.”
“I know.”
He took her hands.
“And now we're going to finish what you started.”
The following morning, Patricia's attorneys received notice of additional investigative developments and requests for relevant records.
She sat in her dressing room staring at the papers.
The truth was no longer hidden in one ledger.
It lived in witnesses.
Letters.
Recordings.
Bank transfers.
And the memories of people she'd spent twenty years trying to silence.
She looked toward the mirror.
For the first time, her perfect reflection seemed unfamiliar.
Then her phone rang.
Her attorney's voice was serious.
“Patricia, we need to discuss your options.”
May you like
She closed her eyes.
Because she finally understood that the family she'd spent her life controlling was no longer afraid of her.
