Chapter 7
Salvatore found the envelope inside Gabriella’s old medical binder.
Not hidden.
Misfiled among insurance statements.
It was addressed to Rebecca.
Never sent.
The seal remained intact.
Salvatore handed it to her.
“You open it.”
Rebecca did.
Inside were four photocopied foundation approvals and one handwritten note.
Rebecca — I may be imagining this because I’m tired, but I think someone is building a paper trail around me. If I’m wrong, burn this and never tell Salvatore I became paranoid. If I’m right, make sure Olivia never grows up hearing that her mother stole from people who needed help.
Rebecca stopped reading.
Salvatore turned away.
He had expected anger.
Grief arrived instead.
Seven months after Gabriella died, she was still leaving him conversations he had failed to have while she was alive.
Rebecca continued.
Edmund signs almost anything Marina brings him now. That doesn’t make him innocent. It makes him useful.
Salvatore looked back.
That sentence changed the balance.
Gabriella had suspected Marina.
But she had not cleared Edmund.
Another line:
The official books will make this look like shared misconduct. That may be the point.
Rebecca folded the note.
“Why didn’t she send it?”
Salvatore knew.
The final date was three weeks before Gabriella entered hospice.
She deteriorated quickly after that.
A dozen unfinished tasks remained in her desk.
Calls never made.
Emails saved as drafts.
A birthday present for Olivia still in its shipping box.
Not every unfinished action contained mystery.
Some were simply what illness stole.
But the note gave them a path.
Daniel compared the copied approvals with system metadata.
Three had been created by Marina’s administrative profile before being routed into Gabriella’s credentials for final approval.
One was created by an assistant.
The last was created under Edmund’s account.
Marina’s attorney insisted workflows were shared.
Again, possible.
Then Daniel found a peculiar accounting pattern.
Questionable payments increased sharply during Gabriella’s treatment weeks.
They declined during periods when Gabriella was well enough to spend time at the office.
The fraud appeared to expand when the person whose name was being used was physically absent.
Salvatore understood what that meant.
Someone was not merely exploiting a weak control system.
They were exploiting Gabriella’s illness.
He wanted to destroy the foundation immediately.
Rebecca stopped him.
“If you close it now, innocent people lose support.”
“Then what?”
“Independent administration.”
“No family.”
“No.”
“Full audit.”
“Yes.”
That decision would come soon.
But first Salvatore wanted one answer from Marina.
“Why did Gabriella think you were building a paper trail around her?”
May you like
Marina’s face went pale.
For the first time, she asked to end the interview before her lawyer did.
