Chapter 9
I remembered Matteo differently after that.
Not as the younger brother who died laughing too loudly and driving too fast.
As the man who slowly disappeared before his official death.
Private dinners with my father.
Long trips.
New loyalties.
Questions about whether my reforms made us weak.
I dismissed all of it as imitation.
Younger brother trying to impress father.
I never imagined they were rehearsing succession.
Bianca claimed Matteo eventually regretted what happened to Evelyn.
“When?”
She looked at Evelyn.
“After Ethan was born.”
Convenient.
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
Bianca looked at her.
“He brought me food.”
“After helping take my son.”
“He tried to help.”
“He told me to be patient.”
That sentence landed.
Another hour.
Another week.
Patience used as a cage.
Antonio said Matteo argued with our father eventually. He wanted Evelyn released. My father refused.
Then Matteo disappeared for real.
“When?”
Antonio answered.
“Six months after Ethan was born.”
That was the same month Bianca told me Ethan had been abandoned.
My hands tightened.
“Why?”
Antonio did not know.
Bianca did.
I could see it.
“What happened?”
She whispered, “He found something.”
“What?”
“A recording.”
Of course.
Everything in this family survived on recordings because nobody trusted anyone enough to speak openly.
My father had recorded the original council meeting where they discussed removing me.
Matteo stole it.
Then vanished.
“Where is the recording?”
Bianca looked toward the bridal suite.
My pulse changed.
“No.”
Evelyn sat up.
“What?”
Bianca looked sick.
“He hid it somewhere in the house.”
The hidden chambers.
The old bridal suite.
The veil.
I understood.
Matteo had been trying to leave evidence behind.
Maybe the same way Evelyn had tried to leave the veil.
We went back to the bridal suite.
This time I looked at the chamber as a crime scene written in family architecture.
Under the stone ledge where Evelyn had slept was a carved Castellano crest.
I pressed it.
A narrow compartment opened.
Inside was an old voice recorder.
And one note.
May you like
Raffaele —
If you find this, I finally chose my brother over my father.
