Chapter 16 - Helena’s Final Recording
The second memory card was different from the first.
It held only three files.
One was the complete Black Rose archive.
One was an encrypted list of accounts.
The last was a video recorded by Helena four days before her death.
They watched it in Giovanni’s library at midnight.
Helena appeared on-screen wearing a hospital robe and no makeup.
She looked tired.
She also looked unmistakably like herself.
“Giovanni, if you are watching this, stop scowling. It will not make the computer behave.”
Lucia laughed and immediately covered her mouth as tears came.
Giovanni sat perfectly still.
Helena continued.
“Lucia, sweetheart, you are going to try to take care of everyone. Don’t. Let people carry their own weight.”
Lucia wiped her face.
Then Helena looked directly into the camera.
“Emilio.”
He stopped breathing.
“If you are watching this from some ridiculous tropical island, I hope you got sunburned.”
A broken laugh escaped him.
“I was angry when you left. Very angry. But anger is not the last thing I want between us.”
Emilio covered his mouth.
“You think leaving this family means rejecting me. It doesn’t. You are allowed to want a different life. What you are not allowed to do is disappear every time love becomes difficult.”
His shoulders shook.
“Answer your phone next time, baby.”
Emilio bowed his head.
Clarissa began crying too.
Helena turned serious.
“The money moving through my foundation is part of a larger network. Vincent is involved. Rafael is involved. But neither man is the center. A man called Adrian Sanz controls Black Rose.”
Sloan leaned forward.
“He believes family is a weakness. He is wrong.”
Helena smiled faintly.
“Family is dangerous because it gives people something more important than themselves.”
Giovanni’s eyes closed.
“If Adrian comes after us, do not become him to defeat him.”
That line was for Giovanni.
Everyone knew it.
Helena continued. “Give Rebecca Sloan the archive. Let the law take what the law can take. Giovanni, I mean it.”
He muttered, “Bossy woman.”
Lucia whispered, “You loved it.”
“I did.”
On-screen, Helena lifted her hand.
Her wedding ring glinted.
“One more thing. Clarissa.”
Clarissa froze.
“I know how this family will look at you when the truth comes out. Some of that suspicion will be deserved.”
Clarissa gave a wet laugh.
“But your father is not your blood’s destiny. Neither is Giovanni. Neither is Emilio. You decide who you are when choosing costs you something.”
The video paused for a beat.
Then Helena smiled.
“Now bury me without turning it into a war.”
The screen went black.
Nobody spoke for a full minute.
Then Giovanni stood.
He walked to a cabinet, opened it, and removed a bottle of Helena’s favorite red wine.
He poured six glasses.
One for himself.
One for Lucia.
One for Emilio.
One for Clarissa.
One for Teresa.
One he placed in front of Helena’s empty chair.
“To the most difficult woman I ever loved,” he said.
They raised their glasses.
Sloan’s phone buzzed.
She looked at the message.
“We found Adrian.”
Everyone turned.
“Where?” Giovanni asked.
Sloan looked at Clarissa.
“At the hospital.”
Clarissa’s face went white.
“He has Rafael.”
Sloan nodded.
“And he’s asking for you.”
The next chapters are on the left side of your screen.
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