Merciless Contract: The Syndicate's Unwanted Wife novel · Chapter 22 of 32

Chapter 22: Her Mother's Letter

Gemma opened the envelope with shaking fingers while Raffaele sat up on the bed behind her.

There were three sheets of cream paper, covered in her mother's handwriting.

A small brass key slid out of the fold and landed in her lap.

She read the first line aloud, and her voice did not sound like her own.

"My darling Gemmina. If you are reading this, I am not going to see you grow up."

Raffaele put a hand on her back.

She kept reading.

"Your father is a weak man, and I love him anyway. He keeps the books for the Sandrelli family without knowing what half the numbers are for."

"I do know. I went through every ledger last winter, because someone had to."

"Vittorio Sandrelli has been washing money through your father's freight company for twelve years. Three hundred million dollars of it. Some of it belongs to dead men's widows."

"I made copies. They are in a box at the Boston Harbor Savings Bank, under my maiden name. The key is with this letter."

Her breath stuttered.

"I am going to take the copies to a federal prosecutor on Monday."

"Vittorio knows. He heard it from his own accountant. He came to the house last night, and he sat in your father's chair and smiled."

"He said, think of your daughter."

Gemma stopped.

Her mother had written those words with a hand that did not shake.

"If something happens to me, it will look like an accident. A car. A fire. A fall."

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