# CHAPTER 16 — DANIEL CARTER
Mara stood inches from the screen.
Daniel looked thinner than she remembered.
Older.
A scar ran from his temple to his jaw.
But he was alive.
“Where is that camera transmitting from?” Alejandro asked.
Gabriel checked the signal.
“It is not live.”
Mara turned sharply.
“You said it was.”
“I said the signal activated. The footage was scheduled to play now.”
“When was it recorded?”
Gabriel examined the metadata.
“Six months ago.”
Mara touched Daniel’s frozen face on the screen.
For two years, she had raised Emma alone.
She had worked nights.
Borrowed money.
Waited for a knock that never came.
Daniel had been alive for at least eighteen months after disappearing.
“What did he mean?” Lucia asked. “How is Alejandro responsible?”
Alejandro watched the video again.
Daniel appeared afraid.
But not of Matteo.
The two men stood beside each other willingly.
“Play the rest,” he ordered.
Daniel lowered the sign.
“My name is Daniel Carter. If this recording reaches Mara, tell her I stayed away to keep Emma alive.”
Mara began crying silently.
“Kiara Moretti survived the crash because the crash was never meant to kill her. It was meant to remove her from Alejandro.”
Daniel looked off camera.
“Salvatore believed Alejandro ordered the murder of Kiara’s mother.”
Alejandro went still.
Kiara’s mother, Sofia Moretti, had died from a sudden illness one year before the crash.
Alejandro had never questioned the diagnosis.
Daniel continued.
“Salvatore thought Kiara would be next. He arranged her disappearance.”
“That’s a lie,” Alejandro said.
“Why would your father believe you killed Sofia?” Lucia asked.
“I don’t know.”
Dr. Reed stepped away from the wall.
Everyone noticed.
Alejandro turned toward him.
“You treated Sofia.”
Reed’s face tightened.
“She died from cardiac failure.”
“Was there an autopsy?”
“No. Salvatore refused.”
“Did you sign her death certificate?”
Reed did not answer.
Bruno drew his gun.
The recording continued.
“After the crash, I discovered Salvatore’s people were not protecting Kiara. They were preparing to use her trust. I took her with Michael Vale’s help.”
Daniel lifted a folder.
“The person funding the operation lives inside the Moretti house.”
He removed a photograph.
Before he could show it to the camera, the footage distorted.
The image returned seconds later.
Daniel was gone.
Matteo remained.
He picked up the photograph Daniel had dropped.
Then he looked toward the camera and said, “You were right. Alejandro can never see this.”
The video ended.
Gabriel tried to recover the missing frames.
A hidden file appeared instead.
It contained Sofia Moretti’s original medical records.
Dr. Reed’s signature was on every page.
The final page listed the cause of death as cardiac failure.
Beneath the typed words was a handwritten note.
PATIENT DISPLAYED SIGNS OF THE SAME ALLERGEN USED ON ALEJANDRO.
Alejandro turned toward Reed.
“You didn’t bring poison into my study today.”
May you like
Reed swallowed.
“You brought it into my wife’s room four years ago.”
